Microsoft wants to eat your brain*

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around Microsoft's exploration of utilizing human brain activity for computational tasks, specifically through the use of EEG caps to enhance machine learning capabilities in recognizing images. Participants express various opinions on the implications, practicality, and ethical considerations of this technology.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express discomfort with the idea of Microsoft treating human bodies as computing resources.
  • There is skepticism regarding the practicality of using EEG caps for image recognition compared to simpler methods like pressing a button.
  • Concerns are raised about the ethical implications and potential distractions caused by flashing images in peripheral vision.
  • One participant questions the effectiveness of using EEG technology in peripheral vision due to the limitations of signal detection in that area.
  • Humor is used in the discussion regarding the patenting of rhetorical devices, indicating a light-hearted approach to the topic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally disagree on the practicality and ethical implications of the technology, with some expressing skepticism about its necessity and effectiveness while others engage in humorous banter.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unresolved questions about the effectiveness of EEG technology in practical applications and the ethical considerations surrounding its use.

honestrosewater
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I would find this so much cooler and less creepy if Microsoft wasn't involved. I don't like them thinking of my body as a computing resource.
Human-Aided Computing[/size]
Microsoft researchers are trying to harness untapped brain power.[/size]
By Kate Greene

Despite all the power of computers, they are still lousy at certain simple tasks, such as recognizing faces and knowing the difference between a table and a cow. Now researchers at Microsoft are trying to tap into some of the specialized--and often subconscious--computing power in the human brain, and use it to solve problems that have so far been intractable for machines.

Desney Tan, a researcher at Microsoft Research, and Pradeep Shenoy, a graduate student at the University of Washington, have devised a scheme that uses electro-encephalograph (EEG) caps to collect the brain activity of people looking at pictures of faces and nonfaces, such as horses, cars, and landscapes. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18962/"
*That was a joke. I don't actually know whether or not they want to eat your brain. We're still allowed to make jokes, right? Or have they patented all humorous rhetorical devices already?
 
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Or have they patented all humorous rhetorical devices already?

Of course they have - unless you meant that rhetorically...
 
"There are a bunch of ethical considerations before any of this can be taken to the mass market," Tan says. For example, how distracting would it be to have pictures flash in a person's peripheral vision?

I would imagine that the nuisance of having pictures flashed in peripheral vision pales in comparison to the nuisance of having to wear an EEG cap. :rolleyes:

I really don't get this. OK, so you can strap an EEG cap on someone and discern within a couple hundred milliseconds whether a picture shows a human face or not. How is this so much better or easier than ditching the cap and having people take a second to press a button to indicate "face"? Seems like a pretty dumb and superfluous use of money and technology.

I'm not even sure this sort of thing would work very well with peripheral vision. Peripheral vision is degraded because of the nature of signal detection at the peripheries of the retina, not because of a lack of attentional processing.
 
honestrosewater said:
Or have they patented all humorous rhetorical devices already?

Couldn't have; they still work.
 

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