A last defender of privacy, our brains have remained inviolate(未受侵犯的), even as sensors now record our heartbeats, breaths, steps and sleep. All that is about to change.
Large tech companies are already investing heavily in brain wearables. They aim to put brain sensors into smart watches, headsets and sleep aids. Integrating them into our everyday lives could revolutionize health care, enabling personalized treatment of conditions. Brain sensors could improve our ability to think, focus and even communicate with technological telepathy(心灵感应)—using the power of thoughts and emotions to drive interaction with AR and VR headsets.
But brain wearables also pose real risks to mental privacy and self-determination. As these devices increase, they'll generate vast amounts of neural(神经的) data, creating a window into our brain states. Nowadays, our inner selves are not as secret as before. From neuromarketing to the rabbit hole of social media, they violate human brains even when people don't realize that. Social media "like" buttons and notifications are features designed to draw us habitually back to platforms, using our brains' reward systems.
As brain wearables and artificial intelligence (AI) advance, the line between human agency and machine intervention will also not be manifest. When a wearable reshapes our thoughts and emotions, how much of our actions remain truly our own? As we begin to offload mental tasks onto AI, we risk becoming overly dependent on technology. Should we allow AI to shape our mental experiences? And how do we keep our humanity in an interconnected world remade by these technologies?
We stand at the beginning of a brain wearable revolution. We need caution and an open debate about the risks and benefits of neurotechnology to ensure it is used responsibly. To get there will require were cognize new digital age rights to preserve our inner liberty—self-determination over our brains and mental experiences. We must do so now, before the choice is no longer ours to make.
