In a future with more ‘mind reading,’ thanks to neurotech, we may need to rethink freedom of thought

• He warned that writing undermines memory – that it is nothing but a reminder of some previous thought.
• Today, the U.S. is in the middle of a similar panic over TikTok, with critics worried about its impact on viewers’ freedom of thought.
• Brain-computer interfaces, called BCIs, have rightfully prompted debate about the appropriate limits of technologies that interact with the nervous system.
• But as my research on neurorights argues, protecting the mind isn’t nearly as easy as protecting bodies and property.

Thoughts vs. things

• The body has clear boundaries, and things that cross it without permission are not allowed.
• It is normally obvious when a person violates laws prohibiting assault or battery, for example.
• The same is true about regulations that protect a person’s property.

• Instead, a person’s thoughts are largely the product of other peoples’ thoughts and actions.
• Everything from how a person perceives colors and shapes to our most basic beliefs are influenced by what others say and do.
• If I’m not allowed to influence others’ thoughts, then I can never leave my house, because just by my doing so I’m causing people to think and act in certain ways.

Neurotech and control

• People may not be able to completely control what gets into their heads, but they should have significant control over what goes out – and some people believe societies need “neurorights” regulations to ensure that.
• Neurotech represents a new threat to our ability to control what thoughts people reveal to others.
• There are ongoing efforts, for example, to develop wearable neurotech that would read and adjust the customer’s brainwaves to help them improve their mood or get better sleep.

• For example, nations could prohibit companies that make commercial neurotech devices, like those meant to improve the wearer’s sleep from storing the brainwave data those devices collect.
• Yet I would argue that it may not be necessary, or even feasible, to protect against neurotech putting information into our brains – though it is hard to predict what capabilities neurotech will have even a few years from now.
• But one thing is certain: With or without neurotech, our control over our own minds is already less absolute than many of us like to think.

Parker Crutchfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.