The craziest thing I learned today is that scientists can now reconstruct music by “listening” to people’s brainwaves.

Neurologists at the University of California decided to play a Pink Floyd song in a hospital operating room, while some patients were undergoing brain surgery. The song was ‘Another Brick in the Wall’, and while it was playing, the patients’ brain activity was analyzed and recorded. And then, something amazing happened: the scientists managed to decode their brain recordings and reproduce Pink Floyd’s music!

While the hope is that this can help treat neurological conditions, one can’t help but wonder: is this another brick in the wall of hacking people’s minds?

Questions for discussion

1. What ethical considerations should be taken into account when using technology that can decode brain activity?
2. Would you participate in an experiment where your thoughts can be “read” by a computer?
3. How can the technology discussed in the video be used to help people?
4. New brain-computer interface technologies that use fMRI and AI can decode people’s thoughts and turn them into text. What could the implications be, in terms of privacy?
5. Do you believe there is a part of human experience that should remain private and inaccessible to others, no matter the technological capabilities?
6. Should we trust companies or governments with these technologies?