Has a person ever read your mind? For much of my life, I thought my mother could read mine. Then I surprised her in the act of reading my diary. Imagine the creative possibilities if you could accurately predict what images people like to look at. The Guardian (UK) reported on research by scientists at the University of California where MRI scanning equipment was used “to observe patterns of brain activity when a subject examined a range of black and white photographs.” Afterwards, a computer accurately predicted 90% of the time which image the subject focused on.

The research is still very young—only still images can be used. But the implications are clear—there’ll be implications in many different areas such as invasion of privacy, unfair screening because computers as we know have their own emotional issues, “thought crimes” and many others we haven’t even thought of. I wonder how this technology will impact creatives 30 or 40 years from now? Will humans adapt and be able to trick the machine? Will employers use an offshoot of this to screen potential hires? Will all the poets with those quirky minds be arrested? Sounds like a great platform for another sci-fi novel.

I found a solution to my mother’s curiosity. I wrote my diary in Latin from that day forward.

This video offers info about similar research.

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