Brain-computer interfaces are an excellent technology but something is even more alarming and that is the use of it. China has been triggering a conspiracy to use this innovation in a distinct application of cognitive enhancement.
Last week, an IT forum in Beijing revealed a “grassroots” brain-computer system that made it possible for a monkey to control a robotic arm by just its thoughts.
State-run news media outlet Xinhua reported, a video was played at the event, in which a monkey was seen with controlled use of its hands making that robotic arm fetch a strawberry. The well-known organizations NeuCyber NeuroTech and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research introduced a system that consists of barin-embedded soft electrode filaments
Similarly, scientists of the US experimented with the same system in people with paralysis to give them the ability to operate a robotic arm but China took a bold gamble by designing its brain-computer technology and keeping pace neck and neck with West.
BCIs, gather and optimize brain signals and give permits for direct command of an output device, for instance robotic arm, keyboard, or smartphone. Elon Musk’s Neuralink and a cadre startup in the US are striving to make the technology commercially viable.
According to William Hannas, a senior researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), states that China has been going head-to-head with the US in the field of BCI innovation. He further adds that “China is committed to swiftly shrinking the gap with the US in BCI technology and is producing leading-edge research in the world.
He continues to say, “China only fell behind the US in intrusive BCIs- where they’re being surgically inserted into the brain or attached to its exterior-in contrast, China targeted on non-intrusive technology that is placed on the head, and, has also made progress in innovating insertable technology for use in medical treatments.
However, what’s more alarming is China’s enthusiasm for BCIs for the masses. A report collaboratively written by Hannas in March analyzes the Chinese research on BCIs for purposes outside of medicine.
Referring to ethical guidelines laid by a political party, named the Communist Party in February 2024 that made the cognitive improvement of thriving community the mission of Chinese BCI research, He says that “China is quite brazen about this”. “Purposes that are not medically related like cognitive control, sleep cycle, memory regulation and exoskeletons for enhanced BCI interfaces calls for analysis and advancement, within a defined scope, under strict regulation and where benefits are solid.” Reveals interpreted guidelines by CSET.
The translated Chinese guidelines further reveal that BCI technology must not take over human abilities of decision-making “Until it has proven itself to outdo human abilities and is approved by people at large, research on such AI that can undermine human’s critical thinking should be put on hold.”
According to the CSET report, non-medical applications refer to BCIs that are wearable and depend on electrodes fitted over the scalp, also called electroencephalography or EEG devices. Unlike intrusive BCIs, wearable ones on the scalp release some electrical signals that are difficult to understand, although China is making a great effort to enhance the analysis of brain signals.
A raft of companies in the US are also striving to design BCIs that can be worn over which potentially is a type of cognitive enhancement. For suppose, a bio-information and technology company, Emotiv of San Francisco and Neurable in Boston are beginning EEG headsets to the market that are designed to boost concentration and determination. Funds were also provided for the research on wearable BCIs from the US Department of Defense that eventually activates the command of cyber-defense systems and drones by troops.
However, Margaret Kosal, associate professor of international relations at Georgia Institute of Technology, says, China’s approach to the BCI research is a little bit different as compared to the US. She adds, “The technique China has been using connects the military and the commercial and this is where the concern is raised.”
Moreover, she indicates towards US BRAIN Initiative, which got off the ground in 2013 with a mission of fundamental research and medical-related applications. Since then, it continued contributing research on BCIs for paralyzed and blind people. On the other hand, in 2016, China invented its brain project with the focus of initiating such technologies that will not only used for diagnosis but for the treatment of brain malfunctions as well and, that’s just not it, the project also prioritizes simulating human skills and makes a relationship between individual and machinery.
Kosal is seen to be arguing in a paper released last year about China’s swift adaptive behavior for BCI technology in market and army sectors because of its government structure, and cultural and social practices due to its resemblance between the aims of neural science research and military.
She further adds, that if BCIs hold the potential to grant augmented cognition to military personnel and harmonious co-existence of humans and AI, then in no time these technologies on prior adaptation could’ve given implications to the US national security. “The fate of warfare could be transformed if we weaponize this” she states.
A technician at an NGO, Justin Sanchez, says that for any country to turn the tables in the field of BCIs should not be shocking at all, however, if that occurs, the USA will have to pay, he says, “It is high time that we begin to understand the medical applications and make these remarkable technologies available in the USA before we lose the control and same holds steady on a national level”.
