Neurowarfare

The Wired defense blog alerted me to this very interesting paper entitled "Brave New World: Neurowarfare and the Limits of International Humanitarian Law". The article talks about the military's research of weapons that can be controlled through brain-machine connections. In the first part of the paper the author mentions the various legalities of using these type of computer interfaces in international warfare.

"For the past several years, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the military research and development agency tasked with maintaining U.S. military technological superiority, has engaged in research on direct neurological control of weapon systems."

Science is making strides towards being able to control specific technology solely by manipulating ones own thought processes.

"Application of this technology to prosthetics has already progressed into human trials. In 2006, a tetraplegic human with a rudimentary microelectrode cortical implant demonstrated the feasibility of this technology by manipulating a simulated computer, a television, and a robotic arm."

The military is keen on developing technology that can integrate man with military hardware. The ability to control military technology will likely become much more precise and intuitive in the future. Pilots of planes or tanks will have their EEG's recorded and the on board computers will be able to sense their inner thoughts. Interestingly, some think that these brain computer interfaces are not the ultimate battle weapon and that artificial intelligence may ultimately render humans obsolete.

"Nevertheless, Licklider believed that “man-machine symbiosis” would not likely prove “the ultimate paradigm for complex technological systems” because advances in artificial intelligence might eventually render humans’ role superfluous in tactical warfare decisions."

The paper mentions that humans have the ability to recognize things faster than computers at this point. However this may change in the future as computers get better at recognizing and classifying images. Software is steadily making improvements in this area, and may eventually surpass humans.

"One of the justifications for employing a brain-machine interface is that the human brain can perform image calculations in parallel and can thus recognize items, such as targets, and classify them in 200 milliseconds, 162 a rate orders of magnitude faster than computers can perform such operations. In fact, the image processing occurs faster than the subject can become conscious of what he or she sees."

In the future, computers may become extremely good at processing video imaging. Artificially intelligent software will be able to analyze images from satellites and be able to pick out suspicious activity. It may eventually get good enough to be able to read people's intentions and tell whether they are hostile or not. This may be especially helpful in situations when it is not clear who the enemy is. Often the enemy blends in with other civilians, so soldiers may not recognize them until it's too late. A sophisticated artificial intelligence would be able to pick up on suspicious behavior that would indicate a hidden enemy combatant. The author talks about brain-interface guided weapons. Basically you could have a computer reading a soldiers brain waves. The machine would then translate those thoughts into firing a weapon at an enemy target. This could be helpful in situations where split second timing was necessary to be able to win on the battlefield.

"In summary, a brain-interface guided weapon could circumvent the pilot’s normal volitional processing signals and rely solely on the recognition activity, thereby making it impossible for courts to determine whether a volitional act occurred before weapon targeting"

Imagine a future where a pilot wears a helmet that can read their EEG (brain waves). The headset might also contain electrodes that can electrically stimulate specific areas of the pilot's brain (using transcranial direct current stimulation). So on board computer sensors on the plane could detect if the pilot was getting sleepy or losing their concentration. Then the headset could send a small electric current to an area of the brain like the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to improve the pilots mood or attention. Researchers have found that stimulating the left lateral occipital cortex with transcranial magnetic stimulation can reduce the effects of sleep deprivation. So a tDCS electrode device inside a helmet might also be able to stimulate the same area and get a similar effect. This type of device could potentially be far superior to the go-pills (amphetamines) that have been used in the past to keep soldiers alert. Amphetamines (and drugs in general) have many negative effects on soldiers, so their use is less than ideal. I think the ultimate technology will seamlessly integrate man with military hardware and allow a "cross-talk" between the human brain and a machine. The military is definitely moving towards these types of brain-machine connections. They may increasingly find use on the battlefield of the future and possibly in civilian areas as well.