What Brain-Computer Interfaces Could Mean for the ...

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are slowly moving into the mass market. In the next few years, we might be able to control our PowerPoint ... Youhave1freearticlesleftthismonth. Youarereadingyourlastfreearticleforthismonth. Subscribeforunlimitedaccess. Createanaccounttoread2more. Technologyandanalytics WhatBrain-ComputerInterfacesCouldMeanfortheFutureofWork by AlexandreGonfalonieri by AlexandreGonfalonieri October06,2020 HBRStaff/KeitravisSquire/Unsplash Tweet Post Share Save GetPDF BuyCopies Print Summary.    Braincomputerinterfaces(BCIs)areslowlymovingintothemassmarket.Inthenextfewyears,wemightbeabletocontrolourPowerPointpresentationorExcelfilesusingonlyourbrains.AndcompaniesmaywanttouseBCItechnologytomonitortheattentionlevelsandmentalstatesoftheiremployees.Obviously,therearemyriadethicalquestionsandconcernssurroundingtheuseofBCItechnologyintheworkplace.Thetechnologyiswellaheadofthepoliciesandregulationsthatwouldneedtobeputinplace.But,it’stimeforbusinessleaderstostartbuildingaBCIstrategyassoonaspossibletoaddressthepotentialrisksandbenefits. Tweet Post Share Save GetPDF BuyCopies Print Leerenespañol Leremportuguês ImagineifyourmanagercouldknowwhetheryouactuallypaidattentioninyourlastZoommeeting.Or,imagineifyoucouldprepareyournextpresentationusingonlyyourthoughts.Thesescenariosmightsoonbecomearealitythankstothedevelopmentofbrain-computerinterfaces(BCIs). Toputitinthesimplestterms,thinkofaBCIasabridgebetweenyourbrainandanexternaldevice.Asoftoday,wemostlyrelyonelectroencephalography(EEG)—acollectionofmethodsformonitoringtheelectricalactivityofthebrain—todothis.But,that’schanging.Byleveragingmultiplesensorsandcomplexalgorithms,it’snowbecomingpossibletoanalyzebrainsignalsandextractrelevantbrainpatterns.Brainactivitycanthenberecordedbyanon-invasivedevice—nosurgicalinterventionneeded.Infact,themajorityofexistingandmainstreamBCIsarenon-invasive,suchaswearableheadbandsandearbuds. ThedevelopmentofBCItechnologywasinitiallyfocusedonhelpingparalyzedpeoplecontrolassistivedevicesusingtheirthoughts.Butnewusecasesarebeingidentifiedallthetime.Forexample,BCIscannowbeusedasaneurofeedbacktrainingtooltoimprovecognitiveperformance.IexpecttoseeagrowingnumberofprofessionalsleveragingBCItoolstoimprovetheirperformanceatwork.Forexample,yourBCIcoulddetectthatyourattentionlevelistoolowcomparedwiththeimportanceofagivenmeetingortaskandtriggeranalert.Itcouldalsoadaptthelightingofyourofficebasedonhowstressedyouare,orpreventyoufromusingyourcompanycarifdrowsinessisdetected. InsightCenter TechnologyandTransformation SponsoredbyLumen Examiningthechallengesandopportunitiesthatlieahead. AToronto-basedstartupcalled“Muse”hasdevelopedasensingheadbandthatgivesreal-timeinformationaboutwhat’sgoingoninyourbrain.Asyoucanimagine,thestartupalreadyhasa“CorporateWellnessProgram”to“helpyouremployeeslowerstress,increaseresilience,andimprovetheirengagement.” Otherheadbandsonthemarketalsouseproprietarysensorstodetectbrainsignalsandleveragemachinelearningalgorithmstoprovideinsightsintotheengagementlevelsofusers/workers.Theycantrackwhethersomeoneisfocusedordistracted.Theoretically,thiscouldhelpindividualsintheirday-to-daytasks,byevaluatingwhichtasksshouldbetackledfirstbasedonyourattentionlevel.But,there’salsohugepotentialforabuse(moreonthisbelow). Thisabilitytomonitor(andpotentiallycontrol)attentionlevelscreatesnewpossibilitiesformanagers.Forexample,companiescouldhaveaccesstoaspecific“BCIHRdashboard”inwhichallemployees’braindatawouldbedisplayed,inreal-time.Arewegoingtoseesupervisorsmonitoringtheattentionlevelsoftheircolleagues?Attheendofeachannualperformancereview,arewegoingtoalsoanalyzeandcompareattentionlevelsthankstoourBCIs?Yourbraininformationmaybeofinteresttoyouremployers,allowingthemtokeepaneyeonhowfocusedyouare,andallowingthemtoadaptemployees’workloadsaccordingly.Again,thereismuchpotentialforabuse. IalsoexpectmoreprofessionaleventstoleverageBCIsinthenearfuture.Indeed,researchhasshownthatbraindatacanhelppredictwhichboothsandactivitiespeoplewouldvisit.Inthefuture,arewegoingtoneedBCIstoparticipateinbusinessevents? Beyondtheanalysisofbrainsignals,somecompaniesarealreadyworkingonsolutionsthatcanactuallymodulateyourbrainactivity.ResearchersatColumbiaUniversityhaveshownhow neurofeedbackusinganEEG-basedBCIcouldbeusedtoaffectalertness andtoimprovesubjects’performanceinacognitively-demandingtask.Despitethesepromisingresults,someexperts,suchasTheodoreZanto,adirectoroftheUCSFneuroscienceprogram,saythatwhileBCIsbasedonEEGscanscandetermineauser’sattentionlevels,theyareasofyetstillincapableofdifferentiatingwhattheuserisactuallyfocusedon.InaJanuary,2019Mediumarticle,hesays,“Ihaven’tseenanydataindicatingyoucandissociateifsomeoneispayingattentiontotheteacherortheirphoneorjusttheirowninternalthoughtsanddaydreaming.”Moreover,IrealizedthroughmyownworkthatBCIsarealsoaffectedbyuser’sspecificcharacteristics,suchas gender,age,andlifestyle.Indeed,myteamandIaretryingtodeterminehowbrainactivitycanaffectanathlete’sperformance.Accordingtosomeresearch,“psychologicalfactorsincludingattention,memoryload,fatigue,andcompetingcognitiveprocesses,aswellasusers’basiccharacteristicssuchaslifestyle,gender,andage,influenceinstantaneousbraindynamics.”Expertsbelievethataround“15-30%ofindividualsareinherentlynotabletoproducebrainsignalsrobustenoughtooperateaBCI.” Obviously,thissituationcanleadtowrongresultsandultimatelybaddecisionsfromcompanies.BCIsstillhavealongwaytogo,andmuchimprovementisneeded. AnotherusecaseforBCIsatworkisrelatedtothewaysweinteractwithmachinesanddevices.Indeed,Ipredictthatinthefuture,themost“dangerous”jobswillrequiretheuseofBCIs.Forexample,someBCIcompanieshavealreadyusedEEGtoanalyzesignalsofdrowsydriving.Companieswithworkerswhooperatedangerousmachinerymayrequiretheirworkerstobemonitoredinthesameways.Ibelievethatsomeday,itwillbemandatoryforpilotsandsurgeonstowearaBCIwhileworking. TheideaofhumansinteractingwithdevicesisapillarofBCIs,asBCItechnologyprovidesdirectcommunicationbetweenthebrainandexternaldevices.Inthenextfewyears,wemightbeabletocontrolourPowerPointpresentationorExcelfilesusingonlyourbrains.Someprototypescantranslatebrainactivityintotextorinstructionsforacomputer,andintheory,asthetechnologyimproves,we’llseepeopleusingBCIstowritememosorreportsatwork. Wecouldalsoimagineaworkenvironmentthatadaptsautomaticallytoyourstresslevelorthoughts.BCIscandetectthementalstateofaworkerandadjustnearbydevicesaccordingly(smarthomeutilization).Concretely,whenstressed,yourheadbandcouldsendinformation(usingBluetooth)toyourcomputersothatitstartsplayingyour“calm”playlist,oryourSlackcanturnto“donotdisturb”modewhileyournextappointmentcanbeautomaticallycancelled.Obviously,thisscenarioraisesquestionsaboutprivacy.Wouldyoufeelcomfortableknowingthatotherscanknowpreciselyhowyoufeelmentally?Whatifthisinformationcouldbeusedagainstyou?Whatifthisdatacouldbemodifiedbysomeoneelsewithoutyourapproval? Researchersarealsoexperimentingwith“passthoughts”asanalternativetopasswords.Soon,wemightlogintoourvariousdevicesandplatformsusingourthoughts.AsdescribedinthisIEEESpectrumarticle,“Whenweperformmentaltaskslike picturingashape orsingingasonginourheads, ourbrainsgenerateuniqueneuronalelectricalsignals.Abillionpeople could mentallyhumthesamesongand notwobrain-wavepatternsgeneratedbythattaskwouldbealike.An electroencephalograph (EEG) wouldread thosebrainwavesusingnoninvasiveelectrodes that recordthesignals.Theunique patternscanbeusedlikeapasswordorbiometricidentification.” Asyoucanimagine,therearemyriadethicalquestionsandconcernssurroundingtheuseofBCItechnologyintheworkplace.CompanieswhoopttouseBCItechnologycanfacemassivebacklashfromemployees,nottomentionfromthepublic.Whenitcomestocollectingbraindata,thepotentialforabuseisfrightening:Evenwhenusedwiththebestofintentions,companiescouldriskbecomingoverlydependentonusingbraindatatoevaluate,monitor,andtrainemployees,andtherearerisksassociatedwiththat. BCIsaren’taperfecttechnology—there’snotellingwhatsortofmistakesormishapswe’llencounterascompaniesandindividualsbegintousethesedevicesinthereal-world.What’smore,BCIs—likeanytechnology—canbehacked.HackerscanaccessaBCIheadbandandcreate/sendmanipulatedEEGdata.AhackercouldalsointerceptandalteralldatatransmittedbyyourBCI.It’spossiblethatahackercouldstealyour“passthoughts”usercredentialsandinteractwithyourdevices(laptop,car,etc.).Theseriskscandirectlyimpactourphysicalintegrity.Braindatacouldalsobestolentobeusedagainstyouforextortionpurposes.Thepotentialforseriousabuseissignificant.Whencompaniesbegintouseandanalyzebraindata,howwilltheyprioritizeprivacyanddatasecurityandmeettheindustry’stopstandardsforprotectingemployeedata?Whowillultimatelyownthedatathat’scollected?Andwhatareemployees’rightswhentheircompaniesbegintorolloutthesetechnologies?Needlesstosay,thetechnologyiswellaheadofthepoliciesandregulationsthatwouldneedtobeputinplace. Still,thetechnologyisslowlymovingintothemassmarket.Agrowingnumberofstartupsandlargetechfirmsareworkingonsafer,moreaccurate,andcheaperBCIs.Iexpecttoseebusinessleadersembracingthistechnologyandtryingtoleveragebraindatatoachievebetterworkefficiencyandgreatersafety.IrecommendthatbusinessleadersstartbuildingaBCIstrategyassoonaspossibletoaddressthepotentialrisksandbenefits. ReadmoreonTechnologyandanalytics AG AlexandreGonfalonieriistheHeadofInnovationatDNAGlobalAnalyticsand writesaboutAIandBCI.FindhimonTwitter@AGonfalonieri. Tweet Post Share Save GetPDF BuyCopies Print ReadmoreonTechnologyandanalytics PartnerCenter Diversity Latest Magazine Ascend Topics Podcasts Video Store TheBigIdea Data&Visuals CaseSelections