Neuroscientists from the University of Texas in Austin have made a huge advancement in the world of artificial intelligence with the help of ChatGPT, a human-like chatbot powered by OpenAI. This major discovery can provide hope for patients with “locked-in” syndrome, stroke, or other medical conditions that limit their ability to verbally communicate.
Alexander Huth, assistant professor of neuroscience and computer science, consulted on the research demonstrating the potential applications of AI in the healthcare sector. In order to develop this new technology, Professor Huth spent 20 hours in a fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine, during which time the machine captured brain activity as he listened to audio clips.
By analyzing these images, the AI system was able to match the corresponding brain activity to the audio being heard, leading to an accurate prediction of the words being heard – an incredible breakthrough. This system was based on the ChatGPT-1 model, which was developed by providing a large database of books and websites.
Potentially, this technology could be used to aid communication with people suffering from “locked-in” syndrome and other conditions which limit verbal communication. According to Professor Huth, what makes this discovery so impressive “is that we don’t need brain surgery and it might function without a person’s cooperation.”
This technology does bring up questions of privacy issues, and Jerry Tang, the lead author of a related paper warns against a false sense of security regarding data protection. Tang states that the protection of brain data, “one of the last remaining frontiers of our privacy” is a huge priority.
OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research lab behind ChatGTP is dedicated to researching responsible AI technologies. In particular, the research team is focused on projects that “develop techniques that can be used to promote safety and minimize the potential damage from bad actors.”
Their advancements in the field of AI have already revolutionized the modern world, and future breakthroughs like that of the neuroscientists from the University of Texas is only paving the way for many more to come.
