I was cruising through slashdot while waiting for some code to run, and I came upon this:

The brain scan that can read people's intentions | Science | Guardian Unlimited

That little snippet gives the gist of this. The article goes on to discuss the fact that "neuroethicists" are scrambling to hammer out a use policy. I'm wondering what people think of the potential of this. Is this a valuable crime fighting tool? A good way to catch a cheating spouse? A gross invasion of privacy that should be halted immediately?

Also, what do you think the legal/constitutional ramifications of this technology will be in the future? Will such scans be considered "unreasonable search and seizure"?

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

I suspect so, as the standard for technology so far has been that the use of a device to reveal what is not observable by "ordinary sight" is a search.

For instance, the use of thermal imaging to check a house for indications of indoor cannabis cultivation has been held by the USSC to be a search, thus requiring a warrant.

Matt

__________________
De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

That's a good point. I don't imagine law enforcement agencies using this without a warrant. But, this also has a very unique element - you're not using high tech equipment to guess at the location of something or to record events as they occur. In this case, you're "seeing the future".

I'm not really sure about this. The geek in me thinks that the technology potential is really cool. The libertarian in me thinks that the government will soon be up to no good...

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

This does seem pretty cool, actually.

I can't imagine it being used for law enforcement any time soon, though. Since it can only really detect what people might do in the near future, it's not that useful at the moment (unless someone plans on murdering someone the second they leave the police brain scan room).

In addition, I'm wondering how complex an action this thing will one day be able to interpret. I mean, would it ever be able to say "John Smith intends to go to 549 Harbor Street and murder Sarah McDermit with a revolver his father gave him when he was 17"? I find that hard to believe, but I guess anything is possible.

Also, how would they tell what these thoughts are? In the test they did, they asked people to add or subtract a number they would show them. So, they were expecting to look for patterns in the person's brain that would match with 'adding' or 'subtracting'. Would they then, in the future, look for patterns of 'murder' or 'not murder'? How would they tell which is which?

What if someone was taking the test and had a random thought about how they wanted to kill that annoying fly that was bothering them? How might that be misinterpreted?

And last but not least, intentions can't really prove anything. I intend to become a millionaire, that doesn't make me a millionaire. At least, not yet.

__________________
"Anyone that needs what they want, and doesn’t want what they need
I want nothing to do with
And to do what I want
And to do what I please
Is first on my to-do list"
-Gnarls Barkley, "Going On" lyrics

I think it would be more beneficial if this technique could be used as an accurate lie detector. My thinking is that if it can be used to determine what someone is planning to do, it can certainly determine if they are making something up as that takes place in a specific part of the brain (vs. remembering specific events - which occur in a different part of the brain).

I'm not sure how I would feel if it was used as an interrogation technique, but if it was used in a trial I can certainly see the benefits such as shorter court appearances etc...

Also, it could be used on convicts to see if they truly did commit the crime they were charged with. Again, so long as it is accurate.

__________________
Two-thirds of the world's lawyers practice in the US

I've been around since "Buy American" meant "Made in the USA".

Anybody seen "The Minority Report"??

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

Sounds to me like more Psychobabelogical nonsense.

This is the USPO equivalent of: "This statement is false."

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Same sort of idea, I suppose. But, I don't think that "thoughtcrime" would stand up in the face of the constitution. The applications that I was envisioning would be something like using it at the airport (perhaps the 'intention' of violence is easy to detect).

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Of course, damn good fiction like anything from Philip K. Dick, but fiction none-the-less I imagine. I have to agree with drgoodtrips, much more easier to use such to narrow down possible threats (much as the no-fly list and racial profiling does). Besides, it doesn't really say how well it predicts what your thinking based on such patterns that would lable you a threat. Nor how it could be used on a fesible level. Though I could also see this being helpful on understanding the human psyche.
After all, psychology has most of its criticisms in where it strolls away from hard proven facts. I'm sure we could learn plenty about how twisted we are as a species by simply studying our intentions. ^.^ No more, "Ah, your the way you are because your mother didn't hug you enough!" Pretty exciting stuff, one way or the other (frankly we can use all the help we can get, with crazy astronuts on the loose).

At the same time that this seems cutting edge and cool, it rubs me the wrong way when I picture the government getting their hands on it.

I like Speakeasy's fly thought and how it can be misconstrued.

If we're just hearing about it, chances are that the government had it for awhile....And I agree with your hypothesis.

__________________
Anyone who thinks freedom comes cheap, please put the blindfold on and stand against the wall.

Many times I believe Americans will have to take back the country and start a new government.

Alot of this is for defensive purposes. However, it can be abused.
Many people go around in this world thinking they know whats best for everyone. It is these types we have to look out for who would use this technology simply because they have a narccisstic personality disorder.

__________________

I think that a "brain scanner" would be a violation of either the 4th Amendment (illegal search and seizure) or the 5th (the right to freedom from self-incimination). So I think that it should never be able to be used in a court of law.

Being something of a mad scientist myself, though, I would have to say that an actual brain scanner that can accurately read intentions would be very hard to devise. You would have to create a device that can interpret something as complex and non-standard (no two brains are alike, at least not in flavor and texture ), which, by default, would be more complex and powerful than the brain itself. There are no devices that come close to the power/ complexity of the brain, so I do not think this scanner will be more than a curiosity after a while. And once the authorities have ironed out most of the wrinkles in its operation, there will be proven techniques for fooling the machine, much like there are proven techniques for defeating lie detector tests.