WEBVTT

00:00:01.096 --> 00:00:05.927
In the months following
the 2009 presidential election in Iran,

00:00:05.927 --> 00:00:08.821
protests erupted across the country.

00:00:09.757 --> 00:00:12.755
The Iranian government
violently suppressed

00:00:12.755 --> 00:00:16.164
what came to be known
as the Iranian Green Moevement.

00:00:16.676 --> 00:00:18.856
Even blocking mobile signals

00:00:18.856 --> 00:00:21.798
to cut off communication
between the protesters.

00:00:22.404 --> 00:00:27.009
My parents, who emigrated
to the United States in the late 1960s,

00:00:27.009 --> 00:00:28.964
spend substantial time there,

00:00:28.964 --> 00:00:31.897
where all of my large,
extended family live.

00:00:32.865 --> 00:00:36.139
When I would call my family in Tehran

00:00:36.139 --> 00:00:39.644
during some of the most violent
crackdowns of the protest,

00:00:39.644 --> 00:00:42.686
none of them dared discuss
with me what was happening.

00:00:43.334 --> 00:00:46.763
They or I knew to quickly steer
the conversation to other topics.

00:00:47.211 --> 00:00:50.663
All of us understood what
the consequences could be

00:00:50.663 --> 00:00:53.143
of a perceived dissident action.

00:00:54.215 --> 00:00:57.707
But I still wish I could have known
what they were thinking

00:00:57.707 --> 00:00:59.325
or what they were feeling.

00:01:00.249 --> 00:01:01.642
What if I could have?

00:01:02.149 --> 00:01:03.411
Or more frighteningly,

00:01:03.411 --> 00:01:06.428
what if the Iranian
government could have?

00:01:06.870 --> 00:01:10.114
Would they have arrested them
based on what their brains revealed?

00:01:11.037 --> 00:01:14.175
That day may be closer than you think.

00:01:14.662 --> 00:01:18.496
With our growing capabilities
in neuroscience, artificial intelligence

00:01:18.496 --> 00:01:20.222
and machine learning,

00:01:20.222 --> 00:01:22.784
we may soon know a lot more

00:01:22.784 --> 00:01:24.614
of what's happening
in the human brain.

00:01:25.083 --> 00:01:28.489
As a bioethicist, a lawyer,
a philosopher

00:01:28.489 --> 00:01:30.379
and an Iranian-American,

00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:34.189
I'm deeply concerned about what
this means for our freedoms

00:01:34.189 --> 00:01:36.360
and what kinds of protections we need.

00:01:37.081 --> 00:01:40.517
I believe we need
a right to cognitive liberty

00:01:40.517 --> 00:01:43.409
as a human right
that needs to be protected.

00:01:43.772 --> 00:01:46.547
If not, our freedom of thought,

00:01:46.547 --> 00:01:49.487
access and control over our own brains

00:01:49.487 --> 00:01:52.597
and our mental privacy will be threatened.

00:01:53.698 --> 00:01:54.701
Consider this.

00:01:54.701 --> 00:01:58.194
The average person thinks
thousands of thoughts each day.

00:01:58.784 --> 00:01:59.969
As a thought takes form,

00:01:59.969 --> 00:02:03.702
like a math calculation or a number,

00:02:03.702 --> 00:02:05.080
a word,

00:02:05.080 --> 00:02:07.949
neurons are interacting in the brain,

00:02:07.949 --> 00:02:11.217
creating [a] miniscule
electrical discharge.

00:02:11.888 --> 00:02:15.293
When you have a dominant
mental state like relaxation,

00:02:15.293 --> 00:02:19.534
hundreds and thousands of neurons
are firing in the brain,

00:02:19.534 --> 00:02:23.775
creating concurrent electrical discharges
in characteristic patterns

00:02:23.775 --> 00:02:27.386
that can measured with
electroencephalography,

00:02:27.386 --> 00:02:28.530
or EEG.

00:02:29.230 --> 00:02:31.390
In fact, that's what
you're seeing right now.

00:02:32.075 --> 00:02:36.178
You're seeing my brain activity
that was recorded in real time

00:02:36.178 --> 00:02:38.913
with a simple device
that was worn on my head.

00:02:39.804 --> 00:02:45.457
What you're seeing is my brain activity
when I was relaxed and curious.

00:02:46.225 --> 00:02:47.903
To share this information with you,

00:02:47.903 --> 00:02:51.013
I wore one of the early
consumer-based EEG devices

00:02:51.013 --> 00:02:52.247
like this one,

00:02:52.247 --> 00:02:56.235
which recorded the electrical
activity in my brain in real time.

00:02:56.993 --> 00:03:00.780
It's not unlike the fitness trackers
that some of you may be wearing

00:03:00.780 --> 00:03:04.309
to measure your heart rate
or the steps that you've taken

00:03:04.309 --> 00:03:06.058
or even your sleep activity.

00:03:07.154 --> 00:03:10.978
It's hardly the most sophisticated
neuroimaging technique on the market.

00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:14.103
But it's already the most portable

00:03:14.103 --> 00:03:17.255
and the most likely to impact
our everyday lives.

00:03:18.019 --> 00:03:19.264
This is extraordinary.

00:03:19.482 --> 00:03:21.971
Through a simple, wearable device,

00:03:21.971 --> 00:03:25.616
we can literally see
inside the human brain

00:03:25.616 --> 00:03:29.229
and learn aspects of our mental landscape

00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:32.279
without ever uttering a word.

00:03:32.829 --> 00:03:36.601
While we can't reliably decode
complex thoughts just yet,

00:03:36.601 --> 00:03:39.143
we can already gage a person's mood,

00:03:39.143 --> 00:03:42.039
and with the help
of artificial intelligence,

00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:46.530
we can even decode
some single-digit numbers

00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:51.217
or shapes or simple words
that a person is thinking

00:03:51.217 --> 00:03:53.768
or hearing, or seeing.

00:03:54.306 --> 00:03:57.806
Despite some inherent limitations in EEG,

00:03:57.806 --> 00:04:02.502
I think it's safe to say that with
our advances in technology,

00:04:02.502 --> 00:04:06.274
more and more of what's happening
in the human brain

00:04:06.274 --> 00:04:08.873
can and will be decoded over time.

00:04:09.442 --> 00:04:13.909
Already, using one of these devices,
an epileptic can know

00:04:13.909 --> 00:04:16.785
they're going to have an epileptic
seizure before it happens.

00:04:16.911 --> 00:04:21.712
A paraplegic can type on a computer
with their thoughts alone.

00:04:22.613 --> 00:04:26.761
A US-based company has developed
a technology to embed these censors

00:04:26.761 --> 00:04:29.088
into the headrest of automobilies

00:04:29.088 --> 00:04:31.579
so they can track driver concentration,

00:04:31.579 --> 00:04:32.582
distraction

00:04:32.582 --> 00:04:34.579
and cognitive load while driving.

00:04:34.937 --> 00:04:38.995
Nissan, insurance companies
and AAA have all taken note.

00:04:40.147 --> 00:04:44.600
You could even watch this
choose-your-own-adventure movie,

00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:46.053
"The Moment,"

00:04:46.053 --> 00:04:48.745
which, with an EEG headset,

00:04:48.745 --> 00:04:52.838
changes the movie based
on your brain-based reactions,

00:04:52.838 --> 00:04:57.191
giving you a different ending
every time your attention wanes.

00:04:59.226 --> 00:05:02.005
This may all sound great,

00:05:02.005 --> 00:05:04.154
and as a bioethicist,

00:05:04.154 --> 00:05:07.985
I am a huge proponent of empowering people

00:05:07.985 --> 00:05:10.535
to take charge of their own
health and wellbeing

00:05:10.535 --> 00:05:13.476
by giving them access
to information about themselves,

00:05:13.476 --> 00:05:16.452
including this incredible,
new, brain-decoding technology.

00:05:18.014 --> 00:05:19.181
But I worry.

00:05:19.760 --> 00:05:24.695
I worry that we will voluntarily
or involuntarily give up

00:05:24.695 --> 00:05:27.552
our last bastion of freedom,

00:05:27.552 --> 00:05:29.006
our mental privacy.

00:05:29.374 --> 00:05:32.384
That we will trade our brain activity

00:05:32.384 --> 00:05:36.534
for rebates or discounts on insurance,

00:05:36.534 --> 00:05:40.508
or free access to social
media accounts ...

00:05:40.508 --> 00:05:42.356
or even to keep our jobs.

00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:46.469
In fact, in China,

00:05:46.469 --> 00:05:52.299
the train drivers on
the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail,

00:05:52.299 --> 00:05:54.724
the busiest of its kind in the world,

00:05:54.724 --> 00:05:57.407
are required to wear EEG devices

00:05:57.407 --> 00:05:59.834
to monitor their brain
activity while driving.

00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:02.506
According to some news sources,

00:06:02.506 --> 00:06:05.206
in government-run factories in China,

00:06:05.206 --> 00:06:10.577
the workers are required to wear
EEG censors to monitor their productivity

00:06:10.577 --> 00:06:12.692
and their emotional state at work.

00:06:13.482 --> 00:06:15.752
Workers are even sent home

00:06:15.752 --> 00:06:19.806
if their brains show less-than-stellar
concentration on their jobs,

00:06:19.806 --> 00:06:21.928
or emotional agitation.

00:06:23.340 --> 00:06:25.085
It's not going to happen tomorrow,

00:06:25.085 --> 00:06:28.171
but we're headed to a world
of brain transparency.

00:06:28.641 --> 00:06:32.081
And I don't think people understand
that that could change everything.

00:06:32.498 --> 00:06:36.284
Everything from our definitions
of data privacy to our laws,

00:06:36.284 --> 00:06:38.084
to our ideas about freedom.

00:06:38.771 --> 00:06:41.832
In fact, in my lab at Duke University,

00:06:41.832 --> 00:06:43.898
we recently conducted a nationwide study

00:06:43.898 --> 00:06:45.134
in the United States

00:06:45.134 --> 00:06:47.173
to see if people appreciated

00:06:47.173 --> 00:06:49.244
the sensitivity of
their brain information.

00:06:50.412 --> 00:06:53.736
We asked people to rate
their perceived sensitivity

00:06:53.736 --> 00:06:56.151
of 33 different kinds of information,

00:06:56.151 --> 00:06:58.235
from their social security numbers

00:06:58.235 --> 00:07:00.984
to the content of their
phone conversations,

00:07:00.984 --> 00:07:03.200
their relationship history,

00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:05.249
their emotions, their anxiety,

00:07:05.249 --> 00:07:07.089
the mental images in their mind

00:07:07.089 --> 00:07:08.627
and the thoughts in their mind.

00:07:09.537 --> 00:07:14.789
Shockingly, people rated their social
security number as far more sensitive

00:07:14.789 --> 00:07:17.065
than any other kind of information,

00:07:17.065 --> 00:07:19.500
including their brain data.

00:07:20.523 --> 00:07:23.721
I think this is because
people don't yet understand

00:07:23.731 --> 00:07:28.043
or believe the implications
of this new brain-decoding technology.

00:07:28.693 --> 00:07:32.053
After all, if we can know the inner
workings of the human brain,

00:07:32.053 --> 00:07:34.782
our social security numbers
are the least of our worries.

00:07:34.782 --> 00:07:36.090
(Laughter)

00:07:36.090 --> 00:07:37.280
Think about it.

00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:39.783
In a world of total brain transparency,

00:07:39.783 --> 00:07:42.209
who would dare have
a politically dissident thought?

00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:45.011
Or a creative one?

00:07:45.575 --> 00:07:49.194
I worry that people will self-censor

00:07:49.194 --> 00:07:52.494
in fear of being ostracized by society,

00:07:52.494 --> 00:07:56.330
or that people will lose their jobs
because of their waning attention

00:07:56.330 --> 00:07:58.503
or emotional instability,

00:07:58.503 --> 00:08:02.053
or because they're contemplating
collective action against their employers.

00:08:02.677 --> 00:08:05.838
That coming out
will no longer be an option

00:08:05.838 --> 00:08:10.968
because people's brains will long ago
have revealed their sexual orientation,

00:08:10.968 --> 00:08:12.739
their political ideaology,

00:08:12.739 --> 00:08:14.729
or their religious preferences,

00:08:14.729 --> 00:08:17.746
well before they were ready
to conciously share that information

00:08:17.746 --> 00:08:18.999
with other people.

00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:24.541
I worry about the ability of our laws
to keep up with technological change.

00:08:24.986 --> 00:08:27.229
Take the First Amendment
of the US Constitution,

00:08:27.229 --> 00:08:28.930
which protects freedom of speech.

00:08:29.368 --> 00:08:31.540
Does it also protect freedom of thought?

00:08:32.174 --> 00:08:35.962
And if so, does that mean that we're free
to alter our thoughts however we want?

00:08:36.177 --> 00:08:40.851
Or can the government or society tell us
what we can do with our own brains?

00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:45.467
Can the NSA spy on our brains
using these new mobile devices?

00:08:46.157 --> 00:08:50.316
Can the companies that collect
the brain data through their applications

00:08:50.316 --> 00:08:52.390
sell this information to third parties?

00:08:53.214 --> 00:08:56.600
Right now, no laws prevent
them from doing so.

00:08:57.363 --> 00:08:59.348
It could be even more problematic

00:08:59.348 --> 00:09:01.906
in countries that don't share
the same freedoms

00:09:01.906 --> 00:09:04.009
enjoyed by people in the United States.

00:09:05.011 --> 00:09:08.787
What would've happened during
the Iranian Green Movement

00:09:08.787 --> 00:09:12.635
if the government had been
monitoring my family's brain activity,

00:09:12.635 --> 00:09:16.642
and had believed them to be
sympathetic to the protesters?

00:09:18.242 --> 00:09:21.273
Is it so far-fetched to imagine a society


00:09:21.273 --> 00:09:24.065
in which people are arrested
based on their thoughts

00:09:24.065 --> 00:09:25.343
of committing a crime?

00:09:25.343 --> 00:09:29.655
LIke in the science-fiction, dystopian
society in "Minority Report."

00:09:30.366 --> 00:09:33.432
Already, in the United States,

00:09:33.432 --> 00:09:34.832
in Indiana,

00:09:34.832 --> 00:09:39.735
an 18-year-old was charged
with attempting to intimidate his school

00:09:39.735 --> 00:09:44.080
by posting a video of himself
shooting people in the hallways ...

00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.968
except the people were zombies

00:09:46.968 --> 00:09:52.038
and the video was of him playing
and augmented-reality video game,

00:09:52.038 --> 00:09:56.810
all interpreted to be a mental projection
of his subjective intent.

00:09:58.607 --> 00:10:02.944
This is exactly why our brains
need special protection.

00:10:03.331 --> 00:10:06.866
If our brains are just as subject
to data tracking and aggregation

00:10:06.876 --> 00:10:09.324
as our financial records and transactions,

00:10:09.324 --> 00:10:13.665
if you brains can be hacked
and tracked like our online activities,

00:10:13.665 --> 00:10:16.089
our mobile phones and applications,

00:10:16.089 --> 00:10:20.575
then we're on the brink of a dangerous
threat to our collective humanity.

00:10:21.493 --> 00:10:24.092
Before you panic,

00:10:24.092 --> 00:10:27.342
I believe that there are solutions
to these concerns,

00:10:27.342 --> 00:10:30.167
but we have to start by focusing
on the right things.

00:10:30.612 --> 00:10:33.589
When it comes to privacy
protections in general,

00:10:33.589 --> 00:10:35.438
I think we're fighting a losing battle

00:10:35.438 --> 00:10:38.022
by trying to restrict
the flow of information.

00:10:38.273 --> 00:10:42.505
Instead, we should be focusing
on securing rights and remedies

00:10:42.505 --> 00:10:44.780
against the misuse of our information.

00:10:45.403 --> 00:10:48.680
If people had the right to decide
how their information was shared,

00:10:48.680 --> 00:10:49.929
and more importantly,

00:10:49.929 --> 00:10:51.642
have legal redress,

00:10:51.642 --> 00:10:53.817
if their information
was misused against them,

00:10:53.817 --> 00:10:56.871
say to discriminate against them
in an employment setting

00:10:56.871 --> 00:10:59.679
or in health care and education,

00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.407
this would go a long way to build trust.

00:11:02.843 --> 00:11:04.796
In fact, in some instances,

00:11:04.796 --> 00:11:08.320
we want to be sharing more
of our personal information.

00:11:08.968 --> 00:11:11.984
Studying aggregated information
can tell us so much

00:11:11.984 --> 00:11:14.697
about our health and our wellbeing,

00:11:14.697 --> 00:11:18.033
but to be able to safely
share our information,

00:11:18.033 --> 00:11:21.256
we need special protections
for mental privacy.

00:11:21.888 --> 00:11:25.229
This is why we need
a right to cognitive liberty.

00:11:25.662 --> 00:11:29.842
This right would secure for us
our freedom of thought and rumination,

00:11:29.842 --> 00:11:32.307
our freedom of self-determination

00:11:32.307 --> 00:11:36.656
and it would insure that we have
the right to consent to or refuse

00:11:36.656 --> 00:11:39.513
access and alteration
of our brains by others.

00:11:39.891 --> 00:11:42.081
This right could be recognized

00:11:42.081 --> 00:11:44.958
as part of the universal
declaration of human rights,

00:11:44.958 --> 00:11:47.266
which has established mechanisms

00:11:47.266 --> 00:11:50.122
for the enforcement of these
kinds of social rights.

00:11:51.872 --> 00:11:54.149
During the Iranian Green Movement,

00:11:54.149 --> 00:11:59.320
the protesters used the internet
and good old-fashioned word of mouth

00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.268
to coordinate their marches.

00:12:02.373 --> 00:12:05.134
And some of the most oppressive
restrictions in Iran

00:12:05.134 --> 00:12:07.011
were lifted as a result.

00:12:08.135 --> 00:12:12.302
But what if the Iranian government
had used brain surveillance

00:12:12.302 --> 00:12:15.363
to detect and prevent the protest?

00:12:16.982 --> 00:12:20.350
Would the world have ever heard
the protester's cries?

00:12:21.867 --> 00:12:26.988
The time has come for us to call
for a cognitive liberty revolution.

00:12:27.695 --> 00:12:30.982
To make sure that we responsibly
advance technology

00:12:30.982 --> 00:12:33.928
that can enable us to embrace the future

00:12:33.928 --> 00:12:37.206
while fiercely protecting all of us

00:12:37.206 --> 00:12:40.678
from any person, company or government

00:12:40.678 --> 00:12:45.718
that attempts to unlawfully access
or alter our innermost lives.

00:12:46.731 --> 00:12:47.877
Thank you.

00:12:48.305 --> 00:12:50.491
(Applause)