TECHNOLOGIES are often billed as transformative. For William Kochevar, the term is justified. Mr Kochevar is paralysed below the shoulders after a cycling accident, yet has managed to feed himself by his own hand. This remarkable feat is partly thanks to electrodes, implanted in his right arm, which stimulate muscles. But the real magic lies higher up. Mr Kochevar can control his arm using the power of thought. His intention to move is reflected in neural activity in his motor cortex; these signals are detected by implants in his brain and processed into commands to activate the electrodes in his arms.
  人們常用“具變革性”來宣傳某種技術(shù)。對威廉.科切瓦爾（William Kochevar）來說，這個詞并無夸張。一次自行車事故后，科切瓦爾自肩部以下癱瘓，但還是能自己用手吃飯。這個非凡的成就部分要歸功于植入他右臂用來刺激肌肉的電極，但真正施展魔力的還在更高的部位：科切瓦爾可以用意念控制手臂。他移動手臂的意圖反映在他大腦運動皮層的神經(jīng)活動中，而他大腦中的植入物會探測到這些信號并將之轉(zhuǎn)化成指令，激活他手臂里的電極。
  An ability to decode thought in this way may sound like science fiction. But brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) like the BrainGate system used by Mr Kochevar provide evidence that mind-control can work. Researchers are able to tell what words and images people have heard and seen from neural activity alone. Information can also be encoded and used to stimulate the brain. Over 300,000 people have cochlear implants, which help them to hear by converting sound into electrical signals and sending them into the brain. Scientists have “injected” data into monkeys’ heads, instructing them to perform actions via electrical pulses.
  用這種方式解碼思想聽起來可能像科幻小說。但是像科切瓦爾使用的“腦門”（BrainGate）系統(tǒng)之類的腦機接口證明思維控制的確可以實現(xiàn)。研究人員僅憑人們的神經(jīng)活動就能知道他們聽到了哪些詞語、看到了哪些圖像。信息還可以經(jīng)編碼用于刺激大腦。超過30萬人已經(jīng)植入了人工耳蝸，這種裝置把聲音轉(zhuǎn)換成電信號，再將信號傳入大腦，幫助人們聽到聲音�？茖W(xué)家還曾將數(shù)據(jù)“注射”到猴子的大腦里，通過電脈沖命令它們做出動作。
  The pace of research into BCIs and the scale of its ambition are increasing. Both America’s armed forces and Silicon Valley are starting to focus on the brain. Facebook dreams of thought-to-text typing. Kernel, a startup, has $100m to spend on neurotechnology. Elon Musk has formed a firm called Neuralink; he thinks that, if humanity is to survive the advent of artificial intelligence, it needs an upgrade. Entrepreneurs envisage a world in which people can communicate telepathically, with each other and with machines, or acquire superhuman abilities, such as hearing at very high frequencies.
  腦機接口的研究進程正在加快，并且越來越雄心勃勃。美國軍方和硅谷都開始關(guān)注大腦。Facebook希望能實現(xiàn)“思想轉(zhuǎn)文字”，讓大腦直接輸出文字。創(chuàng)業(yè)公司Kernel獲得了一億美元的融資，用于研發(fā)神經(jīng)技術(shù)。伊隆.馬斯克成立了一家名為Neuralink的公司，他認(rèn)為人工智能出現(xiàn)后，人類如果還想生存下去，就需要升級。在企業(yè)家們設(shè)想的世界中，人們可以通過心靈感應(yīng)與他人或機器交流，或是獲得超人般的能力，比如能聽到非常高頻的聲音。
  These powers, if they ever materialise, are decades away. But well before then, BCIs could open the door to remarkable new applications. Imagine stimulating the visual cortex to help the blind, forging new neural connections in stroke victims or monitoring the brain for signs of depression. By turning the firing of neurons into a resource to be harnessed, BCIs may change the idea of what it means to be human.
  這些能力即便真能實現(xiàn)，也要到幾十年后。但在那之前，腦機接口或許會打開通往非凡新應(yīng)用的大門。想象一下，人類或許可以通過刺激視覺皮層來幫助盲人視物，為中風(fēng)患者建立新的神經(jīng)連接，或是監(jiān)控大腦是否有抑郁癥的跡象。腦機接口將神經(jīng)元放電轉(zhuǎn)化為一種可利用的資源，在此過程中或許會改變對人的定義。


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