Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy • Hacker News Board

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#51

Post by gwbas1c » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 2:54 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #17

savant_penguin wrote: post #13

> (Don't think this nurse is hot! Don't think this nurse is hot! Holy shit she's hot.) > (You can do this) > (OMG, is it on already?) > (You can do this) > (What a nice bottom) > (Don't think bottom you idiot) > (She's entering the room, think something else, now, fast, bunny bunny) > (Bunny) > (Bunny) > (Bunny, you got this)

I feel like if we got a perfect transcript of our internal monologue, we’d all be shocked at how much we think but instantly forget.

I feel like if we got a perfect transcript of everyone elses' internal monologues, we'd no longer have any shame.

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#52

Post by javajosh » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 2:57 PM UTC

mimimi31 wrote: post #49

Waterluvian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like if we got a perfect transcript of our internal monologue, we’d all be shocked at how much we think but instantly forget.

Interestingly there are people like myself who don't have an inner monologue (some people supposedly even have a constant dialogue with themselves) at all. The only time I experience something like an inner voice is when reading. My normal thoughts are more abstract I guess, I'm just sort of aware of what I want to do, how I feel etc. It's hard to describe.

It sounds peaceful. Do you experience it that way?

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#53

Post by charcircuit » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 2:58 PM UTC

cblconfederate wrote: post #32

This is the metaverse we should be funding, not phones strapped on bulky blindfolds.

Give it 5 years and VR will not be bulky at all.

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#54

Post by Waterluvian » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 2:58 PM UTC

mimimi31 wrote: post #49

Waterluvian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like if we got a perfect transcript of our internal monologue, we’d all be shocked at how much we think but instantly forget.

Interestingly there are people like myself who don't have an inner monologue (some people supposedly even have a constant dialogue with themselves) at all. The only time I experience something like an inner voice is when reading. My normal thoughts are more abstract I guess, I'm just sort of aware of what I want to do, how I feel etc. It's hard to describe.

I’m so deeply fascinated by that because it’s not how I experience consciousness. Very cool. I think I’m far in the opposite direction: I have a voice that sounds like me, but I don’t control and it asks me questions and gives opinions. It’s like having a copilot.

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#55

Post by kungito » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 2:59 PM UTC

mimimi31 wrote: post #49

Waterluvian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like if we got a perfect transcript of our internal monologue, we’d all be shocked at how much we think but instantly forget.

Interestingly there are people like myself who don't have an inner monologue (some people supposedly even have a constant dialogue with themselves) at all. The only time I experience something like an inner voice is when reading. My normal thoughts are more abstract I guess, I'm just sort of aware of what I want to do, how I feel etc. It's hard to describe.

Could people without inner monologue be anxious? How would that kind of overthinking work?

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#56

Post by cgriswald » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 2:59 PM UTC

Levitz wrote: post #47

ceejayoz wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A man paralyzed from the neck down due to a spinal cord injury" typically can still talk. If not, there's blinking/mouth controls like Stephen Hawking.

It would also be easy enough to make him memorize some text and attempt to replicate it, would it not?

No. You’re trying to measure whether the machine is accurately translating his thoughts into characters. He may make errors in spelling or memory. Success is whether the machine spits out the characters he intended, even if they weren’t the ones he was supposed to send.

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#57

Post by graindcafe » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 3:00 PM UTC

clircle wrote: post #36

How do you measure accuracy? Is there another way the man can communicate? edit: The researchers compared the BCI output to a prompt that T5 was supposed to restate. I was thinking that T5 was communicating without prompts in the experiment. This isn't my idea of translation accuracy, but you've got to have some baseline.

Same way autospell is not working with 100% accuracy and you're still managing to express yourself, I believe

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#58

Post by endymi0n » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 3:03 PM UTC

seventytwo wrote: post #26

GOONIMMUNE wrote: post #10

> In tests, the man was able to achieve writing speeds of 90 characters per minute (about 18 words per minute), with approximately 94 percent accuracy (and up to 99 percent accuracy with autocorrect enabled). I'd be interested in knowing how this metric changes over time as the user gains more experience with the BCI device. The article mentions that researchers recorded his neural activity while he was thinking abou…

I’d be interested to compare this to an adult who is brand new to typing on a keyboard (if you could find one!). What’s the typing speed and error rates over time as the subject practices? How do these compare to the progress with the BCI?

Conversely, T5 is 65 years old and just adapting to a completely new way of communicating at retirement age. Comparing that to the neuroplasticity of a far younger subject, I can see a high chance of this outperforming mobile typing. 10 fingers, I'm not so sure.

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#59

Post by gonehome » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 3:03 PM UTC

I wonder if it’d be faster if you imagined typing instead of writing (obviously would require the patient to be a proficient typist).

Re: Brain implant translates paralyzed man's thoughts into text with 94% accuracy

#60

Post by gonehome » Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 3:06 PM UTC

mimimi31 wrote: post #49

Waterluvian wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like if we got a perfect transcript of our internal monologue, we’d all be shocked at how much we think but instantly forget.

Interestingly there are people like myself who don't have an inner monologue (some people supposedly even have a constant dialogue with themselves) at all. The only time I experience something like an inner voice is when reading. My normal thoughts are more abstract I guess, I'm just sort of aware of what I want to do, how I feel etc. It's hard to describe.

I’m pretty skeptical of people that make this claim. It’s just surprising to me that a base level feature would work so differently. I’d expect some variation in models (like that old Feynman video about counting), but if you can speak and use language it’s hard for me to accept literally no internal voice is going on.

I’ve always kinda suspected people making this claim are lacking introspection to such an extreme extent that they don’t even recognize the inner voice that’s omnipresent.