Center for the Future Mind Attracts Worldwide Attention

Imagine being able to purchase a brain chip that would give you superhuman computational power, or one that would give you the meditative state of a Zen master. Or imagine an enhancement bundle that would allow you to transfer all of your mental functions to the cloud. These possibilities and more may not be that far off,  but at what point do the computers and the companies that control them get the upper hand? And at what point does artificial intelligence take over for human consciousness?

Elon Musk’s Neuralink is developing a wireless implantable brain chip, and other companies have been working on similar Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI’s) for years. These BCI’s are used to for everything from treating medical disorders to augmenting human intelligence. However, possibilities for other uses also abound.

Members of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for the Future Mind are looking at the question -- What is the best way to navigate these new possibilities? The Center is a collaboration between the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and FAU’s Brain Institute and is directed by Susan Schneider, Ph.D., William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. The more than 40 Center members come from across the University and work closely with FAU partners Scripps Research and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. The members organize presentations for faculty, students and the public; advise Congress on AI policy and ethics; and support research endeavors at the interface of AI and brain science.

“We’re drawn to the ethical and conceptual challenges in neuroscience, medicine and AI, especially in relation to the big questions about the future of humanity – what we are, where it is all headed and what we will become,” said Schneider. “Public involvement and Congressional understanding of what’s ahead is absolutely key to avoiding dystopian scenarios and having humans flourish in the age of technology."

Since its founding in 2020, the center has welcomed scholars from around the world and is becoming an international hub for analysis of the implications of artificial intelligence on the future of the mind. Guest lecturers have included:

• Bernard Baars, co-founder of the Society for MindBrain Scientists;
• Lenore Blum, Founder of Project Olympus at Carnegie Mellon University
• Manuel Blum, the Bruce Nelson University Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University
• Stuart Russell, author of “AI: A Modern Approach,” Director of the Center for Human Compatible AI at UC Berkeley, and Adjunct Professor of Neural Surgery, University of California, San Francisco.
• Stephen Wolfram, Founder and CEO of Wolfram Research and Creator of Mathematica, Wolfram/Alpha and the Wolfram Language

Another initiative, led by Andrea Miller, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, examines the surveillance and sensing capabilities of AI systems in military surveillance and weapons systems, social media platforms and AI personal assistants.

“When neuroscientists, psychologists, computer scientists, philosophers and other researchers gather around common goals, it can lead to groundbreaking ideas that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries,” said Elan Barenholtz, Ph.D., associate director of the Center and associate professor in the department of psychology in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “The Center is designed to be a space where these kinds of intellectual collisions take place.”

For more information, visit FAU | Center for the Future Mind.