The New Scientist has a scary report that two people have been found guilty of murder in India on the basis of brain scanning technology. The technique used is called brain electrical oscillations signature (BEOS). The claim of the authorities is that BEOS can tell the whether a scanned brain ‘remembers’ facts.
The process appears to be that the investigator reads out the details of the crime, and if the suspect was there, key bits of their brain ‘light up’. They further claim that they can tell the difference between memories created by being there and memories created by reading or hearing about the crime.
This story raises concerns on so many levels. At present, this approach is about as scientific as using a ducking stool! None of the technology has been validated, and the general scientific opinion seems to be it could not work.
At least, when market researchers looked at using neuroscience in market research, it was relatively harmless, as opposed to this shocking case in India.
However, another question arises about what society should do at some point in the future, if this sort of technology ever became possible?
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