SMART technology that can read your mind may be the norm at your future job.
These intelligent devices have already begun the early part of their journey, for better or for worse.
Thought-policing along the likes of George Orwell’s sci-fi 1984 is on its way.
“Brain transparency” will allow employers to look into their workers’ brains, ensuring they keep their eye on the prize, Nita Farahany, a Duke University professor, said at a lecture during this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland, according to Futurism.
This technology comes with the “ability to read, decode brainwave activity,” and there is no sense in panic, as it is already here, the expert said.
She stated during the lecture: “We’re not talking about implanted devices of the future.
“I’m talking about wearable devices that are like FitBits for your brain.”
These cranial smart devices would be privy to your emotional states, objects you are thinking of by shape, and facial recognition, Futurism wrote.
Understanding complex thoughts is just around the corner, though we aren’t quite there yet.
To drive her point home, Farahany got morbid.
She chose to share an anecdote about a sleepy truck driver who caused a tragic calamity that was both “disastrous for the company and cost many lives.”
The venture is already being tested on employees like miners.
Devices constructed like baseball hats scan the wearer for signs of tiredness.
Farahany claimed “in 5,000 companies across the world, employees are already having their brainwave activity monitored to test for their fatigue levels,” per the outlet.
Safety is an important measure, but developers are keeping an eye out mostly for productivity.
“Surveillance for productivity is part of what has become the norm in the workplace — and maybe with good reason,” Farahany said.
Ideally, future offices hold “humans, robots, and AI” that “work seamlessly together,” she added.
But, this will depend entirely on its execution.
“Done well, neurotechnology has extraordinary promise. Done poorly, it could become the most oppressive technology we’ve ever introduced in a wide scale across society.
“We still have the chance to make it right.”
There are already headphones that know if your mind is wandering, and a Big Brother robot that can tell if you’re stressed.
While Farahany confirms the tech-readiness and several instances of early employee testing, there is one thing she fails to mention which Futurism was quick to point out: choice.
The outlet highlighted that there is only presentation of employees being subject to such intrusive technology for better or for worse, but there is no mention of foregoing it as a whole.
It leaves room for skeptics to wonder if this is just the earliest in a long line of agreeable rhetoric around such life-changing tech.
Source: Office of the future will involve your boss checking your brain’s productivity