How often do you wish you knew what’s on someone’s mind?

Researchers at the University of Toronto are trying to make mind-reading a reality, by using electroencephalography (EEG) and artificial intelligence.

Adrian Nestor, a psychology professor, and Dan Nemrodov, a postdoctoral fellow, have been able to digitally reconstruct images their test subjects were looking at while hooked up to EEG machines.

In the study, participants looked at a series of faces on a computer screen while the EEG machines recorded their brain activity. An algorithm was then used to process the EEG data and decode what the subjects were looking at in order to re-create the images of the faces.

In the initial study of 13 people, researchers were able to consistently re-create the images participants were looking at, although there is “quite a bit of variability” in how those images were decoded, Nestor told CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday.

That variability was attributed to the fact that people are “quite different from each other” and have different perceptions of the images in front of them. The images re-created from the test subjects’ brainwaves are coloured by personal biases and the particular facial features the participants focused on, Nestor said.

The researchers say their mind-reading technique could be applied to the broader population in the future. 

“The possibilities are quite interesting,” Nestor told Your Morning.

He said the technique could potentially be used to develop a potential image of a suspect in a criminal investigation, based on eyewitness recollection. Or, it could be used to communicate with patients who aren’t able to verbally express themselves.

Nestor said it’s important to note that the mind-reading technique requires the participants’ full co-operation. And in the future, any use of the technique must require informed consent.