Amusingly, I heard about this research on the Nature podcast.
I was skeptical at first — these fMRI studies are a dime a dozen these days, with dubious results — but this one is pretty robust. The use of training data is nice, and definitely adds a level of verifiablility to it. It's a nice step toward actually understanding how the brain processes not just language but ideas. There is definitely a future where we can understand what people are thinking by observing their brain.
Isn't it just the bloodflow within the brain that we're observing?
We'll never be able to read a mind based on fMRI-style data any more than we'll be able to judge the ongoings of America by the headlights on the highways.
I was skeptical at first — these fMRI studies are a dime a dozen these days, with dubious results — but this one is pretty robust. The use of training data is nice, and definitely adds a level of verifiablility to it. It's a nice step toward actually understanding how the brain processes not just language but ideas. There is definitely a future where we can understand what people are thinking by observing their brain.