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AI might be able to “read minds,” as it can turn brain waves into melodies.

In a ground-breaking study that melds cutting-edge artificial intelligence with the human brain, researchers from Osaka University teamed up with Google to research how AI can understand the human brain. Researchers found that AI can interpret brain scans of people listening to music, and then recreate the audio each subject was exposed to. This is a technological leap that has come closer to proving that AI is able to “read minds.”

How the study was conducted

The recent study from Osaka University marks a significant leap forward in the realms of AI, neuroscience and artistic innovation. Osaka University and Google used Music LM – Google’s AI which converts text to sound —and modified it to create Brain2Music. This program was made specifically for the project converting brain scans and brain waves into melodies. The study involved 5 volunteers who listened to 500 tracks from 10 different genres. The brain scans of people listening to music were fed into the AI, which saw the brain activity being converted into audio, essentially music.

What researchers discovered

Researchers were thrilled to discover that the AI was able to turn brain waves into melodies, and the audio that was produced sounded just like the music each person was exposed to. The report revealed, “the generated music resembles the musical stimuli that human subjects experienced, with respect to semantic properties like genre, instrumentation and mood.”

brain waves into melodies AI

What it means for our future

As technology continues to evolve and intertwine with our understanding of the human mind, we are uncovering a new era where our thoughts and emotions can be understood by AI. This recent experiment has sparked the interest of many and has opened many conversations on the progression of AI, and where exactly its ability of “mind reading” will lead us.

This ground-breaking research also opens doors to a future where AI doesn’t just mimic human creativity, but actively collaborates with it, enhancing our understanding of both technology and ourselves.

With this study being the first instance where AI has proven to understand how the human mind works, the tech world can begin to question – will AI develop human-like thought processes?

Read more about the experiment here.

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