Founder and CEO of EMOTIV, a bioinformatics company advancing understanding of the human brain using electroencephalography (EEG).
There has never been a more exhilarating time for technological advances that enhance the way we live. Concepts once reserved for science fiction are now part of our everyday lives, from controlling a computer with our minds to holding a casual conversation with artificial intelligence. As we stand at the precipice of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is more important than ever to humanize technology so that it makes our lives better rather than more complicated.
Humans crave connection but fear societal change unless it yields new, more positive experiences. Each industrial revolution connected the world in unexpected ways, resulting in a rapid change to our society and life as we know it.
Assembly lines made manufacturing more affordable, which in turn led to the widespread adoption of motor vehicles. Before we knew it, the roads were filled with strangers ready to share their new ideas. Telegrams, telephones and eventually cell phones and the internet made it possible to maintain a connection with other human beings and keep those ideas flowing. However, with each significant push toward the future, our personal relationships with technology have become noticeably less human.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
The human brain knows best.
While the evolutionary reason is up for debate, seeing faces in everyday objects—pareidolia—occurs because our brains are hardwired to look for other people and understand their state of being. In fact, the need to connect is so innate that our brain waves synchronize with the people and groups we interact with. We are literally on the same wavelength.
Human connection is so vital to our existence that in 2023, a study showed that people with strong social bonds are half as likely to die over a given period of time than those with fewer such connections (pg. 24).
The World Economic Forum predicts that the most successful technology will focus on the human experience instead of “business models that prioritize shareholder value over society’s values—and our fundamental human needs.”
In order to humanize technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, these basic needs, hardwired in our brains, must remain at the center of the user experience.
The future is where technology and humanity meet.
There are two main ways that technology can enhance the human experience—user interfaces and devices that help us obtain our basic human needs, and body enhancements that expand our potential.
I have always been fascinated by the human mind and how its assumed limitations are continually challenged. I firmly believe that technology doesn’t have to divide us but can actually support our humanity.
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we understand brain activity and what makes us human. For decades, engineers have modeled computer programming on the human brain. Now, that same programming can help us unlock emotions and mental health, increase cognitive performance, restore mobility and, someday, even enable brain-to-brain communication.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived, providing a unique opportunity to create technology that works with and for our humanity instead of against it. One of the most important factors to consider is that everyone is different. I predict that brands will use neurofeedback to make products and work experiences more personal.
Wireless EEG makes it possible for people to track their brain activity as they would their steps to reduce stress and increase focus. One of the most wonderful things about being human is that we are all unique. What helps me relax or focus may be different from someone else, and that’s okay.
There is no one-size-fits-all medical or technological solution. That’s why it is crucial that, as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we use our ingenuity to create genuine connections with ourselves and others.
After all, that is what makes us uniquely human.
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