What if a computer could detect your slightest facial microexpressions, tell the difference between a real and fake smile, and understand your internal state? The idea might sound scary, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Poppy Crum, a neuroscientist and technologist, believes that advances in technology can make us feel more connected and help us better understand ourselves.
As technology has become more intelligent, it knows a lot about our internal states, and we might not even realize that we’re sharing parts of our inner lives. This might seem problematic for people who like to keep their emotions private, but Crum argues that we can benefit from losing some of our agency over what we share with others.
Crum has spent a lot of time studying the circuits in the brain that create the unique perceptual realities we each have. By combining this knowledge with the capabilities of current technology, she develops new technology designed to make us better, feel more, and connect more.
For example, some animals’ responses to their environment give us an upfront look at their internal experiences. Their behaviors are deterministic, and we get to see the mechanistic interaction between how they respond to the world around them and the state of their biological systems. Crum believes that we can learn from this and develop technology that helps us better understand our own internal states.
But what about privacy concerns? Should we be worried about computers knowing more about us than we do? Crum argues that we should be okay with losing some of our agency if it means feeling more connected and better understood. After all, we already share parts of our inner lives that are out of our control.
In conclusion, advances in technology are allowing computers to understand our emotional states better than ever before. While this might seem scary, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Poppy Crum believes that we can benefit from losing some of our agency over what we share with others. By developing new technology that helps us better understand our own internal states, we can feel more connected and better understood.