Imagine a technology that can provide instant or real-time access to information and computing power just by thought alone.
According to new research by the US neuroscientists and nanorobotics researchers, a matrix-style human brain to cloud interface (B/CI) or what we now come to know as the internet of thoughts network, could be a possibility within a few decades.
The human brain to cloud interface (B/CI) concept was first suggested by Ray Kurzweil, a futurist-author and inventor, who proposed that neural nanorobots could be used to link the neocortex of the human brain to a synthetic neocortex in the cloud.
According to a leading author Dr. Nuno Martins:
“A human B/CI system mediated by neural nanorobotics could empower individuals with instantaneous access to all cumulative human knowledge available in the cloud, while significantly improving human learning capacities and intelligence.”
What exactly is the Internet of thought?
Internet of thought is the proposal of a network of data transmission from the human brain to the cloud computing networks (B/CI) in real-time.
Simply put, using a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and nanotechnology, researchers say humans will seamlessly be able to link their brains to cloud computing networks to gather information from the internet in real-time.
In order for the internet of thought to fulfill its role, it must be able to perform these tasks:
- Receive and process brain data in real-time, converting it into shareable information in a cloud.
- Interpret demands for information and immediately transmit them from the internet to the neuro-nanobots installed inside the brain.
Robert Freitas Jr., the senior author of the research, said:
“These devices would navigate the human vasculature, cross the blood-brain barrier, and precisely auto-position themselves among, or even within brain cells.
They would then wirelessly transmit encoded information to and from a cloud-based supercomputer network for real-time brain-state monitoring and data extraction.”
The conventional Internet has brought to the world a platform for the storage and processing of information and human knowledge that has revolutionized access to information, democratizing it.
At the moment, the information is accessible, but access is not immediate.
A user must have an external device so that he can access the information. From neuro-nanobots, the internet of thoughts will allow the act of accessing information to become as natural as when we think and remember a memory.
With the internet of thought, our collective knowledge will become accessible to all, just with a thought, and without any external devices. You won’t need to type on a keyboard or touch a screen to access or enter any information.
How is the Internet of thought different from the Internet of things?
Though the acronyms of both are identical i.e. (IoT) but they’re pretty different from each other. The internet of things is most certainly booming and organizations are rushing to get involved in this rapidly extending technological field.
In one aspect, the internet of thoughts can be considered as an extension of the internet of things. While the internet of things promises to bring each and everything from your microwave to your TV set on one network, which we are already witnessing.
The internet of thought assures us to bring ourselves online where we would be able to take our thoughts into the real world.
You may also like to read:
An Introduction to the Internet of Behaviors
Challenges in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Adoption
Challenges you Might face Moving to the IoT Space