'Mind reading,' restoring vision to the blind and giving the deaf hearing could be possible: Neurosurgeon

Decoding language and facial expressions from brain signals using artificial intelligence means that scientists could soon "read minds," a neurosurgeon said. Providing vision to the blind and hearing to the deaf could become possible with a breakthrough, AI-powered surgical procedure that could even make "mind reading" a reality, a California neuroscientist told Fox News. Ann Johnson, a Canadian teacher who lost her ability to talk after a stroke left her paralyzed in 2005, was able to speak through a cloned version of her voice after undergoing a surgery that connected her brain to artificial intelligence. The procedure involved fixing over 250 electrodes to Johnson's brain and connecting those to an array of computers through a port on the back of her head. Those, in turn, translated her brain activity into English using an AI-generated avatar that spoke on her behalf. The surgery Johnson underwent is non-invasive and not very difficult to replicate, Chang said.