Machine-Learning Can Read Your EEG and Uncover Your Habits

The future of identification authentication technology may, indeed, lie in brainwave scanning. It is a promising field, and its potential impact on daily life is intriguing, to say the least. Now, a pair of cybersecurity researchers from Texas Tech University claimed to have discovered another use for the technology. Abdul Serwadda and Richard Matovu created a machine-learning system that compared two sets of EEG brainwave scans, one belonging to a group of identified alcoholics and the other from anonymous subjects. Using the machine, Serwadda and Matovu were able to correctly identify 25 percent of those people from the second group who identified themselves as alcoholics. We know the brain signal is so rich in information," says Serwadda.