NeuroWeb Roadmap: Results of Foresight & Call for Action

NeuroWeb Roadmap: Preliminary Results & Call for Action

February 2014

By Russian NeuroWeb Working Group

‘Collective vision’. Artwork by Alex Grey

PRESENTATION STRUCTURE

• Introduction

• Key elements of NeuroWeb design

• Implications for bodies, individual & collective minds

• User applications

• Organizational: how to make NeuroWeb live?

• Appendix

2

IMAGINARY VISIONS OF NEUROCOMMUNICATIONS LURE IN SCI-FI…

… BUT WHAT ARE THESE EMERGING REALITIES BORN FROM THE INTEGRATION OF HUMAN POTENTIAL AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES?

3

MAJOR RESEARCH EFFORTS ARE UNDER WAY IN VARIOUS AREAS OF NEUROSCIENCE …

Next gen prosthetics Brain-brain interface communication

Brain mapping initiatives

… BUT THEIR LONG-TERM IMPLICATIONS ARE NOT EXPLICATED

Remotely controlled robotics

4

THE COMING COGNITIVE REVOLUTION

• Next 10 to 20 years will witness the coming of NeuroWeb – the next stage of communicational technologies, Internet 4.0 that involves our bodies and minds into the totality of communication by applying brain-computer and brain-brain interfaces supported by artificial intelligence & semantic technologies. Key technologies that precede NeuroWeb will be available before or around 2020.

• Between 2025 & 2035, ‘cognitive revolution’ will take place, with NeuroWeb technologies inducing transformations of the human identity, individual & collective intelligence, and various domains of economy, culture & social life.

• Taking into account the drastic changes brought by NeuroWeb, it is important and highly relevant to define NeuroWeb future architecture and design principles, as well as R&D programs that will lead to the emergence of commercially viable technologies.

• We propose to form an international working group (Council of NeuroWeb) that will work on the elements of the concept of NeuroWeb and will consolidate efforts of various businesses and institutions towards this goal. This presentation presents ideas and early concepts that may lay a foundation to the creation of such group

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WHAT WILL THIS NEUROWEB REALITY LOOK LIKE?

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AROUND 2020 AROUND 2030 AROUND 2040

• Biometric wearables become commonplace. Biometry-related data actively employed in healthcare and behavior-related games

• Neuromarketing maintains digital models of individual behavior through BigLiveData

• Biometry enters education: biometry-adjusted learning, body-mind states learning

• Neurally controlled prosthetics becomes widespread

• Experiments on first groups connected by neural interfaces

• Semantic web solutions • Human-computer interfaces

based on natural verbal & non-verbal interactions

• First wave of NeuroWeb solutions in the market

• Dementia, epilepsy and other brain disorders largely eliminated

• Artificial agents actively used to support thinking & acting

• Personalized smart-drugs • Personalized computer-

aided lifelong learning dominates education

• Special-state-of-consciousness training for productive NeuroWeb use

• Domestic robotics & IoT become commonplace

• Widespread realistic virtual worlds & augmented reality

• NeuroWeb takes 40-50% human Internet connection

• Organizations and networks rebuilt around NeuroWeb solutions

• NeuroWeb based entertainment & education

• Personal human-level Artificial Intelligence supporting daily routines becomes widespread

BIG TRENDS THAT LEAD TO NEUROWEB: INCREASING SOCIAL & TECHNOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY

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Emergence of NeuroWeb: around 2025-30

Mind & body amplification

Technosphere ‘alive’ / ‘conscious’

Network culture

seamless interfaces between natural features of

mind&body and technologies

prosthetics, cyberbodies, artificial senses, mind

augmentation, AI exocortex

IoT ‘smart ambience’, AI in management & education,

artificial agents that mirror & replace mental functions

collective, horizontal, complexity-oriented, emergence-

based etc.

Naturalization of technologies

NEUROWEB AS THE NATURAL DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNET

• NeuroWeb will be built over the existing Internet architecture and will become the next stage of its development.

• Emergence of fully-fledged neuro-communication will give various possibilities and features to the users, such as:

– Personal & group effieicency through increased processing of information, increased reaction speed, ability to respond to situations of higher complexity etc.

– Extended bodies that use artificial sensors and manipulators as augmented components expanding abilities of natural bodies

– Neural collectives: collaborative work of human groups with high-level artificial intelligence acting as their ‘exocortex’ (artificial components of mind outside the brain) that will augment and enhance functions of their individual and collective minds

– Inter-species dialogues with higher animals using biometric & neural interfaces and Uplift as a way to advance evolution of other species towards higher intelligence

– Experience & emotion sharing with other people through enhanced non-verbal communication and transfer of neural states

– New Psychadelic revolution applies special altered states of conciseness to enhance dispatcher work and creative work in distributed collectives. 8

NEUROWEB ROADMAP INITIATIVE

• As founders of the initiative, we represent a team working with strategizing, collective vision design & startup acceleration in innovative sectors including education, biotech, ICT and others. Our team has conducted ‘future mapping’ for ca.20 various industries, with over 10 thousand experts participating. We have found a repeating pattern of different industry maps (transport, space, education, entertainment etc.), sort of ‘attractor of the future’ that revolves around the NBIC convergence, and in particular the emergence of the neuro-communicative space that we call NeuroWeb.

• Understanding the perspectives of NeuroWeb requires the discussion of

– the architecture of NeuroWeb, i.e. the key elements of this future network

– the technological path that leads towards NeuroWeb, including possible applications of technologies that may emerge along the path

– the ‘human side’ of NeuroWeb: what practices will be required to use NeuroWeb, and how it will be used for entertainment, creativity, management, education, self-development etc.

– the risks of NeuroWeb technologies and how these can be mitigated

• Recognizing the importance of these issues, in late 2012 we have first come up with the initiative to create the international Neuroweb roadmap that could serve as a beacon for research & technology groups

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ROADMAP DESIGN TIMELINE: WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR

• Between December 2012 and February 2013 our team has created the early design of the NeuroWeb roadmap.

• In May 2013 we have launched the Russian working group on NeuroWeb that has included around 20 leading Russian scholars on neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, collective intelligence, semantics, artificial intelligence, communicative technologies etc. The aim of the group is to discuss potential directions of NeuroWeb development, including principles and architecture of NeuroWeb design.

• In August 2013 we have published the first version of NeuroWeb Manifesto that initiates the ‘polylogue’ discussion on the foundations of NeuroWeb

• The Russian foresight of NeuroWeb has been conducted in October & November 2013. It has brought together nearly 100 leading scholars and practitioners in NeuroWeb-related disciplines.

• Our next step in 2014 is to create the global NeuroWeb Council and the global NeuroWeb Roadmap that will involve leading international experts. The key workshop will be held at the end of October 2014 in Moscow.

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This presentation is an invitation. We do not wish to impose our vision, nor we claim that our vision is

ultimate and final. This vision can only be alive if it is shared by many people who can implement it.

It is an evolving collective image of the future created by researchers, manufacturers & users through the

process of Rapid Foresight. This is a continuing exploration, and it can evolve further - with your help.


• Introduction





• Appendix

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WHAT IS (WHAT WILL BE) NEUROWEB

• NeuroWeb is the realization of Internet that allows new dimensions* of communication between humans, or with other living organisms, or with artificial agents and robots, using neural interfaces

– that directly read information from neural systems of their users, bypassing the range of intermediary natural / artificial input systems (and sometimes adaptive mental operations such as verbalizations)

– (and also possibly) directly transmit information into neural systems of their users bypassing the natural sensory systems (video-, audio- and other sensory channels)

• By definition, NeuroWeb is enabled by technologies that read, transmit, store, process and generate information in central & peripheral neural systems of human agents

• Also NeuroWeb encompasses all aspects of technological realization in Internet that would exist by the time such communication becomes possible (ca. 2020-25), including technologies of the Internet of Things and the Internet of Artificial Agents

* There is no point in implementing ‘fully functional’ NeuroWeb unless it provides users with opportunities that

did not exist in earlier realizations of Internet, i.e. NeuroWeb should generate new qualities: speed, depth, and

range of communication that surpass those offered by Internet that employs interfaces with natural sensory &

effectory systems of human body.

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KEY INTERFACES OF NEUROWEB

Internet of Humans

Internet of Artificial Agents

Internet of Things

Brain-brain interfaces that would allow direct communications

between human neural systems (or between human & higher

animal)

Artificial agents that imitate and support activities of the

individual & collective mind

Interfaces between individual natural minds and artificial

components of mind (exocortex) that support individual &

collective mental activities

Interfaces between individual natural minds or collective (hybrid) minds and artificial

body organs

Artificial organs of individual & collective bodies, including

sensors, manipulators, cyber-bodies & non-antropomorphic

robotics

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KEY NEUROWEB TECHNOLOGY, FROM R&D TO ROLL OUT, ARE CURRENTLY FOCUSED IN THREE MAJOR DOMAINS

* For options marked by asterisk, we are not aware of actual projects implemented at this

moment, but these projects are seen as highly feasible by professionals in the industry

Medicine & sport Media &

entertainment Military & industrial

applications

• Solutions for functionally impaired (prosthetics / exoskeletons / sensory feedback etc.)

• Wearable devices for health monitoring / preventive medicine purposes

• Mind augmentation drugs

• Sports based on, or enhanced by, neuro-devices *

• Neuromarketing (including new advertising technologies)

• Neurointerfaces for gaming & enhanced game experience

• Science-art using neurointerfaces

• Sensoriums: neuro-devices that allow complex and unusual experiences in gaming, movies and other types of entertainment *

• Remote control of military robotics and more effective combat in complex environments (e.g. DARPA Silent Talk, partial control of military fighters etc.)

• Human-machine control systems for complex industrial processes and safety management, including distributed operator workstations for dangerous industrial objects (cranes, mining equipment, underwater automatics etc) *

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TRENDS IN INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION THAT SUPPORT CREATION OF NEUROWEB

Continuing expansion of Internet

Growing bandwidth and data storage capacity (growth from 1 to 40 ZB annual data in 10 yrs by 2020, 50-100 Mbps is a common household bandwidth by 2020, transition to ipv6)

Internet of Things From 10 BN to 50 BN connected devices in 2020 Robotics as a booming area (billions of industrial & household devices by 2020)

Semantic technologies and advancements in Artificial Intelligence

BigData: sensemaking of information through data-processing in R&D, management, healthcare, education & everywhere (BigData become BigLiveData by 2020+) Semantic translation to semantic Internet (Internet 3.0) Semantic processing in AI: stronger image recognition algorithms + increased computational power (quantum computing)

Human body interfaces & naturalization of

interfaces

Wearable devices ‘quantifying self’ (1 BN by 2020) and body becoming interface (Kinect, Tobii etc.) Naturalization & miniaturization of devices (from monitors to Google Glass in 2014 to monitor contact lense by 2025)

Neural system modelling Human brain emulation (Human Brain Project in EU, BRAIN Initiative in US)

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KEY STEPS TO NEUROWEB IMPLEMENTATION

Development of inexpensive high-resolution neuro-interfaces suitable for mass-market applications

Network architecture: increase in broadband width sufficient for neuro-information transfer + network protocols for neuro-

information communication

Artificial agents and ‘exocortex’ technologies: agents that mirror and support mental functions in real time

Growth of wearable applications & wearable data communication over Internet

Development of psychotechnics that support and enhance NeuroWeb communications. Training programs for early users

General brain emulation to individual brain mapping (that allows increasing precision of BCI operation and brain-brain communication)

2014 2018 2025

VIABLE & SCALEABLE

NEUROWEB MODEL

AROUND 2023-25

Experimenting with non-verbal computer interfaces

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AN INTERMEDIARY STEP: BEFORE NEUROWEB, EMERGES BIOMETRY-WEB

18 2014 2020 2030

Biometry-web: Internet communication that employs intensive use of various biometry related data from

wearables, eye trackers, body motion & facial expression recognition etc.

Neuroweb: Internet communication employs neural system readings

alongside biometry data

Biometry reading (for control, learning etc.): wearables (GSR, myogram, pulse, temp, etc.), non-invasive neurointerfaces,

eye trackers, body & facial motion scan

High-res neurointerface readings

Biometry meta-language: complex pattern recognition for multi-dimensional space of body-and-mind states (presented

by combinations of indicators), supported by BigLiveData

Re-mapping of mult-dim body-mind state space

as neural patterns

Biometry control: biofeedback training to help master the variety of body-mind states + psycho-techniques that allow fast

switching between these states.

Biofeedback training & techniques for neural pattern

activation

Artificial agents that mirror & support complex mental activities controlled with biometry

Artificial agent-based exocortex

Biometry-Web Rise of NeuroWeb

KEY ELEMENTS OF NEUROWEB ARCHITECTURE CREATION

19 2014 2020 2030

Network capacity growth: User bandwidth est.10-100 Gbps. In principle, TCP/IP & ipv6 should be

enough (all of this should be created for IoT around 2025-2030)

Standardization of biometry transfer protocols for various wearable applications, including transfer of neural data

(emergence of neuro:// standard?)

Creation of techno-mediums: artificial agents that maintain individual maps of neural systems and relate them to external

interfaces (incl. ‘Language of NeuroWeb’)

Language of NeuroWeb: artificial agent that maintains the ‘universal language of mind’, including representations of part of the mind that interact with external environment (verbal & non-

verbal) as well as ‘deeper’ states of mind

Ongoing development & improvement of neural interfaces for higher precision & reliability, lower cost & easier installation

Biometry-Web Rise of NeuroWeb

Personalized models of human behavior

created through neuromarketing

TWO WAYS FOR NEURAL INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT

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representation of existing ’controls’

Growing complexity of technological environments has to be matched by the complexity of control interfaces. This growth of complexity in control systems can be achieved twofold:

• NATURALIZATION OF INPUTS: From highly limited input devices such as keyboard and mouse we move to ‘natural interfaces’ that involve body pose (Kinect), muscle tension (Myo) or eye focus (Tobii)

• DIRECT NEURAL INPUT: From ‘natural interfaces’ we move to direct reading of neural patterns through neural interfaces

• INCREASED GRANULARITY: From basic neural readings we move to more detailed high-resolution readings of neural ensembles and individual neurons (e.g. ‘neural dust’)

creation of new ‘controls’

• OLD PONY, NEW TRICKS: Our body (or our neural system) learns how to use sophisticated options provided by new interfaces such as sequences of actions (in the same way as we change gears when driving or use hotkeys when typing). These sequences can be learnt e.g. through biofeedback training.

• LITTLE DEMONS: We can use Artificial Intelligence to support complex mental operations that involve use of interfaces (these AIs would shadow and then replicate our routinized actions, becoming our personal replacements for routine operations)

NEUROWEB ACCESS: POSSIBLE NEURAL INTERFACE SOLUTIONS*

NeuroWeb requires high-precision

inexpensive neurointerfaces that can be tolerated and used by the majority

of population (i.e. minimal cultural

barriers to its use)

Non-invasive: low precision of neuron reading. Higher precision requires special preparation (e.g. contact gel & skull shaving). Suitable for basic manipulations (e.g. arcade gameplay) but not for complex tasks. Product examples: Emotiv, NeuroSky

Invasive implants: high precision of neuron reading. Electrodes or optogenetic implants would allow induction of neuron states (not only reading but also transfer of information). High cultural resistance – most people reject the idea of implantation. Product examples: medical applications (e.g. prosthetics control)

Invasive microimplants: high precision of neuron reading. Lower chance of cultural resistance (implanted through injection, not brain surgery, and not visible, which is more acceptable). Product examples: ‘neural dust’ (no real product exists yet)

Non-invasive combinations: low precision neural interfaces + additional body interfaces (wearables, body motion tracking, eye tracking). Multiple channels compensate imprecision of neural interfaces. Can work as an intermediary solution for NeuroWeb. Product examples: no integrated products exist yet (elements of technology available in the market: Kinect for motion tracking, Tobii in eye tracking, Emotiv in neural interfaces, various wearable solutions)

*Here we list only feasible solutions that already exist in various design stages

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BRAIN-BRAIN NEUROWEB COMMUNICATION: HARDWARE/SOFTWARE

AI1 AI2

NI1 NI2

Neural interface level: reading of actual synaptic states and/or activation of new neuron states

Artificial agent (most likely, built into the neural interface) uses the map of individual neural system to convert to and from digital signals received from the Internet

Neural data is sent over the network and can be additionally stored, retrieved or processed by artificial agents in the network if necessary

‘Language of NeuroWeb’ is the semantic space of mental pattern states that allows to convey greater variety of states & meanings compared to conventional interfaces. Most likely, this language will be primarily based on same modalities as our sensory system.

Neural signal space should be sufficiently detailed in order to differentiate between different brain patterns. The brain plasticity implies that such patterns not only will be read, but also created by the brain specifically to use interfaces

Interaction between neural interface and accompanying AI should be accompanied by their mutual ‘training’ Map of individual neural system should differentiate between individual synaptic states as well as neural ensemble patterns

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AI

MUTUAL ADAPTATION IN BIOMETRY-WEB & NEUROWEB INTERFACES

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Artificial agents learns to mirror & support various mental functions of an individual (that may also become new ‘words’ in the ‘language of NeuroWeb’)

Artificial agent that maps & re-maps the semantic space of individual body&mind states (represented by biometric or neural patterns) and constantly updates its matching to the ‘language of NeuroWeb’

Human agent that learns to use the variety of new interfaces. Most likely, such interfaces will require that an agent to enter specialized body-mind states, especially in collective work – therefore, users of Biometry-Web and NeuroWeb will be trained for interface-specific psychotechniques (such training will be provided, at least in part, by biofeedback devices).

AI

AI

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF THE MIND?

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1. All neural systems are unique. Hence direct transfer of information from one neural system to another simply by exciting certain group of neurons is most likely not possible, with the exception of information from standard sensory systems (visual & audial).

2. Communication of emotions, body&mind states and experiences will require to code neural / mental information of one user, transfer it through the Internet and decode it as a mental / neural information of another user. This information will also in some cases by modified or adjusted by artifical agents (e.g. in personalized neural dreaming)

3. Thus, communication in NeuroWeb will require universal system of coding that can help transfer individual & unique experiences into universal system of codes. This is a NeuroWeb ‘language of mind’ that would allow to convey or program its communications. This system of coding will not be designed once and for all, but will be developed adhoc by various producers as services of NeuroWeb grow.

4. It is however likely that the further advancement of ISO 15926 standard (a standard for data integration, sharing, exchange, and hand-over between computer systems) will be required

BEYOND HARD TECHNOLOGIES: DESIGNING HUMAN PROTOCOLS FOR NEUROWEB

2014 2020 2030 2040

Biometry-Web (pre-NeuroWeb) [2014-24]

Rise of NeuroWeb [2025-35]

Fully-fledged NeuroWeb [2035+]

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Developing ‘hard technologies’ of NeuroWeb: network, BCIs, Ais, data protocols

Ultrafast learning technologies: precursor for efficient exocortex use

‘Blue Mind’: BigData digital models of mental processes

Studies of productive body-mind states for collective intelligence

Digital & pharmaceutical control over transition to productive body-mind states

Explication of tools & protocols for control & directing of collective

intelligence processes

Collective intelligence in NeuroWeb: from NeuroWeb-collectives to

‘mind forests’ (stable collective minds)

‘NeuroWeb language’: communication protocols based on BigLiveData digital

models of mental processes

Experiments with exocortex

Direct connection exocortex-neurortex


• Introduction





• Appendix

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Future of individual minds

Future of collective minds RISE OF AVATARS: Artificial agents that replicate various mental functions (avatars) will multiple through BigLiveData

DOORS OF PERCEPTION: Ability of control over special states of consciousness becomes a competitive advantage

BLURRED MIND BOUNDARIES: Rise of augmented individuals, exocortex, collective minds & multiple bodies dissolves the boundaries of individual identity

BLURRED BODY BOUNDARIES: new sensory & effector organs, body sharing & body co-ownership will blur the body boundaries

RISE OF COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE as a key form of complexity management

MIND FORESTS: Rise of stable collective minds that also become the climax of personal

uniqueness & authenticity

HYBRID MINDS: Artificial intelligence becomes the integrating technology for sustainable collectives

NEW TUNES: Control over shared non-verbal experience becomes the way to tune

and coordinate processes of collective intelligence

? KEY TRENDS FOR BODY, INDIVIDUAL & COLLECTIVE MIND

Future of body

NATURALIZATION OF INTERNET INTERFACES: from special input-output devices to organs in our bodies (in particular, neural interfaces will become an integral part of the brain )

END OF EMBODIED MIND: Mind gradually becomes independent (and possibly completely separated) from the body over time

Boundaries of individual bodies & minds become blurred, as new forms emerge on the collective mind level

FUTURE OF BODY IN NEUROWEB

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Blurred Body Boundaries

• Human body will expand and include remote & distributed organs and bodies (artificial or partially natural), such as remotely controlled robots & devices. Over time, as humans start to get cyber augmentations, their own individual bodies will also become available to access from others, with option of body sharing.

Radical Longevity • Radical longevity technologies will develop, including emergence of

cyber-bodies, nano- and bio-technologies that will allow to restore, adjust and transform the body if necessary.

Naturalization of Neural Interfaces

• Initial interfaces may be electrode implants or non-invasive solutions, that will be later replaced by microinvasive implants. In the longer run, there is a possibility of a ‘NeuroWeb port’ organ that can be grown as a natural part of neural system.

Digital Immortality

• The emergence of fully-fledged digital copies of individuals in the Net may put forward a practical question of digital immortality, a possible ‘life’ of the body-independent mind in the Net. At this stage, we know too little about the mind and the self to understand whether ‘digital immortality’ is possible at all.

Black Swan

FUTURE OF INDIVIDUAL MIND IN NEUROWEB

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Rise of Avatars

• BigLiveData models of individual activities (created for neuromarketing purposes) will transform into artificial agents that will support daily routine activities of individuals (i.e. digital copies of particular behavioral patterns replicated by articifical agents). Players which can provide such agents will be BigData operators like Google or Facebook.

Doors of Perception

• As more routine functions will be transferred to such agents, the demand for unique skills & abilities increases. Productive use of special states of consciousness will be among the primary ways to find the personal uniqueness.

• Special states of consciousness can also help productive work in NeuroWeb (getting sufficiently ‘transparent’ mind to interact with other individuals & groups in NeuroWeb). NeuroWeb ‘driving license’ will require the basic control over such states of consciousness.

Blurred Mind Boundaries

• Agents develop into quasi-independent sub-personalities of an individual that can act on his/her behalf. Ultra-fast learning tools are used to synchronize between these agents and an individual (over time these tools will evolve into direct download from exo-cortex to neuro-cortex). As every individual becomes a cloud of natural & digital sub-personalities, the boundaries of the individual mind dissolve.

• Mind becomes gradually independent from specific natural & artificial embodiments, and starts to fluctuate in the Net between multiple collective minds. (Individual mind becomes a ‘spot’ in NeuroWeb)

FUTURE OF COLLECTIVE MIND IN NEUROWEB

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Rise of Collective Intelligence

• First NeuroWeb groups emerge as pragmatic solutions for complexity management of strategic & operational tasks. They are based on new standards of collective intelligence (and, potentially, new types of thinking) with the support of exocortex. Such groups will often include not only humans connected via Neuroweb, but also cyberbodies and non-antropomorphous robots.

Hybrid Minds • NeuroWeb group communication & operation is supported by next

generation Artificial Interlligence, most likely based on deep learning architecture & quantum computing.

Shared Experiences

• Transition of NeuroWeb group technologies into mass market applications allows to launch mass-scale NeuroWeb services, e.g. transfer of individual experiences and body-mind states (primarily in domains of education & entertainment: neuro-teaching, neuro-gaming, neuro-dreaming etc.)

• Shared experiences are used to tune the creation & coordination of NeuroWeb groups (in the same way as tribal trance practices). They become collective rhythms of the new kind

Psychozoic Era • Distributed & shared bodies, co-use of artificial parts of mind in

exocortex, shared access to natural neural networks and other possible NeuroWeb technologies create a multitude of hybrid forms of multi-body multi-mind natural& artificial structures. This leads to ‘Psychozoic Explosion’ of various collective mind forms embedded in biological, artificial and virtual substrates.

NEUROWEB EVOLUTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR BODIES & MINDS

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2025 2035 2045

Bodies • distributed bodies with artificial components

• mass use microinvasive neural interfaces allow Neuroweb access

• ‘I change bodies’: bodies with shared access protocols, use of multiple bodies

• Neuroweb access organ (gene modification)

• ‘digital immortality’? (mind can exist independently from body in the Web) [BLACK SWAN POSSIBILITY]

Individual minds

• protocols for transfer of images, thoughts, emotions & mental states (AI-supported)

• NeuroWeb access protocols supported by altered states of consciousness

• age of ‘threats to identity & privacy’ (neural hacking and its consequences)

• augmented individuals (ultra-fast, ultra-strong, highly creative etc.) that exist in post-verbal reality

• total transparency of individual lives

• individual minds are ‘spots’ in NeuroWeb blurred multi-personal environment

Collective minds

• ‘neural collectives’ for complex coordination & design tasks (supported by strong AIs) that use multiple bodies with non-antropomorphic artificial components (e.g. combat groups)

• first ‘mind forests’: stable forms of hybrid collective embedded minds with artificial components (emergence of collective meta-minds)

• Psychozoic Era: explosive emergence of multitude of forms of collective & hybrid minds

‘CLOUD OF THREATS’ TO BE MITIGATED

32 2014 2020 2030 2040

Biometry-Web (pre-NeuroWeb) [2014-24]

Rise of NeuroWeb [2025-35]

Fully-fledged NeuroWeb [2035+]

New Mowgli & ‘dyslexic generation’: software-based education from very early

age (without properly designed new pedagogy) may give rise to a new generation

which lacks important skills such as verbal communication or abstract thinking

Cognitive myopia & T9-zation: use of solutions that prompt user choices (incl. those in

neuromarketing) may lead to degradation of complex cognitive functions (e.g. strategic & long-term thinking) in a substantial share of population

Psycho-Divide: groups that actively explore NeuroWeb options (incl. altered states of

consciousness) will get advantages over the rest of population, the separation leading to severe

conflicts. Some groups may collectively enter into states of mind labeled by others as insanity.

Neural hacking: individuals may be ‘hacked’ through NeuroWeb, their memories or

experiences stolen or altered, and risk to mental health inflicted

Dogs on the leash: corporations & government agencies may seek to control

NeuroWeb on the ground of its risks to population – with possible abuses of

power & potential for total mental control.

NEUROWEB ETHICS: BIG QUESTIONS

33

Who is the subject of

action?

Transformations driven by NeuroWeb creation will induce changes in the fundamental protocols of the human cultures, including ethical rules and norms. In particular, the shifts in individual & collective body & mind organization will put forward big questions such as:

Emergence of new types of subjects (collective ‘mind forests’, distributed robotic bodies controlled by AIs, hybrid human-machine minds etc) will challenge ethics based on the assumption that the key acting subject is a human individual.

• What will be the individual mind in the ‘ocean of collective consciousness’ in NeuroWeb, especially as the detachment of mind from body might occur?

• How will collective subjects be identified, and what will be the rights of such subjects?

• What will be the rights of human-level artificial intelligent subjects?

What are the boundaries of a

subject?

NeuroWeb-related technologies will blur the boundaries between ‘self’ and ‘other’, ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’, ‘living’ and ‘non-living’, etc.

• Is it ethical to destroy artificial agents (incl. artificial sub-personalities owned by oneself and others)?

• Artificial bodies – can they be co-owned and co-used by different individuals, is it ethical to access and use someone else’s body part, and on what terms?

• As robots and AIs will become parts of our personalities in NeuroWeb, to what extent we will remain humans and not machines (hence the question of free will)?

• As we move forward on the path of self-transformation, introducing greater modifications of minds and bodies, what human motivations will remain? What will happen to deepest manifestations of interhuman relations such as love, friendship etc.?

Control over NeuroWeb

• Should governments control minds of their citizens to prevent negative consequences of NeuroWeb, or let citizens use open relational protocols for the potential emergence of positive consequences?

NeuroWeb technologies will pose major risk for the future traditional social institutions, including states

NEUROWEB ETHICS: IN SEARCH OF ANSWERS

Elements of future ethics:

• (interiorized ethics that was tacitly translated through cultural norms will be replaced by) exteriorized and transparent set of community- and context-specific behavioral rules that are supported by quantitative evaluation systems: e.g. gamified bonus systems and achievement badges, new currencies (game currencies, local currencies, creative currencies etc.)

• ‘total transparency’ of human societies (hence the requirement for authentic & sincere behavior) will become the ground for establishment of new ethical foundations within human social groups

• artificial agents will serve as translators not only between domains of knowledge & meanings, but also between ethical systems of groups / communities (this poses a threat to conventional ethical systems, as such translations may deviate from original meanings)

• through NeuroWeb the new subject of action will emerge, and it is Humanity as a whole. Rights and qualities of this subject are unclear, but its actions will be evident

Implications:

• traditional holders of systems of ethics, the religion and the state, come under attack, since they do not retain any exclusive right to hold this position

• the revisal of ethical systems again becomes an important and a highly applied task that will require the collective contribution of the greatest minds of our time

• design of ethical systems becomes a concise community-based process, and communities with experimental ethical systems emerge in the NeuroWeb (in the same way as modern web communities model wars, political and economic competitions)

• NeuroWeb development will require the ‘ethics designer toolkit’, an explicit and a universal system for design of community-based behavioral rules

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• Introduction





• Appendix

35

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF NEUROWEB

36

The emergence of NeuroWeb gives new qualities to individual users at least across three dimensions: speed, depth & range of communications.

Quality Why this quality is achieved

Speed Data processing by natural sensory systems & brain subsystems can be replaced by computer processing. Reaction time gains can be between 20-100 milliseconds Potentially, it will also be possible to bypass natural learning mechanisms and activate neural ensembles for direct ultra-fast learning (theoretically possible, but no apparent engineering solutions are foreseen yet)

Depth (natural functions performed more efficiently)

Direct reading of information from brain and transfer into brain allows more precise communication that allows to convey meanings, emotions & states of mind Natural mental functions can be supported & enhanced by artificial agents that mirror them: e.g. large expansion of memory, enhancement of calculative abilities & abstract thinking etc.

Range (additional artificial functions)

Enhancing body with additional sensory & effector organs, even with no direct representation in human anatomy (e.g. dosimeters, flying manipulators etc.) Accessing to deeper areas of the brain bypassing the normal process of their activation could lead to unusual & exciting experiences Similar applications for higher animals can create potential for their verbal communication with humans, or development of their new mental qualities such as thinking

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF NEUROWEB (2)

37

NeuroWeb enhancement Area of application Feasibility

Increased reaction speed Anywhere where reaction time is important, e.g. military, sports, gaming, industrial & transportation operations etc.

High

Increased learning speed Ultra-fast learning in education & work through ‘direct download’ (esp. work of NeuroWeb collectives)

Low

More precise (even direct) communication of emotions, states of mind & experiences

Neuromarketing: highly individualized consumption. Applications in entertainment & education: sharing experiences with other, enhancing learning & entertaining processes Group therapy in virtual worlds

High to Medium

Enhancement of mental functions by artificial agents that mirror them

Augmented individuals in all areas of economic & social life, as well as in healthcare. Full copies of mind in the Net – a path to ‘digital immortality’?

Medium

Enhancing body with additional sensory & effector organs

Healthcare, industrial, military, sport & daily applications of enhanced bodies

High

Direct communication with deeper brain structures

Application in entertainment (incl. ‘explorations of mind’ such as artificially constructed emotions, neuro-dreaming, neurosports)

Low

Verbal & neural communication with higher animals

Large opportunities for new level of communication & collaboration with higher animals

Medium

NeuroWeb technologies would unlock an immense variety of applications across all domains of human activity (partially these opportunities will be unlocked with Biometry-Web). Some examples of these applications are given below (and their feasibility estimate given current technological level).

TWO KEY USER GROUPS DURING EARLY YEARS OF NEUROWEB

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Organizational Individual

Customers

Industry Government Entertainment Education

• operational control over complex technical systems (collective dispatching) [plants, city services, spaceships etc.]

• development of complex architectural / engineering solutions (esp. early stages of design)

• military & emergency applications (special task combat force, emergency operation centers etc.)

• collective control over government functions (e.g. collective intelligence for government decision making)

• personalization of experiences (neuromarketing)

• enhanced games & movies (‘Sensoriums’)

• shared experiences & states of mind (incl. neuro-dreaming)

• neurogaming & neurosports

• NeuroWeb groups for massive multiuser online gaming\

• direct control over learning efficiency, engagement etc.

• learning of body-mind state control

• group therapy & personal transformation in NeuroWeb ‘psychodrama worlds’

• ultra-fast learning in NeuroWeb

Beyond individual applications, NeuroWeb will be intensively used to work with various forms of collective intelligence

TWO MAIN SCENARIOS OF NEUROWEB PROLIFERATION

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Scenario 1 Scenario 2

Primary driver Organizational users Consumers

Value proposition

Increased efficiency in complex environments

Personalized & unusual experiences ‘Quantified self’ control over aspects of life

First applications

Focused applications of NeuroWeb collectives in industrial operations, distributed design, emergency control and military applications

Highly personalized experiences in entertainment (movies, gaming etc.) Special applications of neural technologies that cannot be provided by technologies based on natural sensory & effector systems (e.g. direct control over learning process in distant learning, teaching body-mind states through biofeedback & gaming etc.)

Spillover Creation of NeuroWeb collectives in entertainment (e.g. gaming) and education (group learning)

Organizational applications in HR area (e.g. team building, increased productivity etc.)


• Introduction





• Appendix

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CAN WE MAKE THE CREATION OF NEUROWEB A TRULY OPEN PROCESS?

• It is highly probable that within the next decade first commercial NeuroWeb prototypes will be created by one or several corporate or government players that will attempt to define the standards of this new generation of networks

• However, we believe that the importance of NeuroWeb for the future of civilization, and the potential that it holds for the evolution of humankind, require that its design should be made through open collaboration of researchers, engineers and future users, and that its essential backbone technologies should belong to all of humanity.

• The present stage of NeuroWeb development is a stage when the principles of its design and operation can be defined (in the same manner as early Internet designs and defining protocols were created by J.C.R. Licklider, R.Kahn & V.Cerf, T.Berners-Lee and others)

• The Council of NeuroWeb could become an international working group that seeks to close interdisciplinary gaps and maintain a productive roadmap for NeuroWeb development through interaction of key stakeholders and ‘big-think’ visionaries.

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THE TECHNOLOGY-FOCUSED CORE OF THE COUNCIL SHOULD BE SUPPORTED BY USER APPLICATION DESIGNERS & ‘BIG THINK’ VISIONARIES

Core of the Council: Neurophysiologists & Engineers

• Neurophysiologists, BCI and biodeedback systems developers

• Cognitive scientists & psychologists

• Collective Intelligence experts • Artificial Intelligence specialists,

semantic web , semantics and linguistic technology specialists

• Network protocol developers, programmers and engeneers

Future application co-designers

• Healthcare • Wellness Industry • Psychotherapy • Education &

Child Development • Media & Entertainment

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‘BigThink’ experts

• Futurology • Big History & evolutionary

thinkers • System & complexity thinkers

ELEMENTS OF COLLECTIVE WORK

Foresight

Research & development

(in partner institutions)

Startups & other

applications

International NeuroWeb Council (annual meetings & ongoing interactions)

Inter-university program(s) MSc Neuroinformatics with foresight & project-based learning components that become

‘breeding grounds’ for NeuroWeb experts & technologies

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NeuroWeb Council could help maintain the dialogue between key stakeholders through Foresight, help coordinate independent research efforts & applications for mutual benefits, and support a focused (international) educational program

OUR WORK PLANS

2013 2014

Creation of Russian NeuroWeb group, Russian NeuroWeb

Foresight (2013)

Continuing work on research & application projects initiated through foresight

Creation of international working group & Global

NeuroWeb Foresight (2014)

44 2015 2016

Continuing work of International NeuroWeb Council

Launch of (international) educational program in Neuroinformatics (2015)

Launch of a Foundation to help finance applied projects in

NeuroWeb (2015-16)

TO ALL OUR FUTURE PARTNERS: WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER

1. Provide us with feedback on our NeuroWeb ‘map of the future’ in this presentation, and link us to other interested parties

2. Participate in (or otherwise support) our International Foresight aimed to create the Global NeuroWeb Roadmap in 2014

3. Participate in (or otherwise support) the International NeuroWeb Council aimed to coordinate research efforts that work towards creation of NeuroWeb technologies (including the support of international R&D cooperation)

4. Participate in (or otherwise support) the design & hosting of the international Master program in Neuroinformatics

5. Organize (or otherwise support) events that help promote NeuroWeb concepts & cause

6. Collaborate with Group or Council members on specific research / application projects that can help advance NeuroWeb

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• Introduction





• Appendix

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LEADERS OF NEUROWEB ROADMAP PROJECT

Dr. Pavel Luksha, co-founder` Professor of SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management. Member of Expert Council of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, co-founder of Russian R&D Directors Club. Expertise in education and mentoring of technological startups and executive teams focused on R&D and innovation. Leader of Education 2030, Skills 2030 and NeuroWeb Foresight projects, author of Future Agendas for Global Education, creator of Rapid Foresight methodology. Co-leader of RF Group (refuture.me), leading Russian think-and-do tank in education. Program Director of Russian Foresight Fleet (largest future-awareness educaton project in the world). Research in evolutionary economics, information theory & systems thinking.

Dr. Timour Shchoukine, co-founder CEO at wetware.ru – biofeedback and neurointerface research laboratory. Subliminal biofeedback and collective biofeedback methods creator. 15 years of biofeedback practice experience. Biofeedback device startup co-founder. Initiative 2045 co-founder (responsible for scientific expert work, technological project roadmap creation, research project planning & management, volunteers network creation and managemen) Expert in invention problem solving (TRIZ) methodology. Team member of Education 2030 & Skills 2030 Foresights, RF Group. Co-leader of NeuroWeb Foresight. Research in Biofeedback methodology, AI-based image recognition in EEG analysis. Co-author of several science-art biofeedback based projects. Researcher at Psychosemantics laboratory of Psychology department of Moscow State University, Russia 47

ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING RUSSIAN NEUROWEB PROJECT

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Russian Venture Company

Neurobotics

Center for Strategic Research North-West

Alpha Smart Systems Council on Artificial Intelligence, Institute of Philosophy, RAS

Optical Neural Technology Research Center, System Studies Institute, RAS

Laboratory for Neurophysiology and Neuro-Computer Interfaces, Moscow State University

Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences

2045 Strategic Social Initiative

Future Biotech Russia

KEY MEMBERS OF RUSSIAN WORKGROUP

Professor Alexander Kaplan Neurophysiologist, founder of the first Russian Laboratory on Neuro-Computer Interfaces, Moscow State University Professor Vitaly Dunin-Barkovsky Head of the Neuroinformatics group of the Optical Neural Technology Center, Russian Academy of Sciences Professor David Dubrovsky Chief of the Research Council on Artificial Intelligence, Russian Academy of Sciences Professor Petr Schedrovitsky Vice-director of Philosophy institute, Russian Academy of Science. Key Russian expert on Collective Intelligence Professor Akop Nazaretyan Senior Research Fellow of the Oriental Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. Key Russian expert in Big History Dr. Anatoly Levenchuk President of TechnoInvestLab (leading Russian advisory in complex systems engineering & semantic data integration, member of ISO15926)

Dr. Vladimir Konyshev CEO Neurobotics (leading Russian technological company in the area of neural & biometry interfaces, and BCI-controlled robotics) Dr. Dmitry Kuzmin Research Associate in Neuroscience, University College London. Chairman of Future Biotech, partner at RusBio Ventures Dr. Anatoly Prokhorov Executive producer, media&educational project ‘Smeshariki’ (Kikoriki), Vice-President of National Children Foundation. Oleg Bakhtiyarov, Head of Psychonetics Laboratory (leading research center on new pscyhotechnics that support collective intelligence & complexity management) Dr. Dmtry Bulatov Senior curator at National Centre for Contemporary Arts. Key Russian expert on science art employing neuro-technologies. Alan Francis Master at Taoist and Gurgieff traditions, co-founder of Oregon/Portland Gurdjieff Foundations.

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