Neuroengineers have long wanted to reconnect people suffering from A.L.S. (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), who are unable to speak, to the rest of the world. So far, the computers they created have succeeded in interpreting words from the brain signals produced when people try to speak. However, the computer has recently started making correct guesses even when a test subject was only imagining to speak. This leads us to an important question: What if the machine could eavesdrop on someone’s inner voice and reveal things that are supposed to be private? Yes, I love hearing my own inner voice, but I would not want to hear it out loud for two reasons. One of them is that if my commentary included any of my weird ideas, it would make me and the people around me uncomfortable. My second reason is the complete lack of privacy, as some things are meant to remain private.

My first reason was that the presence of intrusive thoughts could make people uncomfortable. This is so significant because it could be directed at anyone, even people I barely know, and it would scare them away before we ever get to know each other. Especially if I were suffering from A.L.S. and the computer was speaking for me, it would be extremely hard to get across that this is not something I meant to say aloud. This would require me to actively have to control my own thoughts, which would lead to a very restricted lifestyle and create the feeling of constantly being watched and listened to. This leads me to my second point.

The second reason why I wouldn’t want to hear my inner voice out loud is because of the lack of privacy. We have a myriad of private thoughts within our minds, and it would be torture to have that taken away and broadcast to the world. Overall, it would make living exhausting, because you have to constantly regulate what is going on in your mind. I could somehow find a way to deal with this new reality, but it wouldn’t be too easy, considering everyone will be informed of my attempts.

What I’ve mentioned above are the main turn-offs for hearing my inner voice out loud, and I believe that everyone is entitled to their own privacy and having personal thoughts. Having a computer pick up things that are meant to be private and then conveying that to everyone else is not going to reconnect anyone, so I don’t think these computers should be used until they are guaranteed to only decode words that were meant to be shared.