Watch Now: https://stream.sfu.ca/Media/Play/f1c54e694ea441ae889cb54d6456c35f1d

What do people think machines can know about the mind, even theoretically?

Abstract

What do people think machines can know about the mind, even theoretically? I examine this question through (1) a controlled experiment on emotional interpretations of heartrate, and (2) a technology probe–a working brain computer interface–that revealed how software engineers in Silicon Valley imagine futures of mind-machine interfaces. I discuss how sensing technologies meet with human beliefs to shift the boundary between sensing bodies and sensing minds, and what this moving boundary means for the future of cybersecurity. I center engineers' speculative capacity as an undervalued resource in security, and motivate my ongoing work applying speculative HCI practices to surface sociotechnical security threats.

Biography

Nick Merrill is a postdoc at the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, and recently received his PhD from the UC Berkeley School of Information. He uses qualitative and quantitative methods to study speculative dimensions of cybersecurity, and their social practice.