I came across an interesting website for a company that claims to be able to do accurate lie detection using MRIs, mainly contracting legal and governmental work. I think this claim is pretty far-fetched, but there are a lot of ethical and legal implications if or when this technology becomes viable. The polygraph test, which is the most prevalent kind of lie detection in use, has certainly raised plenty of legal issues without ever maturing into a technology that is any good at actually detecting lies.
We've talked a lot in this class about the different kinds of lie, and I wonder if there are any differences in the brain between different classes of lies (the most prominent difference would probably be between lies that are self-deceptive and lies that deceive others). However, the publications that the company's website references are about ten years old and there hasn't been too much interest in the area for the past few years. Coupled with their failures in getting fMRI evidence admitted into courts, and the obvious problems with real-world application when a lie-detection apparatus involves a gigantic magnet, it would be interesting to see what level of genuine confidence the founders of these companies possess in their technology by subjecting them to their own lie-detection processes.
The company:
No Lie MRI
One of their references:
Classifying spatial patterns of brain activity with machine learning methods: application to lie detection
A good review of the state of the art and its implications on law, society, and ethics:
Functional MRI-based lie detection: scientific and societal challenges
(You might need to be on the UC network to view the papers)
We've talked a lot in this class about the different kinds of lie, and I wonder if there are any differences in the brain between different classes of lies (the most prominent difference would probably be between lies that are self-deceptive and lies that deceive others). However, the publications that the company's website references are about ten years old and there hasn't been too much interest in the area for the past few years. Coupled with their failures in getting fMRI evidence admitted into courts, and the obvious problems with real-world application when a lie-detection apparatus involves a gigantic magnet, it would be interesting to see what level of genuine confidence the founders of these companies possess in their technology by subjecting them to their own lie-detection processes.
The company:
No Lie MRI
One of their references:
Classifying spatial patterns of brain activity with machine learning methods: application to lie detection
A good review of the state of the art and its implications on law, society, and ethics:
Functional MRI-based lie detection: scientific and societal challenges
(You might need to be on the UC network to view the papers)
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