Turns out that the computers are going to take my mentalism job afterall. . .

Four days ago a Japanese newspaper reported a study where people looked at a handful of images from a bank of 1200 while they were in a MRI machine.

Then, about a half hour to an hour later the person remembered the image & the AI could tell what image they were thinking about.

It got it right 75% of the time.

That's a success rate WAY above anybody who went through Randi's Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, that's for sure.

What's particularly interesting about this is that it's a step beyond how this kind of thing has worked so far. Usually the person would have to look at the image again for the AI to recognize the thought pattern.

This is the first time the person just thinks of the image they saw.

Very cool.

There's another insight here, too, if you know what you're looking at.

The AI is following the fundamentals of persuasion & influence.

You can't roll in out of the blue and change someone's mind.

You have to see them. Meet them. Get to know them. Understand how they see the world. THEN you know where to start if you want to get them to your end.

The AI is doing exactly that. It's establishing a baseline to measure against, and then evaluating future results against that baseline. Only then can it do what its doing.

Do with that info what you will.

(If you truly understand it, you can do anything you've ever wanted.)

Best thoughts,

~Jonathan "out of a job" Pritchard