Chinese Army Trains Military Students To Control Machines With Their Minds

The Chinese army of the future could see robot soldiers controlled by military commanders’ minds.

According to Dailymail.co.uk, students at a Chinese military academy are being trained to use specially designed headsets that can harness the wearer’s brain activity in order to control a machine.

Students at the People’s Liberation Army Information Engineering University in Zhengzhou showed in a recent demonstration that they were able to control the movement of small robots using only their minds.

As well as making the robots walk, the young army recruits were able to to make the robots turns their heads and pick up objects.

When the students hear different instructions, their brains give out related signals that are picked up by the headset. These brainwave signals are amplified and interpreted by a computer, which then feeds the commands to the robots.

The technology could have many useful positive applications, such as improving the quality of life for victims of paralysis and helping amputees to control prosthetic limbs.

However, there are fears that it could also be applied to military hardware to form remotely controlled robot armies.

The technology is currently only 70% accurate, according to its developers, and takes intense concentration from the headset wearer so it’s still some way off being perfected. The project is due to be completed by the end of the year.

A petition created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers to prevent autonomous warfare, recently gained support from Professor Stephen Hawking and Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk.

(Image credit: Reuters)