Executive summary
The next big tech revolution won’t arrive with a bang, but a quiet whisper inside your head. While we’re tapping away at screens and talking to our devices, something much bigger is brewing at tech companies worldwide. Brain-computer interfaces are about to change everything – not tomorrow, not next month, but soon enough that we should be paying attention. And unlike the smartphone revolution that merely changed how we communicate, this shift will transform what it means to be human.
- Paralysed patients are already using BCIs to move robotic limbs and interact with computers.
- By 2040, BCIs could enable us to communicate telepathically, share memories and experiences, and augment our cognitive abilities.
- BCIs will allow us to keep track of our mental wellbeing around the clock, offering targeted intervention when troubling signs appear.
- How we experience entertainment will change, becoming more adaptive and responsive to our state of mind.
- The way we work will be transformed, as BCIs enable us to perform a variety of work-related tasks and communicate with colleagues using our thoughts.
Change has a funny way of creeping up on us: twenty years ago, the idea of carrying a powerful computer inside your pocket was absurd. Now, we panic if we leave our phones at home. BCIs are following a similar path, but with even bigger implications. By 2040, sharing thoughts could be as normal as sharing tweets, and downloading skills might be as common as downloading apps. While today’s teens can’t fathom how we survived without social media, tomorrow’s teens might just wonder the same about brain chips.
Every few decades, a new technology emerges that promises to reshape society from the ground up. Throughout history, we’ve seen this pattern unfold time after time: the printing press revolutionised access to knowledge, electricity illuminated our world, and the internet connected billions of people across the globe. Now, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are poised to be the next revolutionary breakthrough.
These groundbreaking devices are already starting to make a difference, enabling paralysed individuals to control computers and robotic limbs using nothing but their thoughts. But this may be just a preview of what’s to come. As artificial intelligence (AI) grows more sophisticated and our understanding of the human brain deepens, BCIs might become as ubiquitous as smartphones – by 2040, almost everybody could have one. Whether you find that prospect thrilling or unsettling, one thing is increasingly clear: we’re slowly approaching a future where the gap between thinking and doing will be all but gone.
The internet of brains
BCIs will one day enable us to interact with each other using our thoughts, essentially making us telepathic.
The most immediate and transformative impact of BCIs will likely be in how we interact with one another. Instead of speaking words or typing messages, by 2040 we could be sharing thoughts directly from one mind to another. Think about how your ideas exist in your mind before you speak them as little more than concepts, feelings, and images. BCIs could let us share these raw thoughts directly, bypassing the need to translate them into words. Two people could exchange ideas at the speed of thought, creating a form of communication that’s faster and richer than anything we’ve known before.
This could revolutionise both our professional and personal relationships. We could collaborate with our colleagues by sharing not just ideas, but entire thought processes and mental models. Creative teams could brainstorm by directly building on each other’s mental imagery. In our personal lives, BCIs could enable us to connect with our loved ones on a far deeper level. Those moments when words fall short of expressing what we truly feel could become a thing of the past. We could share experiences, emotions, and memories with unprecedented clarity and depth. Language barriers would disappear entirely – when we communicate through pure thoughts, it won’t matter what language we speak.
A mind-controlled world
Not far from now, we will be able to use our minds to control our smart home devices or even drive our cars.
BCIs will also fundamentally change how we interact with the technology around us. By 2040, you will be able to walk into your home and adjust everything – lights, temperature, music, TV – all without lifting a finger. Your BCI could even anticipate your needs, sensing when you’re stressed and automatically creating a calming environment with softer lighting and soothing music. The smartphone as we know it might become obsolete. Messages would appear directly in your mind, and you could respond instantly with a thought. No more typing, no more pulling out your phone during conversations – communication would become truly effortless.
Even driving could become a purely mental exercise. Rather than mastering physical controls, you would be able to operate your vehicle with thoughts alone, making it respond to your intentions as if it were an extension of your body. BCIs could also make the digital world a much safer place: instead of passwords or biometric data, we could use “passthoughts” to authenticate our identity and log into various devices and platforms. Since each person’s brain wave patterns are unique, this new form of authentication would be practically impossible to break through.
Tomorrow’s chip-enhanced superhumans
While currently used largely for medical purposes, brain implants could one day enable healthy people to enhance their abilities beyond their natural limits.
In addition to changing how we interact with machines and each other, BCIs could also allow us to exceed the limits of our biology. By precisely stimulating specific areas of the brain, they could significantly enhance our cognitive abilities. Think improving our memory, sharpening our focus, accelerating learning – that kind of thing.
BCIs could also give our visual and auditory powers a major boost. Several companies have already made remarkable progress in developing implants that restore vision and hearing to those who have lost these senses as a result of injury or disease. As technology develops further, BCIs could one day even allow us to see clearly in total darkness, zoom in on distant objects, or hear frequencies beyond the normal human range.
Such devices could also transform how we perceive our environment by seamlessly overlaying digital information onto our visual field. When you look at a building, you might instantly see its history and architectural details. Glance at a plant, and its species and care requirements could appear in your field of view. Look at a person, and you could be reminded of their name and when you last met. This constant stream of contextual information would make navigating the world easier and more enriching than ever before.
Step into my memories
Our BCIs will keep a record of everything we see and hear, enabling us to replay memories at will or even share them with others.
Other advancements in BCI technology could unlock possibilities that are entirely impossible today. By 2040, we may be able to capture a complete recording of our experiences – everything that we see and hear as we go about our daily lives. This would have a profound impact on how we preserve and revisit memories. Instead of relying on imperfect recollections or two-dimensional photos and videos, we could access pristine recordings of our experiences, complete with every sensory detail intact, and replay them at will. Naturally, we could also send these experiences directly to another person’s brain.
Rather than scrolling through your vacation photos or watching travel videos on Instagram, your family and friends could experience your adventures as if they were actually there themselves. Travellers could share “neural postcards” that capture not just the sights and sounds of their adventures but convey the full sensory and emotional depth of these moments – the warmth of the tropical sun, the smell of ocean breeze, the aroma of street food, and the texture of the sand between toes. These shared experiences would create a level of empathy and understanding that goes far beyond what’s possible to achieve through traditional forms of communication.
A healthy mind in a healthy body
BCI technology will be able to constantly monitor our mental state, opening the door to novel treatments for various mental health conditions.
Just as fitness trackers monitor our physical health today, BCIs will do the same for our mental state in 2040. They will constantly analyse our brain activity, delivering real-time insights about our psychological wellbeing – tracking everything from our stress and fatigue levels to fluctuations in our attentiveness and emotional state. When mental fatigue begins to impact performance or stress starts building toward unhealthy levels, our BCI will detect these changes and warn us before they become problematic. This early warning system could help us make better decisions about when to take breaks, switch tasks, or implement stress-management techniques.
The therapeutic applications are particularly compelling. By directly interfacing with our neural circuits, BCIs could offer more precise, personalised interventions for a variety of mental health conditions. For someone with anxiety, for example, the BCI could recognise and calm the neural patterns associated with excessive worry. For someone with depression, it could help activate areas of the brain linked to positive emotions and motivation. Instead of relying solely on medications that affect the entire brain or therapy sessions scheduled weeks apart, BCIs could provide precise support exactly when needed. The device would recognise when someone’s mental health is starting to deteriorate and automatically provide the right type of neural stimulation to help them stay stable and healthy.
The brain as the ultimate game controller
With BCIs, we’ll never again feel bored or frustrated when playing a game, as the software will be able to monitor our engagement levels and adjust the game environment accordingly.
BCIs are also set to have a profound impact on how we experience video games. No longer will gamers have to memorise complex sequences of key presses on their controllers to get their in-game avatar to execute a certain manoeuvre – they will simply think about what they want them to do, and it will happen. Perhaps even more significantly, brain implants will allow game developers to interpret your brain’s reactions to understand when you’re having fun – and take action when you’re not.
Stuck on a particularly tough level? The game will sense your mounting frustration and subtly adjust the challenge to keep you engaged. Finding a section too easy? The game will ramp up the difficulty before boredom sets in. It will also be able to recognise the types of challenges that light up your brain with excitement and the elements that leave you cold. Whether you prefer exploring vast open worlds, solving complex puzzles, or engaging in intense combat, the game will constantly fine-tune itself to maximise your enjoyment.
Working at the speed of thought
In the future, we will use our minds to perform various work-related tasks, while our BCIs will monitor our state of mind and warn us when we start to feel tired or distracted.
Many of the new capabilities discussed in previous chapters would translate into our professional lives as well. By 2040, BCIs will enable workers to bypass traditional interfaces like mouse and keyboard and control computers and machinery using their thoughts. When a worker hits a roadblock, they won’t need to ask a colleague for help or search through documentation for the right answer. Instead, they’ll simply download the needed expertise directly into their brain and proceed without missing a beat.
For those in high-risk environments like construction workers, train operators, and long-haul truck drivers, BCIs will become as essential as hard hats and safety harnesses are today. The technology will continuously monitor their brain activity, along with some additional physiological indicators like eye movement and blink rate, to identify early signs of drowsiness and fatigue. Once it detects that a person is starting to feel tired or distracted, their BCI would instantly notify them and suggest that they take a break, significantly reducing the risk of an accident.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that the technology could also potentially be abused. Companies might use BCIs to monitor their employees’ mental states or even read their private thoughts without permission. Some may even try to sell aggregated brain data to advertisers or use it to optimise workplace conditions for productivity rather than employee wellbeing. There’s also the possibility that employers may require brain monitoring as a condition of employment, much like how drug testing is standard in many industries today. That’s why it might be a good idea to include an off switch – to ensure that we can still keep our thoughts private when we choose to do so.
Cyborgs at war
BCIs will dramatically improve the combat effectiveness of tomorrow’s soldiers, enabling them to communicate without words, control drones with their minds, and even regulate emotions.
Like many groundbreaking technologies before it, BCIs will likely find significant military applications. For instance, they could enable silent communication between squad members on the battlefield, allowing them to coordinate complex manoeuvres without compromising their position. Soldiers will also be able to mentally control reconnaissance drones to scout ahead, building a comprehensive picture of the battlefield without exposing themselves to danger.
One of the most promising applications of BCIs could be the ability to regulate physiological and emotional responses during and after combat. Soldiers will be able to control their stress levels, suppress fear, and even modulate their pain perception, significantly improving their combat effectiveness. But perhaps more importantly, the same technology could help prevent the devastating effects of post-traumatic stress by allowing soldiers to process their combat experiences in a healthier way. Rather than suppressing these experiences, they’ll have the tools to process them more effectively, potentially reducing the psychological toll that warfare takes on military personnel.
The technology may also introduce an entirely new form of neural warfare. Military strategists might develop ways to intercept or disrupt enemy BCI signals, potentially extracting tactical information or inducing disorienting sensory experiences in opposing forces. A well-executed hack could cause enemy combatants to involuntarily reveal their positions through sudden muscle movements, force them to experience temporary sensory overload, or implant false data that makes them perceive threats that don’t exist or miss ones that do.
Learnings
So, what’s the big takeaway here? Are we on the verge of another major breakthrough that will change everything we know? Well, not just yet. When you wake up tomorrow morning, your smartphone will still be on your nightstand, your laptop will still sit on your desk, and your thoughts will still be yours alone. But make no mistake – we’re very possibly living in the final days of that familiar world. By 2040, BCIs won’t just be helping the sick; they’ll be upgrading the healthy and expanding what it means to be human. They’ll turn thoughts into actions, memories into movies, and telepathy into reality. And when that day comes, we’ll look back at 2025 and wonder how we ever managed to live without them, the same way we now marvel at life before the internet.
