I always think that we have seen enough technological advancements to "not" be surprised or amazed anymore by newer tech innovations. However, every now and then, something comes up that ends up completely baffling me.

I read a report recently that Microsoft has applied for a patent for a system that mines cryptocurrency like Bitcoin using your brain waves. Yes, it is exactly how it sounds and yes, I am sure you immediately have thousands of questions now.

The patent application hasn't been granted yet. But if it ever got developed into a product, then it would appear something like this: You would probably use a wearable device that could read your brain waves (most probably a headband). It would continuously scan your brain waves for specific activities. So, when a pre-determined task is complete (say, watching an advertisement), it could use those signals to mine for crypto.

So, it is basically reading your mind to ensure that you have completed a certain task. Then it uses that confirmed signal to pay you bitcoin or other cryptos as a reward for completing that task.

Dystopia... Anyone?

As I was reading the news report, I immediately remembered this one episode of Black Mirror. In the episode, human beings were shown to be performing an activity (riding a gym bike of sorts) in exchange for monetary credits. That's literally all they did. It is not explained why everyone was doing the said activity but that's what it was.

Microsoft's system sounds eerily similar. Complete a task... get your units! Imagine a future where corporations could send signals to you to watch an ad, reply to a text, read an email, walk a few kilometers, or do any number of tasks for rewards. It would literally be human mining!

The big question then arises. Why would these companies just give away the crypto coins for doing the task? I assume they would have large mining farms to constantly mine the crypto which would then be paid in exchange for a particular activity. But, how would it benefit a company if I walk a mile and receive a crypto coin? It doesn't make sense!

In fact, in Microsoft's patent application, the logistics for how such transactions would occur are totally unclear. Maybe it's just an idea they wanted to patent. Maybe they have something useful in mind... or maybe it is something sinister? We won't know until it becomes an actual product! We sure live in interesting times though.