Neurotechnology Works Its Way Forward

Neurotechnology is an emerging and rapidly advancing field of technology used to collect, process, and analyze brain or nervous system activity. The market is expected to reach $21 billion by 2026. In a previous article, published in October 2023, we explored the potential of neurotechnology applications in the workplace, like electroencephalogram (EEG) headbands that monitor fatigue and boost safety, software and EEG combination technologies that creates a shortcut to the human brain and optimizes complex decision-making, and earbuds that track focus and stress. We have continued to study and speak about these issues in various forums, and meanwhile, technology and legal changes are underway. This Article tracks the technology’s advances in the workplace and examines additional consumer and healthcare applications in the United States. Additionally, we address certain other legal and regulatory concerns with neurotechnology. We examine privacy considerations and protections to defend workers, consumers, and others from unfettered access to their innermost thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Finally, we evaluate the potential evidentiary use of neurotechnology, comparing it to its unreliable predecessor, the polygraph test, and we explore the future possibility that this technology may be a means of assessing whether witnesses are telling the truth in the courtroom. Though it seems farfetched to track thoughts and emotions, the technology is here and its potential applications in the mid-twenty-first century workplace are wide-ranging—and a little scary.