当大脑和机器直接相连，我们还需要身体吗？

近日，清华大学科学博物馆举办了一场激烈又精彩的圆桌讨论。谈论焦点正是一项颠覆性技术——脑机接口。

Tsinghua University Science Museum hosted a roundtable discussion focusing on brain-computer interfaces (BCI).

脑机接口技术有可能极大地改变我们对心智、身份与人体的认知。它提出了一些根本性问题：如果大脑能够直接与机器交互，我们将如何定义“自我”？身体又将扮演何种角色？

BCI technology has the potential to significantly change how we think about the mind, identity, and the human body. It raises fundamental questions: If the brain can interact directly with machines, how will we define the self? What purpose will the physical body serve?

讨论中，多位专家学者齐聚一堂，探讨脑机接口技术发展中的意识、自我、伦理问题，及其在技术发展中的边界。

Bringing together experts and scholars, the event explored issues related to consciousness, self-identity, and ethics related to BCI technology, as well as its limits.

北京大学哲学系博士胡翌霖表示：“脑机接口的发展虽然是大势所趋，但还是要保留一些间接性，过于直接会破坏我们的自主性。比如，我去饭店点菜，可以看着菜单自主选择不同的餐品。但如果没有菜单作为媒介，走进饭店时大脑自动和厨师连接，尽管脑对脑的沟通更加直接，却有可能让人丧失自主性，而可视化的界面呈现就是保留间接性的一种方式。”

"Although the development of BCI is an irreversible trend, we must preserve some level of indirectness. Excessive directness could undermine our autonomy," said Hu Yilin, a PhD student from the department of philosophy at Peking University.

"For example, when we go to a restaurant, we can look at the menu and make independent choices among the dishes. But if there is no menu as a medium, and our brains connect with the chef automatically the moment we walk into the restaurant, it may be more direct, but it could deprive us of our autonomy. Visual interfaces are a way to preserve such indirectness."

对此，清华大学神经工程实验室博士生郑辉表示，现在的广告植入、开屏广告都还处于自主控制范围内，消费者可以自主选择关闭或退出。而某种意义上脑机接口没有提供自主选择权，会在潜移默化中影响人的言语和行为。

In response, Zheng Hui, a PhD student at Tsinghua’s laboratory of neural engineering, said that current product placements and advertisements remain within our control, and consumers can choose to close or exit them. BCI offers no such autonomous choice and may subtly influence people’s speech and behavior.

圆桌讨论现场 供图

当前，脑机接口技术的发展仍然离不开身体的参与，但是万一未来不需要了呢？

Currently, BCI technology still relies on physical participation. But what if, in the future, it is no longer needed?

“如果未来真能实现大脑和机器的无缝对接，不再需要身体介入，会不会出现一种可能：身体反而成了累赘和干扰，影响脑信号与机器的顺畅沟通？”胡翌霖表示，尽管现在推崇健美的身形，但随着脑机接口技术的发展，未来是否会更加青睐赛博格形态，用机器、义肢替代原有身体。

"If seamless brain-computer connection becomes a reality in the future, eliminating the need for physical intervention, could the body instead become a burden and distraction and disturb the smooth communication between brain signals and computers?" Hu said.

He noted that while a fit figure is valued today, the advancement of BCI might make cyborg forms more favored in the future, with machines and prosthetics replacing the human body.

清华大学心理与认知科学系长聘副教授张丹表示，人类的很多认知必须通过身体与物理世界的交互才能完整形成，不是大脑单独能完成的。

Zhang Dan, a tenured associate professor from the department of psychological and cognitive science at Tsinghua University, said that much of human cognition can only be fully formed through the body’s interaction with the physical world, not by the brain alone.

张丹团队通过研究发现，身体信号对情绪反应至关重要。在张丹看来，如果大脑不发生革命性的重大变化，身体和大脑就一定无法分离，尽管能把两个大脑直接对接，但双方可能都是零散思绪，根本没法准确理解彼此。“正是通过身体器官的动作，比如说话和手势，才能把模糊的概率性想法，转化为明确的、可传递的信号。”

His team’s studies found that body signals are crucial to emotional responses. In Zhang’s view, the body and the brain can never be separated without revolutionary changes. Even if two brains could be directly connected, they would only exchange fragmented thoughts and be unable to understand each other truly. "It is through the movements of organs, such as speaking and gesturing, that we can convert vague thoughts into clear, transmissible signals," he said.

他进一步表示，未来随着大脑和人工智能、外部机器共同进化，也许会形成全新的生命体。那时或许会出现脱离现有身体形态的存在，但已经是完全不同的生命形式了。

He further noted that as the brain co-evolves with artificial intelligence and external machines, entirely new life forms may emerge beyond the current physical form.

胡翌霖认为，“人的意识本质上是双向的，既有输入也有输出，因此脑机接口的发展不能只停留在‘读取工具’的定位上，更该往‘表达工具’的方向探索。但是在此过程中，要格外重视脑机接口技术应用的边界，避免加剧社会不平等问题。”

Hu said: "Human consciousness is bidirectional, with both input and output. BCI’s development shouldn’t be just a ‘reading tool’, but needs to explore being an ‘expression tool’." He added that special attention must be paid to the boundaries of the use of BCI to avoid intensifying social inequalities.

清华大学科学博物馆馆员、活动总策划王玥涵说，“无论技术以何种方式推进，此刻，身体还是我们最重要的伙伴，它是我们与世界互动的首要媒介。即便脑电活动与意识状态不断被重新定义，我们与自然的实际接触仍需回到身体这个界面。”

Wang Yuehan, a curator of the Tsinghua University Science Museum and chief planner of the event, said, "No matter how technology advances, the body is still our most important partner at this moment. It is the primary medium for interacting with the world. Even as brain electrical activity and consciousness are constantly being redefined, we still need to rely on the body as the interface for our contact with nature."

记者：陈美玲

实习生：刘雪茹

来源：中国科学报

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