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Toward a future that preserves benefits of neurotechnology for all
Toward a future that preserves benefits of neurotechnology for all
PhD student Rachel Sava, winner of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize, explores transformative improvements and dystopian risks of neural technology.
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Amanda Diehl<br>MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
Publication Date:
July 6, 2026
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Press Contact:
Amanda
Diehl
Email:<br>diehl@mit.edu
MIT Schwazman College of Computing
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Caption:
Rachel Sava presents her Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize submission, titled "Superintelligence, Superintimate."
Credits:
Photo: Gretchen Ertl
Caption:
The Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize, now in its fourth year, invites MIT students to identify which sector stands to gain the highest net positive impact from artificial intelligence.
Credits:
Photo: Gretchen Ertl
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As advanced medical technology gets closer to hitting consumer markets, the need for guardrails on protected usage should increase. What might begin as a neural implant to aid in communication could become a device used to police one’s innermost thoughts.<br>Intrigued by the far-reaching benefits and risks of neural implants, Rachel Sava, a PhD candidate in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, explores how a life-changing medical device can become a tool for surveillance by corporations and government entities in her winning submission, “Superintelligence, Superintimate,” for the fourth annual Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize.<br>Sava’s concept was inspired by an internship at IBM, where she worked on a project with the PACE Center in London. “A mentor on the project was Kevin Brown, who had himself designed one of the earliest brain decoders — an EEG-based system he built for a colleague who had suffered a stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome,” she says. “It was this patient population for whom the body has become an unreliable vehicle for the mind that motivated my writing about neuroprostheses some six years later.”<br>Sava explains that research and applications right now are at a “watershed moment in neurotechnology.” Using examples like companies taking advantage of neural implants to monitor mental productivity, or authorities policing a population for “thought crimes,” Sava said that as this tech hits consumer markets, there is a genuine fear that what starts as a revolutionary medical device could transition into more dystopian usages.
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Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize 2026: Rachel Sava
Video: MIT Schwarzman College of Computing
Presented by the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC), a cross-campus initiative of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, in collaboration with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and with support from MAC3 Philanthropies, the competition invited MIT students to identify, in 3,000 words or fewer, which sector stands to gain the highest net positive impact from artificial intelligence. Students were encouraged to explore realistic technological deployments while considering potential risks and ethical concerns. All submissions were eligible for cash awards with the grand prize set at $10,000.<br>During a live awards ceremony hosted by Caspar Hare, former associate dean of SERC and professor of philosophy, who founded the prize in 2023, three finalists each gave a 20-minute presentation on their concepts and took questions from a panel of judges and audience members.<br>“SERC and the donors who make this prize possible year after year are asking us, the next generation of scientists: ‘what world do you want to see?’ I think it’s worth taking the time to ask yourself the same,” Sava said. “And if, as it did for me, the sentiment grows bright enough to motivate further action — then it’s worth...