For years, scientists have been trying to distinguish between male and female brains based on nothing more than a brain scan, but they haven’t succeeded yet. It appears that artificial intelligence has now succeeded in determining whether a person is male or female based on brain scans. This should be visible in the brain, since the chromosomes that determine sex influence hormone balance. It seems that AI has outsmarted us once again!
AI can determine a person's gender by looking at their brain
Researchers recently began feeding brain scans to an AI. They quickly noticed that the AI was indeed able to distinguish whether a brain scan belonged to a man or a woman. This provides a wealth of new information, as it confirms that there is a difference in the brains of men and women. It turns out that certain parts of the brain are displayed more clearly depending on whether the scan is from a woman or a man. In 95% of cases, the AI correctly identified the gender in the moving brain scans. One of the differences appears to be the neural network we use to think about ourselves. But the part of the brain we use for learning and that determines how we respond to rewards also functions differently in women and men. These are precisely the parts of our brains that are often linked to psychiatry. Disorders appear to cause the most problems in these parts of the brain.
What can we do with this new information?
That information is, of course, very valuable, but what can we actually do with it? Researchers are going to try to use this information to address mental and neurological issues that appear to be linked to gender. It’s a statement we make all too often: men’s and women’s brains simply work differently. It now turns out that this is indeed the case. It’s likely that only a small part of this entire topic has come to light so far thanks to AI. Scientists expect to learn much more about the differences between the brains of women and men. If we better understand what happens in the brains of women and men and what connections are made, this will be extremely valuable to the medical world.
Conclusion
So, in reality, we don’t actually know that much yet, aside from the fact that artificial intelligence can distinguish a woman’s brain from a man’s in 95% of cases. However, scientists aren’t going to stop here, because further research could reveal even more valuable information. We’re curious to see how this research will develop!