Neural rights was a hot topic during a session called “Approaching Singularity: Our Brains Interfacing with Superintelligence” at the World Forum 2026, where one panelist remarked that the technology to compute consciousness was already here.
Not to be confused with the World Economic Forum, the World Forum on the Future of Democracy, AI/Tech, and Human Kind took place February 16-17 in Berlin, but the sessions were only just uploaded to YouTube in March.
When it comes to merging humans with AI, the singularity is a scenario that has philosophers, researchers, business leaders, government agencies, and technocrats alike scrambling to define what it means to be human.
The panel delved into legal, philosophical, and ethical concerns surrounding, “who owns your thoughts? Who has the right to modify them? And what happens to human identity, human rights, and human economic relevance when the boundary between mind and machine dissolves?”
For WITHIN [U] founder and CEO Cathan Mayfair, defining what it means to be human is key for addressing neural rights because “once you define who you are, neural rights is the governance of identity, and whoever governs identity governs society.”
“Neural rights is the governance of identity, and whoever governs identity governs society”
Cathan Mayfair, World Forum, February 2026
“Singularity is singular, and it’s towards a superintelligence, but when we’re forced to define what it means to be humans, that’s not singular is it? It’s multiplicity because there’s so many dimensions of consciousness,” Mayfair told the World Forum panel.
“So, when you define that and you find out it’s individual versus a generative AI model, then we’re far away from what the singularity is.”
“We need to focus on the individual’s data to further enhance who we are — not use generative AI and data pools to make us subjective of neural rights that may or may not pertain to us because to create emergence, identity and phenomena is the key“
Cathan Mayfair, World Forum, February 2026
Mayfair went on to explain, “I think there will be a new term — call it the matrix — I don’t care, but it is singular.
“We are multifaceted human beings, so consciousness is very relevant in this topic. Why? Because it defines who you are.
“And once you define who you are, neural rights is the governance of identity, and whoever governs identity governs society.”
Agreeing with Mayfair, space entrepreneur Bob Richards said it was important to understand consciousness in order to know the “boundary condition” between human and AI rights.
The idea here being that one day, AIs may be given certain rights, similar to animal rights or even human rights.
“Where do our human rights begin and end; where do the AI rights begin and end?
Bob Richards, World Forum, February 2026
Richards said, “We better understand as humans what consciousness is because that not only defines who we are, but what the boundary condition is between humans and AIs.”
Elaborating further on the subject of consciousness and identity, Mayfair argued that AI superintelligence could one day override human identity if we were rendered to be just “population summaries of data pools.”
“We are not population summaries of data pools. When that happens, we become subjected to singularity, superintelligence that overrides our identity, and we need to maintain our agency”
Cathan Mayfair, World Forum, February 2026
“Philosophers have always tried to define what consciousness is. We’ve taken the approach of neuroscience, but that doesn’t solve it; it’s not the solution is it?
“It’s not a solution of philosophy. It may be a solution of biophysics — hint, hint — it could be a solution of mathematics, but the more important relevance is understanding the individual; because we are not population summaries of data pools.
“When that happens, we become subjected to singularity, superintelligence that overrides our identity, and we need to maintain our agency before we get lost in translation.”
“What if I told you the technology exists to compute consciousness?”
Cathan Mayfair, World Forum, February 2026
Mayfair’s company WITHIN [U] specializes in “Consciousness AI,” which according to their website, “decodes your living signals into intelligence you can act on. It translates neural, bioenergetic, and physiological patterns into real-time insights that support, health, mental well-being, learning, and beyond.”
The technologies involved include non-invasive precision hardware like wearables and sensors, combined with advanced algorithms to “access the dynamics of consciousness.”
Speaking of wearables, at the same World Forum panel, international human rights lawyer Jared Genser said that in a few years, we’re probably going to be able to send text messages with our thoughts.
“Everything from flying a helicopter drone with your thoughts is something that can be done […] We’re also on the cusp of thought-to-text translation […] You’re going to be able to send a text message with your thoughts”
Jared Genser, World Forum, February 2026
You can check out the full panel discussion and more on the World Forum’s YouTube channel, which elaborates further on:
The World Forum 2026 brought together world leaders, Nobel laureates, military commanders, and democratic pioneers in Berlin to discuss “the future of democracy, the governance of AI, and the security of the free world.”
Image Source: The World Forum
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