A brain–computer interface (BCI) establishes a direct communication channel between a brain and an external device. With recent advances in neurotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), the brain signals in BCI communication have been advanced from sensation and perception to higher-level cognition activities. While the field of BCI has grown rapidly in the past decades, the core technologies and innovative ideas behind seemingly unrelated BCI systems have never been summarized from an evolutionary point of view. Here, we review various BCI paradigms and present an evolutionary model of generalized BCI technology which comprises three stages: interface, interaction, and intelligence (I3). We also highlight challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives in the development of new BCI technology.

脑机接口（BCI）在大脑和外部设备之间建立了直接的通信通道。随着神经技术和人工智能 (AI) 的最新进展，BCI 通信中的大脑信号已从感觉和感知提升到更高级别的认知活动。尽管 BCI 领域在过去几十年中发展迅速，但看似无关的 BCI 系统背后的核心技术和创新思想从未从进化的角度进行总结。在这里，我们回顾了各种 BCI 范式，并提出了广义 BCI 技术的进化模型，该模型包括三个阶段：界面、交互和智能 (I3)。我们还强调了新 BCI 技术开发中的挑战、机遇和未来前景。