It is likely that AI will eventually be integrated into human cognition, embedded in devices worn by consumers to augment their cognitive abilities. People may eventually invest in brain implants that seamlessly provide information and tune their brain activity as needed. The scope of future applications is wide and includes: downregulating undesirable brain states and tuning the brain for optimal task-specific performance.

Technologically-mediated changes to the body plan could also alter embodied cognition, exploiting the brain’s plasticity to find new ways to act on its environment. For example, experiments with a “third thumb” – a second, robotically-articulated thumb attached to one hand – have revealed that the brain quickly adapts to controlling the new digit and integrates it into its body plan, rewiring circuits to accommodate the addition.²⁴