Exogenous cognition
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Exogenous cognition

2.1.4

Sub-Field

Exogenous cognition

One of the most transformative prospects in cognitive enhancement is the integration of artificial cognitive systems with biological brains. Our mental processes are already extending beyond our brains, relying on external, often technological, tools and systems to perform cognitive tasks. Advances in AI — particularly in foundation models, adaptive agents and generative tools — offer the potential to extend memory, decision-making and learning even further beyond the biological substrate.

Future Horizons:

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5-yearhorizon

Spinal-cord injuries are mitigated through BCIs

As well as more advanced non-invasive therapeutic interventions, BCIs with 10,000 electrodes are implanted into the human cortex, providing enhanced therapeutic interventions for spinal-cord injuries. Ethical concerns over BCI hacking and artificial consciousness are widely debated.

10-yearhorizon

BCIs enable mood management

Implants with up to 50,000 electrodes connect into deeper brain areas such as the thalamus, allowing pain relief and mood management. They also allow battlefield applications such as machines controlled by humans fighting each other. Progress with less invasive technologies — glasses, sensors and earbuds, for example — creates a highly competitive market for applications such as virtual meetings, stimulating faster BCI development across the whole range of technologies.

25-yearhorizon

Whole-brain interfaces become possible with BCI technology

Whole-brain interfaces using BCIs with millions of electrodes allow cognitive enhancement and the treatment of complex conditions like memory loss and psychosis. Less invasive technologies become widely used, giving access to personal daemons that provide virtual support.

As brain-computer interfaces mature, and as models become more context-aware and biologically informed, new hybrid cognitive architectures may emerge. Non-invasive BCIs, such as glasses23 and earbuds with integrated physiological sensors, are already collecting vast amounts of data,24 which, when combined with AI, could lead to cognitive offloading and augmentation.25,26

Invasive BCIs — implants inserted into the brain via a small craniotomy27 — have even deeper potential. Neuralink, a privately funded company, has developed a hermetically sealed implant that translates motor intentions into digital commands (and vice versa) with immediate applications in restoring function for individuals with paralysis. Patients are already using Neuralink interfaces to control a virtual hand and play games, and the ambition is significantly greater: the company envisions an ability to treat blindness and aphasia, the full-body control of exoskeletons, and perhaps pain and mood management.

Such advanced BCIs raise significant concerns about data privacy,28 the potential for misuse of personal brain data and the risk of creating a dependency on technology that could diminish natural cognitive abilities. Given the eventual (beyond 2050) possibilities of direct cerebral advertisements, identity hacking and the potential for identity destruction, the ethical landscape that will emerge over the next few decades will be complex. A careful, nuanced and informed approach will be required as AI integrates with human consciousness.

Exogenous cognition - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

  1. The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
  2. The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
  3. The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.

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2.2 - Cell and Gene Engineering
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