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Paper short abstract

The proposed presentation examines how STS can move beyond critique by studying socio-technical imaginaries of AI-driven neurotechnologies and approaching their ethics as discursive, performative, and sensitized by Critical Disability Studies

Paper long abstract

Emerging Neurotechnologies are often accompanied by powerful promissory narratives that frame brain implants as “tools” for overcoming human biological limits. High-profile interventions by figures such as Elon Musk, who claims that Neuralink is the first step for enabling a merger of human and AI, reproduce transhumanist imaginaries in which the human body is depicted as inherently deficient and in need of technological transcendence. AI-driven brain implants, such as adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation (aDBS) and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs), support daily life for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses while raising further questions as they move into consumer and enhancement domains.

The proposed presentation explores how STS can move beyond critique to examine the socio-technical imaginaries surrounding emerging neurotechnologies. Drawing on STS and sensitized by insights from Critical Disability Studies (CDS), it approaches ethics of imaginaries as discursive and performative work; ethical concerns are enacted through language, framing, and rhetorical strategies that shape what counts as a problem, which values are prioritized, and where responsibility lies (Martin 2015; Wehrens et al., 2023). Building on this perspective, this presentation focusing on imaginaries, examining how transhumanist narratives often intensify ableist assumptions by extending the medical model of disability and framing disability primarily as a biological deficit to be technologically corrected or transcended. This approach demonstrates that critically engaging with these imaginaries can itself function as a form of STS intervention, informed by insights from CDS in the context of emerging AI-enabled neurotechnologies.