Ethical Issues With Cyborg Technology

The future may include the reality of science fiction's "cyborgs," persons who have developed some intimate and occasionally necessary relationship with a machine. It is likely that computer chips implanted in our brains and acting as sensors or actuators may soon not only assist the blind and those with failing memory, but even bestow fluency in a new language, enable "recognition" of previously unmet individuals and provide instantaneous access to encyclopedic databases. Developments in nanotechnology, bioengineering, computers and neuroscience are converging to facilitate these amazing possibilities.