Many ethical questions about our future with intelligent machines rest upon assumptions concerning the origins, development and ideal future of humanity and of the universe, and hence overlap considerably with many religious questions. First, could computers themselves become moral in any sense, and could different components of morality – whatever they are – be instantiated in a computer? Second, could computers enhance the moral functioning of humans? Do computers potentially have a role in narrowing the gap between moral aspiration and how morality is actually lived out? Third, if we develop machines comparable in intelligence to humans, how should we treat them? This question is especially acute for embodied robots and human-like androids. Fourthly, numerous moral issues arise as society changes such that artificial intelligence plays an increasingly significant role in making decisions, with implications for how human beings function socially and as individuals, treat each other and access resources.

Technology has been an integral part of biological life since the inception of terrestrial life. Evolution is the process by which biological life seeks to transcend itself in pursuit of more robust life. This chapter examines transhumanism as the use of technological means to enhance human biological function. Transhumanists see human nature as a work in progress and suggest that by responsible use of science, technology and other rational means, we shall become beings with vastly greater capacities and unlimited potential. Transhumanism has religious implications.

Among the image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs), anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are now a global public health issue. Once confined to sporting arenas and competitive bodybuilding, they have now reached an increasingly image-conscious general population. In addition to the well-documented evidence of physical harm caused by AAS, there is emerging evidence that in sustained high doses they affect the structure and functioning of the brain. For some of the newer drugs the potential long-term impact is unknown. The risks to health are compounded by polypharmacy, high levels of injecting, and variable product content and contamination resulting from the illicit market. Responses to the issue (i.e., the level and implementation of regulations, education and preventive activities, and treatment and harm reduction) vary. However, there are few data to inform the development of effective interventions, and there is a clear need to develop the evidence base, which requires effective engagement with drug-using populations.

Restoration of the European native oyster is underway across Europe, and Scotland provides a good example of the current experience and lessons to be learnt for future restoration work. Translocations of shellfish carry inherent risks that must be taken into account when considering whether this is the most appropriate conservation action to take. Marine restoration projects require strict biosecurity protocols to address disease and non-native species risks relevant to both species translocation and associated operations. Native oyster restoration is a long-term commitment and projects need to organise appropriate surveys and consultation periods before starting work, together with long-term monitoring after the initial deployment phase.

This chapter explores the contributions of two minoritized indigenous languages of Brazil, Maxakalí and Kaingang, to representations of nasality gestures akin to musical scores, as well as the right way to frame the universality of the kinship terms (and ideal universal syllables)' mama’ and ‘papa’ in light of a phonetic model called Enhancement Theory. These languages have either the consonants /m/ and /p/, but not /b/, or /b/ and /p/, but not /m/, and the allophonic environments in which this available phonetic space is used are organized around perceptual and articulatory optimization.

In the reading section of this chapter, we look at how much vocabulary is needed to gain meaning-focused input through reading material written for native speakers. We then look at what a well-balanced reading program for learners of English as a foreign language should contain to maximise vocabulary growth, stressing the need to use vocabulary graded material, particularly graded readers. Such a course should provide opportunities for extensive reading, a focus on language features through intensive reading, and the development of reading fluency though speed reading. Finally, we look at how learners can be supported to read ungraded texts, using techniques such as narrow reading, pre–teaching, intensive reading, and glossing. In order to gain 98 per cent coverage of unsimplified text, learners need to know most of the high-frequency and mid-frequency words, totalling around 8,000–9,000 word families. In the writing section of this chapter, we look at the effect of vocabulary use on the quality of writing, measuring written productive knowledge of vocabulary and how to improve learners’ vocabulary use in writing.

This chapter considers how technological innovations represent disturbances with which regulatory frameworks must cope, focusing on innovations that can be characterised as ‘enhancing’. Human enhancement can no longer be dismissed as something with which serious regulatory frameworks need not engage. Enhancing pursuits increasingly occupy the very centre of human experience and ‘being’; one can observe widespread student use of cognitively enhancing stimulants, the increasing prevalence of implanted technologies, and great swathes of people absently navigating the physical while engrossed in the digital. The medical devices framework, one might think, should offer a good example of a regime that engages directly and usefully with the concepts implicated by enhancement and the socio-technical changes wrought by enhancing technologies. As such, this chapter focuses on the recently reformed medical devices framework. After identifying some enhancements that are available and highlighting what they mean for the person, the chapter introduces two concepts that are deeply implicated by enhancing technologies: ‘identity’ and ‘integrity’. If regulation fails to engage with them, it will remain blind to matters that are profoundly important to those people who are using or relying on these technologies.

A valid new sense of privacy would need to be founded on the principles of the existential, respectful self-responsibility of all individuals and the promotion of which would need to be complemented by a reimagined State, Market and technological design principles. This will allow the embrace, not the denial, of the value of technological development, especially in neuroscience. In this context, each individual would have an evolving personal technology strategy with progressive/enhancement and conservative/protection elements. From that, respectful self-responsibility would require both sharing information and acquiring it, all typically under the individual’s control, including through data and algorithms that are designed and applied under their direction. The initiatives undertaken by the IEEE and MyData are moves in the right direction, but they remain prey to mythological interpretation. The principles of this new sense of privacy are then tested by application to standard and well-known privacy dilemmas, including on case law.

The conclusion sums up the work, indicating the core elements shared by (Hellenic) theories of daimonification along with (Jewish and Christian) theories of angelification. One common element is the link of virtue (ethical transformation) with physical and cognitive transformation. It is this persistent link that allows ancient theories of posthuman transformation to serve as correctives for current Transhumanist visions of posthuman enhancement. Transhumanists often speak of cognitive and physical improvements with no robust reflection on ethical or moral improvement. Posthuman enhancement must never be defined apart from morality, but in terms of it. Morality cannot simply be programmed from without, nor can it be governed by the overall value of personal autonomy.

“Cosmetic neurology,” also referred to as “cognitive enhancement,” is the practice of enhancing cognition and behavior in healthy people. Although cosmetic neurology often refers to the enhancement of cognition, it can also refer to the enhancement of mood, movement, creativity, social finesse, and other psychological attributes. Cosmetic neurology carries the promise of an improved quality of life and productivity well into old age, as well as potential medical and social perils. In this chapter, we review our understanding of the efficacy of drugs including stimulants and cholinesterase inhibitors that can be used for enhancement. We review their potential benefits to the individual and society. We also place the practice of cosmetic neurology in the context of current cultural norms and outline ethical concerns that this practice generates.

This chapter focuses on chronic disorders of memory capacity and interventions to treat them. These include anterograde and retrograde amnesia and impairments in working, spatial and prospective memory. It addresses differences between therapy and enhancement in memory modification. The chapter also considers deep brain stimulation as an experimental treatment for memory impairment in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, weighing benefits and risks. It explains why devices external to the brain could not replace it as the source of memory. The chapter then explores the potential of a hippocampal neural prosthetic to improve memory encoding and retrieval for people with damaged hippocampi. It also explores the possibility of a prosthetic that would completely replace the hippocampal complex and whether it could decode the cognitive and emotional content of episodic memories.