Abstract
A new class of embodied technologies, defined as software or devices that aid individuals to increase, maintain, or improve their functional capabilities, is starting to blend or even fuse human cognition with technological affordances, promising to assist and enhance the lives of individuals. These devices have started to blend or even fuse human cognition with technological affordances, creating new levels of both empowerment and dependency as their use becomes increasingly interwoven into the fabric of the user's social life. We argue that existing conceptualizations of IS use need to be extended to account for the intricate ways in which both individual identity and social interaction of users are affected through the use of these devices. Theoretical development in this context could be foundational for advancing knowledge in the future use of brain-computer interfaces and AI integration in assistive and enhancing cognitive devices. Our qualitative study focuses on users and developers of smart assistive technology and devices for communication, which provide those who cannot physically speak with the means to communicate. We present a process model of technological intimacy, contending that this novel IS use pattern is habitually in a state of adaptation with continuous coping processes in ongoing cycles of human-technology engagement.