Digital and neurotechnologies in sociocultural space as the subject of sociological analysis

The article analyzes the problems that have arisen in connection with the active development and application of digital and neurotechnologies in the everyday life of young people. The authors, on the basis of the theoretical analysis and the results of specifi c sociological studies, suggest that the practice of digital and neurotechnologies in general aff ects the perceptions of a person, his/her consciousness and thinking. In the course of the study, a set of general scientifi c methods was applied. The empirical base of the study were mass surveys and interviews conducted among young people of Chelyabinsk. The authors on the basis of quantitative and qualitative methods tried to identify the problems of digital technology use, the level of digital literacy, and young people’s ideas about the future in the digital world. The study also examined young people’s vision of how people’s lives will change with the use of artifi cial intelligence; what education will be like in the conditions of using neural network technologies. In addition, the article raises the questions about human identity in connection with the introduction of augmented and virtual reality; analyzes changes in social communications; highlights the key issues of the neural network era in the spheres of philosophical anthropology, philosophy of culture, ontology and ethics. The scientifi c novelty of the study lies in the assessment of the current state of application of digital and neural network technologies by young people in everyday life at the regional level. The results of the study are of practical signifi cance in the development of measures to improve digital literacy of students, introduction and application of digital and neural technologies in the educational environment, a safe use of digital content by students. The conclusion is made about the need for a comprehensive interdisciplinary understanding of the impact of digital and neurotechnologies in the sociocultural space.