The Future of Human Augmentation 2020 - Opportunity or Dangerous Dream? A Kaspersky Report - Kaspersky Lab
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The Future of Human Augmentation 2020 Opportunity or Dangerous Dream? A Kaspersky Report
Index
• Executive summary
• The global understanding of
augmentation
• Body focus: how people feel about
augmentation
• Cost: Is human augmentation the
preserve of the wealthy?
• Threats: criminals and hacking
• Security and Human
Augmentation: The Expert View
• Country-by-country breakdown
and analysis
• Conclusion Introduction
• About the survey We want to spark debate around
Since the dawn of time, humanity has
sought to ‘augment’ the bodies we the ethics and security of human
were given to allow us to go further, augmentation, understand how
faster and higher than our natural people feel about it and debunk any
abilities allow. From bows and arrows myths around the topic.
to improve the range of our hunting,
to glasses to restore our vision, To gain a sense of how people across
to pacemakers to keep our hearts Europe and North Africa perceive
pumping – we have found ways to human augmentation, Kaspersky
use the technology open to us to partnered with research group
enhance ourselves – and often even Opinium to interview more than
save our lives. 14,000 people in 16 countries.
In the digital era, ‘human What emerges is a complex study
augmentation’ has taken on a whole that reveals widely contrasting views
new dimension. Sci-fi movies such on what people would enhance,
as Terminator, Universal Soldier or which elements augmentation
RoboCop, might conjure up images should be allowed to improve,
of a part-organic, part-cyborg ethics, security, and government
future, but what is the reality? involvement in the form of future
regulation.
At Kaspersky, we are exploring
the huge potential of human This research forms a critical part
augmentation to make a positive of Kaspersky’s exploration of human
contribution to our collective future, augmentation going forward, as we
while also evaluating the challenges ask the difficult question: Is human
that humanity may encounter on that augmentation an opportunity for
journey. This is because, to enjoy the humanity or a dangerous dream?
fruits of human augmentation fully,
devices will require robust security.
1 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?
92%
of people would change a
physical aspect of themselves
if they could
63%
would consider augmenting
our bodies with technology
to improve them – either
permanently or temporarily
81%
of Italians would consider human
augmentation, 18% above the
survey average
Executive summary
53% Augmentation, and all it Countries in southern Europe – such
as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece,
of those in favour of encapsulates, is a burgeoning area
augmentation believe it will of technology. It is also one that are far more open to the potential of
improve quality of life and 40% remains an underexplored – or human augmentation than many of
would use augmentation to even sensationalised – topic in the their northern neighbours.
improve their overall media. So far, its potential and the
physical health benefits to society have been little Everywhere without exception, those
understood. who agree with human augmentation
place overall physical health as their
How do we define ‘human priority and cite augmentation’s
69% augmentation’? Up until now, our
view of augmentation has meant
potential to improve life as the key
reason to support it.
fear human augmentation will be
accessible only to the rich tools that help us function better
in our daily lives - pacemakers for Perhaps unsurprisingly, we observe
heart rhythm, glasses for vision and more support for augmentation
hearing aids to combat deafness. that will improve physical health and
eyesight as people get older, while
88% However, with human augmentation
going forward, we are really looking at for younger people, appearance
worry their augmented bodies and sporting ability are key
human enhancement with the aid of
could be hacked by cybercriminals considerations.
technology.
We’re not even talking about the At Kaspersky, we want to understand
future; we have already seen the how people perceive human
39% first steps to human augmentation. augmentation, its potential benefits
of people think human The biohacking community is already and the challenges it presents.
augmentation will be super active. In many cities, there What is clear is that we need to
dangerous for society are communities who are meeting up learn from history; whenever there
and working on changing their human is new technology, there come new
biology. challenges.
48% Our study finds that, while the vast
of men feel it’s ‘completely’ or majority of people would like to Marco Preuss, Director of Global
‘mostly’ acceptable to augment a improve a physical aspect of their Research & Analysis Team,
body with technology, compared person, far less are open to actually Kaspersky
to 38% of women doing it.
2 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?
The global understanding of
‘human augmentation’
People around the world are already
familiar with existing forms of human
augmentation, such as the use
of pacemakers to regulate heart
rhythm, a hearing aid to improve
audibility, or glasses to improve
vision.
Worldwide, our study finds that
people are more likely to be in favour
of existing human augmentation
than potential future augmentation. Of those who say augmentation is
For example, for two thirds (65%) acceptable, women (44%) are more
of people who say augmentation is likely than men (35%) to say that
unacceptable but that pacemakers people should choose to improve
are acceptable, the chief reason is their bodies however they like.
because they are important for living
a full and healthy life. For Professor Julian Savulescu
from the Oxford Uehiro Centre for
Overall, our study finds that across Practical Ethics at Oxford University,
the world, people want augmentation humans are already honed for
to work for the good of humanity and technological augmentation, thanks
society, to improve life and to reduce to our interaction with mobile
suffering. devices:
Nearly half of men (48%) believe it is “With human augmentation, we’ll
‘completely’ or ‘mostly’ acceptable need a few pioneers and some
for humans to augment their bodies success stories,” he explains. “Once
using technology, compared to 38% it’s proven to work, people will vote
of women. with their feet.”
Reasons for Human Augmentation Being Acceptable
% of those who believe it is acceptable
Improve the quality of life 53%
Choice to improve their body however they want 39%
Help reduce suffering 39%
We should always strive to improve our performance and abilities 29%
We have always augmented our bodies 21%
Improve society 14%
It is inevitable anyway 14%
Lead to greater equality 12%
Improve the economy 11%
3 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?
Body focus: How people
Physical attributes people most want to improve
feel about augmentation
Men Women
Given the opportunity, the vast
majority (92%) of people say they
Improved intelligence/brainpower 22% 23%
would improve a physical aspect of
themselves if they could. Just under
Greater strength 23% 18% two thirds (63%) of people would
consider augmenting their body –
More attractive body 25% 36% either permanently or temporarily.
Italians are the most likely to consider
Improved eyesight 33% 33% augmentation (81%) and UK adults
are the least likely to (33%).
Better overall physical health 37% 42%
“My main concern with When asked what physical attributes According to Kaspersky’s Marco
human augmentation is people in 16 markets most wanted to Preuss, there are both dangers and
improve, overall physical health (40%) opportunities to consider when
the biohacking community was the number one choice for enhancing the body with human
itself. We will see vendors augmentation, followed by improved augmentation.
producing kits to augment eyesight (33%). Being able to
health elements, whether augment a more attractive body was “As with other technology, we’ll see
it’s eyesight, strength, or a consideration for more than a third early adopters who are willing to
(36%) of women and just a quarter compromise their security for the
something else, and we (25%) of men, while men were more perceived benefits of augmentation,”
will see a lot of copycats likely to opt for greater strength Preuss comments.
trying to copy that kind of (23%) than women (18%).
technology, which is not So, what are the perceived benefits
licensed or tested. We might Of those who would consider human of human augmentation?
augmentation, just over one in ten Across the board, by far the biggest
find a black market for body men (11%) would like to enhance perceived benefit by those who
enhancement kits because their genitals compared to only agree with human augmentation
it’s unregulated.” two percent of women. Four in ten was its potential to improve the
(40%) of women who would consider quality of life (53%). Nearly four in ten
David Jacoby augmentation would opt for a more (39%) of those in favour of human
Kaspersky attractive body compared to just augmentation say they think it would
27% of men. help reduce suffering.
The desire to improve overall physical Zoltan Istvan, author and founder
health and eyesight increases with of the Transhumanist Party, also
age; for example, just a third (33%) warns that people will need to keep
of 18-34-year-olds would improve up with Artificial Intelligence in order
their physical health compared to to compete for work in the not too
45% of those aged over 55. On the distant future. “The biggest issue of
other hand, people aged 18-34 (38%) the debate is really what would you
are twice as likely as the over-55s do in order to remain employed? I
(19%) to want a more attractive body. think that’s where the augmentation
We observe similar preferences debate is going to be most dramatic,”
among the young for enhanced he says.
sporting prowess and having a more
attractive face.
4 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?Cost: Is human “There is a debate
augmentation the everywhere about the
affordability of human
preserve of the wealthy?
augmentation. In the
Almost seven in ten (69%) of people beginning, when human
worldwide think it likely that only rich augmentation is new, this
people will be able to enjoy access technology will be a luxury,
to human augmentation technology.
then – as is often the way
The most sceptical are people in the
UK, where more than three quarters with emerging technology – it
(78%) believe it likely that human will become more affordable
augmentation technology will be and accessible and enter the
limited to the rich, compared to the mainstream.”
least sceptical nations of Spain (57%)
and Denmark (62%). David Jacoby
Kaspersky
Threats: criminals and
hacking The top five aspects of human augmentation
that people are ‘very concerned’ about
Overall, people are most likely to
be excited by the idea of human
augmentation (33%). Women (21%) Devices malfunctioning regularly 24%
are slightly more likely than men (15%)
to be much more concerned than Private companies controlling
28%
excited by augmentation. the technology exclusively
However, 39% of people believe Human augmentation technology
that human augmentation will be 30%
only available to the rich
dangerous for society. This figure
rises to more than half of adults in A device causing permanent
France (53%) and the UK (52%). 34%
damage to the body
Cybercriminals hacking
and/or controlling a device 38%
A natural concern for everyone The UK is most in favour of
is security. The fear of criminals government regulation (77%),
or hackers being able to access a compared to just 17% in Greece.
device or to control it is a concern
for almost nine in ten (88%) people Kaspersky’s David Jacoby says
interviewed. Greeks are the most governments must learn lessons
concerned about criminal or hacker from the explosion of the Internet of
access (95%) and control (94%) over Things (IoT) market in recent years.
devices.
“We found ourselves all of a sudden
Devices malfunctioning (86%) and in a world where so many devices
devices causing permanent damage were connected but there was no
to the body (85%) are also key regulation or strategy around these..
concerns. Anyone can release any kind of
product they want. Before we repeat
Given these concerns, how do history and have mass adoption
people feel about government of augmentation technology, we
regulation of human augmentation? should stop and think about how
On average, nearly half (47%) believe we regulate this for the good of
governments should regulate, but humanity.,” he adds.
this topic divides opinion.
5 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?Security and Human
Augmentation: The
Expert View
Human augmentation has saved
many lives and improved the
experience of millions every day. We
haven’t yet seen a real, widespread
security threat to, say, pacemakers,
but we do need to go into the future
with our eyes wide open to both the
benefits – and potential challenges – “Letting the market decide
of human augmentation. the future direction of human
augmentation is not the
Anything that is connected and that
you can communicate with could get way. We’re already seeing
hacked. It is not even just a case of an unravelling of potential
hacking; an individual could simply because of the dominance
knock out a device. of market forces. We need a
global strategy to make sure
Everything that becomes regulated
by the government has the potential we harness the potential of
to end up on the black market in human augmentation for
some form. There is already an good.”
enormous biohacking community
that will tag along, and people will Professor Julian Savulescu Country-by-Country
even biohack themselves. Oxford University Breakdown and Analysis
Can we draw any conclusions from
country-by-country observations?
Countries ranked: After all, culture affects everything
Is human augmentation acceptable? we do. Cultures will read the same
data or email, for example, and
Portugal 60% interpret it in a different way because
of their culture.
Spain 60%
Morocco 53% How people feel about human
augmentation will evolve as solutions
Italy 50% become part of our everyday – like
hearing aids, pacemakers and glasses
Greece 48% have already – so we can expect
Romania 46% opinions to morph over time.
Hungary 44% Currently, it appears that the
Belgium 41% countries of southern Europe -
Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece
Denmark 40% – along with Morocco across the
Mediterranean, are the most open to
Germany 39% the potential of human augmentation
Austria 37% that many countries in the centre
and north of Europe.
Czech Republic 37%
Netherlands 37% The people in the Iberian nations
of Spain and Portugal are the most
Switzerland 36% open to the prospect of human
augmentation, with 60% of each
France 32% country believing it is acceptable.
United Kingdom 25% Just nine percent of Spaniards are
against the idea, compared to 36% of
Britons and 30% of French adults.
6 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?Italians are the most open to human
augmentation with more than The countries most excited - and concerned -
eight in ten (81%) open to the idea. by human augmentation
Hungarians (76%) and Moroccans
(75%) are also highly supportive of
human augmentation. Most concerned Most excited
Greece is something of an outlier.
Greeks are much more likely to
believe in human augmentation
because it could improve the quality 58% 28%
of life (67% compared to the average
of 53%). While being the most
concerned (96%) of all countries
about criminal or hacker activity, United Kingdom Morocco
people in Greece are also the most
opposed to government regulation.
For one of Europe’s most technically
advanced and wealthiest countries,
the UK is perhaps surprisingly 49% 27%
hesitant about human augmentation.
Just one third (33%) of Britons would
be open to human augmentation –
the lowest of countries surveyed. Netherlands Italy
A third (34%) of people in the UK
believe human augmentation is
‘unacceptable’, more than three
times the ratio of Spain, the most
open country.
47% 26%
Across all countries, being able
to improve overall physical health
is the first choice, but in the UK
having a more attractive body was France Spain
second choice by just one percent.
Similarly, having a better body was
second choice in France by just
two percentiles. Being able to have France, like its neighbour in the UK, Moroccans are the most optimistic
a better body was also the second appears not to be overly enthusiastic (49%) for human augmentation’s
choice in Belgium and Greece. about human augmentation. For potential to level the playing field
those in France who believe human and encourage equality, while Brits
augmentation is acceptable, just 39% (19%) and the Swiss (20%) are the
say it would improve the quality of least optimistic. Moroccans are also
life, well below the survey average of most likely to believe that human
53%. augmentation will make it easier
for humans to express themselves
While we have seen that Italians are creatively (58%), compared to just
very open to human augmentation, 18% of UK adults.
more than half (52%) on adults in Italy
think that is could be dangerous for
society and this might help explain
why Italians are far more open to
government regulation of human
augmentation (72%) than the survey
average (47%).
7 The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?Conclusion
Zoltan Istvan highlights that there is
We’re right at the very beginning of a lot of money heading into human
the modern human augmentation augmentation, and he believes that
journey. Debates around the brain implants and neuro-prosthetics
potential benefits and challenges will in particular will be a real game-
emerge and develop over the coming changer. “There is no question in my
decades. mind that within five to seven years’
you will walk into a major supermarket
It’s also important to remember and be able to buy some type of
that augmentation will go beyond headset that can already get you
human augmentation; the machines thinking in real-time in the cloud.”
we interact with and rely on – for
example, cars and planes, will also For Kaspersky’s Marco Preuss,
be augmented and enhanced by regulation is essential for human
technology. augmentation to advance in a safe
way that will ultimately benefit
society.
“Trust in government will vary from country to country, but
regardless, regulation is necessary to avoid abuse” Preuss
concludes. “It involves the body, so it is a risk to health, and as
such perhaps should be regulated in the same way to medical
technology and supplies. The average person does not have the
technical expertise to fully estimate the various security risks,
both immediate and long term. i also believe that regulation
should be something that is considered from the first adoption
of such technology, as well as security being factored in by
design, rather than as an afterthought. However, we have
already seen the first steps in human augmentation, yet no
regulation so far.”
Marco Preuss
Director of Global Research
& Analysis Team, Kaspersky
About the study
The fieldwork was conducted by Opinium Research between 9-27 July 2020.
Opinium canvassed 14,500 adults in 16 countries, including Austria, Belgium,
Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Morocco,
Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Kaspersky
Kaspersky Lab, 1st Floor
2 Kingdom Street
London, W2 6BD, UK
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