Users are positive about human augmentation. 92% of individuals would change some physical aspect of themselves if possible, while nearly two-thirds (63%) would consider expanding their body – permanently or temporarily – with technology to improve it. At the same time, many fear that our body could become the target of cyber criminals. Human augmentation – the process of recreating or enhancing our physical and mental capabilities – was previously the preserve of science fiction, but is becoming a reality as digital technology has become an increasingly important part of our everyday lives.
This is shown by research by Kaspersky Lab among 14,500 adults in 16 countries in Europe and North Africa. Italians appear to be the most likely to consider human augmentation (81%) and Britons the least (33%). Some respondents expressed the wish to connect smartphones to their body.
Well-being of humanity
Most respondents said they wanted human augmentation to be used for the benefit of humanity. 53% said it should be used to improve quality of life. Across the board, the goal of every human augmentation, in every country, was to improve overall physical health (40%) or vision (33%).
Fear of ‘body hacking’
However, doubts remain, such as fears that augmentation will be limited to the wealthy (69%). Nearly nine in 10 (88%) respondents said they feared their bodies could be hacked by cyber criminals.
Marco Preuss, Director of the Global Research & Analysis Team Europe at Kaspersky: “Human augmentation is one of the most important technology trends today. We are already seeing a wide range of practical applications being deployed, such as bioprinting of organs. People are right to be wary because we need commonly agreed standards to ensure augmentation reaches its full potential and minimizes risks. ”
The research further shows:
- Adults in Southern Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Italy, along with Morocco, are among the most open to human augmentation.
- Adults in the UK and France seem to be the most skeptical of human augmentation: 36% of British and 30% of French adults are against the concept. More than half of adults in France (53%) and the UK (52%) believe that human augmentation will be dangerous to society, well above the 39% study average.
- Being able to improve a more attractive body appealed to more than a third (36%) of women versus only a quarter (25%) of men, while men are more interested in improving their strength (23%) than women (18%).
- Almost half (47%) of those surveyed believe that governments should regulate human augmentation. The UK is most in favor of government intervention (77%) and Greece is the most resistant (17%).
- A third of people (33%) are enthusiastic about the idea of human augmentation, but women (21%) say slightly more than men (15%) that they are more concerned than enthusiastic about augmentation.
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