The future is cyborg: Kaspersky study finds support for human augmentation

Two-thirds of people in European countries would consider augmenting human body with technology to improve their lives

LONDON:

Nearly two-thirds of people in leading Western European countries would consider augmenting the human body with technology to improve their lives, mostly to improve health, according to research commissioned by Kaspersky.

As humanity journeys further into a technological revolution that its leaders say will change every aspect of our lives, opportunities abound to transform the ways our bodies operate from guarding against cancer to turbo-charging the brain.

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The Opinium Research survey of 14,500 people in 16 countries including Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain showed that 63% of people would consider augmenting their bodies to improve them, though the results varied across Europe.

In Britain, France, and Switzerland, support for augmentation were low - at just 25%, 32%, and 36% respectively - while in Portugal and Spain it was much higher - at 60% in both.

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“Human augmentation is one of the most significant technology trends today,” said Marco Preuss, European director of global research and analysis at Kaspersky, a Moscow-based cybersecurity firm.

“Augmentation enthusiasts are already testing the limits of what’s possible, but we need commonly agreed on standards to ensure augmentation reaches its full potential while minimising the risks,” Preuss said.