Economic forces will have a strong influence on human augmentation development
and they may not be in the best interests of society. The private sector can employ more
resources and have greater organisational agility than state institutions, meaning that
they will remain at the cutting edge of human augmentation research. Enhancements
will be highly profitable, and companies are likely to focus on human augmentation
that is lucrative, rather than that which is of most benefit to humanity. The tension
between states, societies and market forces is nothing new, but the consequences of
mismanagement could be more severe in the case of powerful human augmentation
technologies.
The reliance on personal data to enable human augmentation will pose significant data
security and privacy challenges. The frameworks to secure this data will have to be both
national and international in nature, ensuring that it is easily shared and used for common
good, but also well protected.
Human augmentation is our first insight of what lies beyond today’s Information
Age – the coming of the Biotech age. The Biotech age will see focus on the human
grow. No longer will it be adequate to regard people merely as the means to operate
the machine. The interdisciplinary nature of human augmentation will render our current
Industrial Age model of Defence ineffective. Defence must consider how it reorganises to
meet a future that will demand a human-centric approach to warfare where the person is
armed with the capabilities to integrate fully into a single platform.
Human augmentation is bringing about a securitisation of the life sciences. Defence
will need to develop a more effective relationship with those who work in the life sciences
as the dual-use nature of emerging human augmentation technologies becomes clear.
Governments will need to work with the scientific community to establish a framework
that safeguards and supports national security whilst supporting collaboration.
Differences in national, cultural and legal approaches will lead to an uneven uptake
of human augmentation within international alliances. This will further complicate
interoperability, integration and deconfliction. Overcoming these challenges will demand
closer cooperation between allies. Alliances must therefore start work now to understand
how and where to prepare for the use of human augmentation.
Human augmentation threats. Cultural and ethical considerations will inform the extent
to which opportunities are seized, but human augmentation threats will be forced upon
us irrespective of our own normative standpoint. We must understand and address
such threats or otherwise risk creating a strategic vulnerability. Threats will emanate from
states, terrorist groups, criminals, lone actors, or even malpractice in legitimate activities.
Protecting ourselves will demand a level of scientific, ethical and legal proficiency that
outmatches the adversary. Mitigations may not involve human augmentation technology
itself but understanding the field and developing comprehensive policies and capabilities
to protect society and individuals will be critical.