Part 1 – Understanding human augmentation
Section 5 – The case for human augmentation
People are Defence’s most valuable asset but also a key vulnerability; people get hungry,
tired, scared and confused. Machines on the other hand are incapable of these things
but have weaknesses of their own. The winners of future wars will not be those with the
most advanced technology, but those who can most effectively integrate the capabilities
of people and machines at the appropriate time, place and location. The growing
importance of human-machine teaming is widely acknowledged but this has been
discussed largely from a techno-centric perspective. Human augmentation represents
the missing part of the puzzle and will become increasingly important over the next 30
years because of three key drivers of change.- Accelerating progress in science and technology means we can do more.
- There are opportunities and threats that mean we should do more.
- Changes in society mean we want to do more.
Can do more. There is a growing sense that we are moving towards a frontier of
unprecedented opportunity to improve humanity, which means we can do more. The
fields of biomedicine, neuroscience, synthetic biology, computation, material technology,
biomechatronics and social sciences have developed at pace to make possible what
used to be the preserve of science fiction. Notwithstanding significant ethical and legal
challenges, the science behind these technologies has been proven and cannot be
undone. The origin of many augmentation ideas of applications lies in the health care
sector. Large technology and pharmaceutical corporations see the economic opportunity
in human augmentation and are investing heavily in these technologies and rich elites are
also investing huge sums to develop life extension technologies. These efforts will drive
human augmentation development, making it more accessible. The key question is how
societies will embrace it and adopt it and for what purpose.Should do more. The therapeutic benefits of human augmentation could help us to
lead happier, longer and healthier lives, free from chronic illness and heritable disease. It
could protect us against pandemics, or at least provide us with the tools to react more
effectively to them. Brain interfaces mixed with augmented and virtual reality could
dramatically enhance our experiences and our ability to express ourselves. New concepts
of intelligence and higher levels of creativity could emerge by connecting brains with other
brains and/or computers. The benefits of human augmentation are so profound that they
could be considered the stuff of fantasy, but perhaps no more so than the proposition
of landing on the moon might have seemed in 1950. There are risks inherent in human
augmentation. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed our vulnerability to pandemics, and
unchecked use of human augmentation could be used to increase the risk and severity
of them. Threats could emanate from states, terrorist groups, criminals, lone actors or
even malpractice in otherwise legitimate activities. Protecting ourselves may not directly
require human augmentation but understanding the underlying technology and developing
comprehensive policies and capabilities will be critical.Want to do more. Happiness, well-being and longevity are moving up the human
agenda. There is also a growing realisation that wealth and productivity – the standard
metrics of individual and societal success – do not necessarily equate to happiness or
fulfilment. While most people still want to be wealthy and have good jobs, they also want