Human Augmentation and Its Impact on Business

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Introduction

Modern conditions of the toughest competition force companies to appeal to the best available innovative technological solutions. Human augmentation (HA) tends to be among these decisions and provides firms with a considerable number of opportunities. Such a trend starts to be in the focus of discussions of various specialists, including business analytics. This research aims to explore this theme, appealing to the latest findings in the area. The emphasis will be made on the essence of the phenomenon, its impact on organizations, and recommendations for a particular UAE company in this regard.

Literature Review

Throughout history, people have constantly developed technologies that would make their lives easier and help overcome physiological limitations. Recent advances in biotechnology, chemistry, physics, bioinformatics, medicine and computer science are helping one create a new generation of devices that improve human performance (Schmidt, 2017). Machines become truly intuitive and natural extensions of thoughts, feelings, and movements.

Today, there can be a wearable device that instead of reading data from the brain “writes” directly into it, suggesting options for using neuromodulation to improve chronic conditions. Such technologies significantly expand existing capabilities, creating new sensory, physical, mental and emotional abilities – from augmentation to brain-machine interfaces. The practice of augmentation with biological materials and prostheses is already underway (Fernandes, 2016). Cosmetic surgery and smart wearable devices have become commonplace in society. The expansion of connected devices and the development of synthetic biology are the next steps in expanding human capabilities.

The interaction of everything in the world is becoming closer: people, devices, infrastructure will increasingly intertwine through the IoT network architecture, as well as through 5G and 6G networks. Over the next decade, more sophisticated technologies will begin to improve human capabilities. Audio implants will advance hearing or translate speech into different languages. Olfactory implants will use a mild electrical stimulus to heighten experienced emotions from smells or to warn of hazards such as gas leaks, smoke or fire (Wagner, 2020). Moreover, non-invasive wearable devices will communicate directly with the brains and cells.

Implantable brain-machine interfaces could allow humans to interact with devices instantly. For example, neuroprosthetics can allow a person to move a prosthetic arm with the same ease as a biological limb (Raisamo et al., 2019). Special chips can change the amount and nature of the information stored in the brain. Moreover, digitizing memory, recording and preserving every moment of a person’s life, can make fundamental changes in the way one perceives reality and personality. Certain technologies can help prevent aging and possibly even death.

Implants can significantly expand the understanding of how the human body functions and behaves, as well as teach how to manage these processes. This will allow one to create customized products and services – from insurance and financial advice and treatments to advertisements. Technologies such as emotion management implants could allow people to choose what emotions they want or do not want to experience (Fernandes, 2016). New visual possibilities would also result in to new forms of interaction. Nevertheless, all these developments and processes will lead to the massive collection, processing, exchange and analysis of information, which will raise the issue of data management and ownership to a new level. New social constructs may even emerge, and existing social inequality may be exacerbated.

The next decade is likely to see an accelerated turn towards digitalization from the natural and life sciences, driven in large part by efforts to increase human potential, especially in a rapidly changing environment. As costs go down, the range of applications for new human-enhancing technologies will expand. As technology develops, it will also be less invasive (Schmidt, 2017). In the next decade, the first signs of the era of transhumanism will appear, as the number of those wishing to change their physiology and life will only increase.

As data from the study by Kaspersky Lab, “The Future of Human Augmentation 2020: Opportunity or Dangerous Dream?” shows, many view HA as a revolutionary technology. Meanwhile, there are concerns about its possible hacking and privacy risks. Almost 15 thousand adults from 16 countries took part in the survey (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). The purpose of the study was to clarify the point of view of citizens in many countries on the prospects for biohacking.

As mentioned above, augmentation of a person can be done in different ways. Hearing aids, pacemakers and prostheses are those tools that are already pushing the boundaries of the physical capabilities of people. However, in the future, this term could be associated not only with these but also with implants that improve cognitive abilities; chips that connect people to smart devices; bionic eyes that can restore lost vision, and many other devices. Today, researchers from many countries are moving forward to develop new technologies that will help make the human body more perfect. For example, Japan recently donated $ 1 billion to scientists for research on human augmentation and longevity, which is linked to its desire to combat an aging workforce and a shrinking population (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). Hence, HA has a significant potential that is recognized by the leading countries.

Many specialists claim that human augmentation is an inevitable trend. Senior security researcher David Jacoby and director of global research and analysis for Kaspersky Europe Marco Preus say that the military, industry, beauty and healthcare industries as the primary biohacking arenas for promising augmentation tools (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). It may seem strange to speculate about this reality at a time when we are still unable to establish reliable Internet connections for remote online events, but nevertheless, timely discussion of the topic of biohacking can open the way for the emergence of proactive regulation, which will help control the nascent industry. This is an important point as the regulatory delays in the Internet of Things (IoT) have opened the way for serious security concerns.

The crucial numbers from the study may be presented as follows. In total, 91% of respondents to the Kaspersky Lab survey said that they would not mind changing some features of their body, and 63% expressed their readiness to do this using human augmentation technologies (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). Italians were the most supportive – 81%; Spaniards, Portuguese, Greeks and Moroccans are also open to this idea (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). On the contrary, the British were more circumspect – only 33% said they would study augmentation technologies in order to use them to change the characteristics of their bodies (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). More than half of the respondents, 53%, said that biohacking should serve the common good, for example, in medical institutions (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). Thus, HA is a phenomenon that is considerably supported by people around the globe.

Impact on Organizations

In the field of customer service, human augmentation has evolved to the extent that it can solve the problems of improving the efficiency of operations, creating a differentiated customer experience and realizing new sources of income. Successful HA is able to automate repetitive tasks of a specialist, which will speed up the processing of applications. In addition, this solution optimizes the recording and processing of requests, which allows professionals to build more personalized relationships with customers. HA can be used to predict needs based on context, preferences, and previous requests, as well as provide recommendations, resolve problems, send notifications and suggestions (Wagner, 2020). It also enables the discovery of patterns in large datasets and the disclosure of new insights that companies can use to offer customers new services and generate new revenue streams.

The role of HA in the entertainment and media industries is noteworthy. It seems reasonable to assume that this approach is needed for two reasons. First, it is the creation of new products, services and platforms: the set of media products used by content consumers is already based on input from data analysis by computer programs. In this vein, it is important to note that HA is likely to contribute to cognitive advancement, which implies a productive and consistent use and interaction with data flows. Second, it is the role of demand: consumers value customization and personalization in the process of consuming content, communicating with companies, and engaging in commercial relationships with them (Wagner, 2020). A plethora of people notices that when choosing media products, they want to be guided by a list compiled using various modern technological solutions – starting from artificial intelligence and ending with human augmentation.

It is now necessary to have a solid foundation for the development of HA. Organizations are focused on increasing ROI and optimizing business processes. In this area, HA specialists play an important role, to which sometimes they do not pay much attention. However, when they come from the business side, projects may have limited focus, and the benefits of technology are not fully exploited (Schmidt, 2017). To prevent the ineffective use of human augmentation in business, it is necessary to integrate different departments of the organization to obtain a complete vision of the process.

In addition, the transformation will affect the workforce. A systematic definition of new job skills and business roles will be required. Typically, HA may be used as a solution in one of four areas: minimizing errors, minimizing execution options, increasing productivity, and achieving breakthroughs. It is also worth noting that HA has a more promising development when interacting with other technologies that are gaining popularity in 2019 (Kaspersky Lab, 2020). Successful HA integration with other technologies starts with data. At the same time, it is necessary to create new roles for employees as translators and links between different groups; models also need regular testing, updating and replacement.

It can be assumed that human augmentation will develop at the expense of market forces that maximize profits for large multinational companies. In other words, such initiatives will develop at the expense of the economy and consumer demand and not along the path of achieving the common good. Therefore, if biohacking does not develop solely due to personal needs and economic factors, then it will be necessary to develop a kind of moral compass. This will indicate the path to well-being and what improvements in this vein are good for people in general.

Human Augmentation Recommendations for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Devon Energy

The following organizations were chosen so that recommendations for particular entities could be provided. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is among the crucial players that are involved in the oil and gas sectors in the UAE (ADNOC, 2021). Then, in the US, Devon Energy is also one of the biggest corporations in this industry (Devon Energy, 2021). It would be rational to claim that these organizations are to invest in innovations and develop in this direction continuously in order to remain competitive in the long run. HA is among areas that seem worthy for investing and exploration, given the findings from the literature review. However, given the possible ethical considerations that are associated with HA, it is essential to determine particular areas of human augmentation that would not harm the companies’ reputations. For instance, it will be appropriate to refuse cognitive augmentation in terms of implants.

Here, it seems appropriate to note that in most developed countries, customers even enjoy when a company with which they cooperate uses some HA solutions. Kaspersky Lab (2020) proves the rationale of such a loud statement, which was demonstrated in the literature review section. Still, the mentioned ethical concerns are to be taken into account. Hence, ADNOC’s and Devon Energy’s stakeholders can respect the companies to a greater extent if they will implement, for example, various advanced wearables to protect its employees during the oil and gas exploration processes. Moreover, a number of applications that would utilize some AI algorithms can be developed as well. This will improve a number of aspects – starting from operational processes and ending with predictions regarding the recourses’ places of exploration.

Conclusion

To conclude, HA has a great potential for implementation in business, which is supported by the literature review above. The chosen companies – ADNOC and Devon Energy – can benefit from HA by providing wearables to their employees and using advanced applications, avoiding ethical issues.

References

ADNOC. (2021). ADNOC homepage. Web.

Devon Energy. (2021). Devon Energy homepage. Web.

Fernandes, T. (2016). Human augmentation: Beyond wearables. Interactions, 23(5), 66–68.

Kaspersky Lab. (2020). The future of human augmentation 2020: Opportunity or dangerous dream? Web.

Raisamo, R., Rakkolainen, I., Majaranta, P., Salminen, K., Rantala, J., & Farooq, A. (2019). Human augmentation: Past, present and future. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 131(1), 131–143.

Schmidt, A. (2017). Augmenting human intellect and amplifying perception and cognition. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 16(1), 6–10.

Wagner, D. (2020). Augmented human-centered management. Human resource development for highly automated business environments. Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(1), 13–27.

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