Survey finds 53% would adopt human enhancement technologies
6 reported
A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research examines public attitudes toward human enhancement technologies through a nationally representative U.S. survey experiment involving 5,556 respondents. The study found that approximately 53% of participants would adopt such technologies, while about 28% would not adopt at any benefit level. The experiment randomized factors including benefit domain, mechanism, heritability, purpose, and risk across vignettes to measure stated adoption, preferred regulation, and ethical and societal concerns. The source article notes that the authors’ concluding statement about regulators aligning technical change with societal values is described as “completely unwarranted” and an example of “underidentified political bias in academic reasoning.”
What’s reported
The survey was nationally representative of the U.S. with 5,556 respondents.
About 53% of respondents would adopt human enhancement technologies.
About 28% would not adopt at any benefit level.
Framing the technology as enhancing rather than restorative lowers adoption by about five percentage points, comparable to a severe side-effect profile.
Productivity enhancement generates the most ethical concern but attracts the least regulation.
Respondents favored subsidizing rather than taxing productivity enhancement adoption.
Sources: marginalrevolution.com
