New Year Predictions: How Do You See The Nearest Future?

Recently, journalists from a Russian business media reached out to me and asked me how I envision technology development in the near future. I decided to go further and discussed some short- and long-term predictions. Please, find the link of the original article in Russian below. You are welcome to share your predictions in comments!

13-летний изобретатель Савва Осипов: что ждёт человечество до конца XXI века_Школьник из Калифорнии Савва Осипов участвует в хакатонах по электронике и интернету вещей, ведёт канал о технологиях …_secretmag.ru

2020–2035: First Wave of Mass Robotization

First, the notion of “private” will go extinct. The artificial intelligence will process data from billions of sources and will create a portfolio for every human. Also, the definition of intellectual property will eventually disappear: the patent system and copyright are going to look differently from how we know them today. Together with private life fading away, criminality, at least in its modern form, will see a decline.

Cars will be switching to full autonomy and many countries will prohibit human driving in consideration of safety. Autonomous flying cars and motorcycles are going to come in sight around the same time, which will cause governments to spend millions of dollars to establish air borders and set new air traffic rules and regulations.

Just a few people will own cars due to ownership inefficiency and unprofitability. Taxi drivers will become unemployed worldwide, because manufacturers will pace autonomous vehicles in every corner. They will provide a faster service, with cars arriving within seconds after a request is placed. Expect all insurance companies to go out of business as there will not be as many car accidents anymore.

Up to 90% of developed countries’ populations will lose their jobs and start receiving basic income from the governments because of mass robotization. The remaining 10% will comprise of scientists, doctors, skilled engineers, waiters at expensive restaurants, entrepreneurs and people with creative occupations. The majority will be able to sustain a high quality of life, although the gap between developed and developing countries will keep increasing.

Finally, when governments stop using cash, the financial system will become more transparent. Small businesses will have to switch to cashless operations, hence pay taxes. Consequently, it will cause an abrupt rise in prices of products for mass consumption.

2040–2060: The Man-Machine

A common thing during this time period, nanorobots will use molecules to make food, clothes, and mechanisms. Nanorobots could be implanted into a human body to control human wellbeing and perform various tasks such as mending membranes or removing free radicals. Those, who can afford it, will become, literally, immortal. The world population will, therefore, plummet enormously and cause the European housing crisis to reach its peak. Water settlements are going to arise around the continent whose inhabitants will work from home or commute to the office by flying taxis.

Almost everyone on the Earth will have a brain computer implant that is connected to the Internet 24/7. With that implant, people will be able to rent their creative and analytical skills — similar to how we use video cards for bitcoin mining today. Even when asleep, the brain will respond to computer system’s requests. All responses and thoughts are going to be analyzed and summarized.

The nations will be falling apart, the number of independent countries will increase to around 500. Governments will not have much influence anymore, while international corporations will grasp more power and have hundreds of countries under their control.

2070–2090: Erasure of Borders

A border between the computer and the mind will be almost erased. The latter could be downloaded and kept on external drives, installed on any device. Artificial intelligence will become such a norm that it could be injected into human’s body.

The society will split. Some will be aiming to completely integrate with machines, others will be scared and leave for other planets to live without technology in their bodies.

The world as we see it will be completely transformed by nanorobots: houses, plants, furniture, cars — all will become volatile. Everything is going to change colors, conditions, their usage and essence. Eventually, the material world will be no different from the virtual reality. Mankind and computer systems will become just a huge hive. A plethora of minds will create an over-intellect.

Hi, all! I am Savva Osipov, a middle school student from California. I participate in hardware and IoT hackathons; develop and assemble gadgets; and have a Facebook page and a tech channel on YouTube. I’ve also developed a gaming gadget together with my dad. Please, sign up for updates at wowcube.com