The next decade of technology through the eyes of 7 experts – From smartphone apps that can do almost anything to driverless cars and… disturbingly humanoid robots, the past decade has seen dramatic advances in science and technology. What awesome developments are we likely to see in the next ten years?
To find out what will happen and what is predicted to happen in the next 10 years, HuffPost Science turned to seven leading futurists - and they made some surprising predictions.
Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics, City University of New York, author of "The Future of the Mind"
“Within the next 10 years, we will see the gradual transition from the Internet to a “brain net” in which thoughts, emotions, memories, can be transmitted lightning fast around the planet. Scientists can now connect the brain to a computer and begin to decode some of our memories and thoughts. This may someday revolutionize communications and even entertainment. The films of the future will be able to transmit emotions, not just images on a silver screen. (Young people will go crazy on social media, sending memories and sensations from school dances, first dates, etc.). Historians and writers will be able to record events not only digitally, but also emotionally. Perhaps even tensions between people will decrease, as we begin to feel and experience the pain of others.”
Dr. Ray Kurzweil, inventor, pioneering computer scientist, director of engineering at Google
“Within the next decade, 3D printers will be printing clothes at a very low cost. There will be many free open source designs, but people will also be able to spend money to download clothing files from the most fashionable designers, just as they spend money today on eBooks, music and movies, despite all the free material available. 3D printers will print human organs using stem cells modified with the patient’s own DNA, providing an inexhaustible source of organs, without the problems of rejection by the body. We will also be able to repair damaged organs with reprogrammed stem cells, for example, a heart damaged by a heart attack. 3D printers will print cheap parts to assemble houses or offices, Lego-style.”.
“Within the next 10 years we will spend a lot of time in virtual and augmented reality, allowing us to visit each other, even if we are hundreds of kilometers away. We will even be able to touch each other. Some of the “people” we will visit together in these new realities will be avatars. They will be admirable, but not exactly human-level within the next 10 years - that will take us to 2030. We will be able to reprogram humanbiology, away from many diseases and aging processes, for example by disabling cancer stem cells that are the real source of cancer, or preventing the progression of atherosclerosis, the cause of heart disease. We will be able to create avatars of people who have died within the next 10 years from all the information they left behind (emails and other documents, images, videos, interviews with people who remember them). It will be remarkable, but not fully realistic, not until the mid-2030s, at which point some will find this “replicant” technology to be in the “uncanny valley,” that is, it will make them feel uncomfortable.”
Dr. Anne-Lise Kjaer, founder of London-based forecasting company Kjaer Global
“The WHO predicts that chronic diseases will account for about three-quarters of all deaths worldwide by 2020, so the development of M-Health (mobile diagnostics, bio-feedback, personal health monitoring) is set to revolutionise the management of, for example, diabetes and high blood pressure. Within the next decade, apps designed by medical professionals will provide effective real-time information, tackling chronic conditions much earlier and helping to improve lifestyles and outcomes in the developed and developing world. This improvement in our physical well-being is exciting, but what excites me even more is the parallel development of apps that address our underserved mental health needs.”.
Dr. James Canton, CEO of the Institute for Global Futures (San Francisco) and author of “Future Smart: Managing the Game-Changing Trends that will Transform your World”
“Wearable devices will cover the world. Within the next 10 years, by 2025, there will be a vast Internet of Everything, connecting every nation, community, company and person to all the knowledge in the world. This will accelerate real-time access to education, healthcare, work, entertainment and commerce…”
“Artificial intelligence is becoming as smart as, and smarter than, humans. Within the next 10 years, AI will be embedded in cars, robots, homes, and hospitals, creating the AI economy. Humans and robots are coming together, digitally and physically, to treat patients who may be on the other side of the world. Robotic surgeons will operate on patients remotely. Robodoctors will assist in childbirth and care for you through your mobile phone. Preventive medicine is transforming healthcare. Early diagnosis of diseases with medical devices that “smell” our breath, and free DNA decoding that predicts our future health will be commonplace. Personalized genetic medicines will prevent diseases, saving lives and billions in lost productivity…the next generation Bitcoin will replace traditional hard currencies, creating a new paradigm for digital commerce and business that will create a true new economy.”.
Jason Silva, host of National Geographic Channel's "Brain Games"
“The on-demand revolution will become the on-demand world, where biological software upgrades, personalized medicine, and artificial intelligence assistants will increasingly transform health and well-being. In addition, increasing automation will continue to make our daily lives infinitely richer over the next decade. Self-driving vehicles will be ubiquitous, transportation itself will be automated, clean, and cheap. We will move to a world where access “beats” ownership, and the world is at our fingertips.”
Dr. Amy Zalman, CEO and President of the World Future Society
“Researchers now have increasingly precise ways to look inside our brains and bodies to understand our mood and behavior. A few years ago, Harvard researchers showed that leaders actually have less stress, not more, than non-leaders…. at Ben-Gurion University, a study of judges showed that they handed down harsher sentences before lunch—when they were hungry.”.
“I find the potential application of these kinds of insights impressive over the next decade. A more precise understanding of how we humans function—how we trust, cooperate, and learn, but also fight and hate—is a tool that policymakers and we citizens can use to build better systems of governance and a better future.”.
Mark Stevenson, author of "An Optimist's Tour of the Future"
“The technologies are not the most important part – although they are incredibly cool. It’s what society does with them, and right now the sticking point is institutional reform… what you would definitely like to see, in my opinion, are new ways of self-organization. So my next book, for example, covers the renewables revolution in a small Austrian town, open source drug discovery in India, patient networks like PatientsLikeMe, and schools that are moving away from the curriculum to real education in the next decade.”
Source: huffingtonpost.gr
