The human race has evolved exponentially since 1920, and with the evolution of technology, the curve is rising steeper with every passing year. As we put the year 2020 into our rear-view mirrors, it’s interesting to think about what the world might look like in the year 2120. How far will technology actually advance in the next century?
Sci-fi has given us a glimpse into what the future of our world could look like. It shows how it could affect everything from how we entertain ourselves to healthcare. So far these futuristic imaginings have just been fiction. But here are just a few ideas on how the real world may look 100 years from now:
Quantum Computing Will Emerge
Defined as “the use of quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to perform computation,” quantum computing will allow us to generate more data than we’ve ever had before, and that’s saying something.
It is estimated that more than one trillion gigabytes of data are downloaded on Earth every minute. Yes, you read that correctly — every single minute.
The amount of data quantum computing can compute will allow us to download, analyze, and interpret more data than ever before about ourselves, our habits, the world we live in, and the universe. What we do with this information and data will define life as we know it in the not-so-distant future.
Brain-Computer Interaction Will Form
Human-Computer Interaction is the study of how people interact with their devices, such as computers, tablets, mobile phones, and even smartwatches.
Previously, opening your Facebook app with your mind was relegated to science fiction novels and movies such as Star Trek. But that’s not as far away as you might think. Sure, opening Facebook with your mind might be a bit of a stretch. Still, new evolutions in Brain-Computer Interfaces are already helping patients recover from strokes and have given amputees the feeling of touch once again.
Prototypes are already here for devices that pick up brain signals through the sill using electrode arrays; however, how the connection forms is still a significant missing piece in a puzzle that could forever change the course of human history.
Artificial Intelligence Will Change The Workplace
Data collection and manual labor jobs will soon be a thing of the past. Artificial intelligence will almost certainly automate many assembly-line jobs worldwide and act as cloud-based assistants for businesses globally.
Imagine walking into your office and asking your receptionist how their weekend was and being greeted with a holographic assistant talking about their artificial trip to Australia with their fake family before starting your coffee, precisely when you open your computer.
Many human jobs will be lost, and governments will likely introduce universal basic income (UBI), allowing unskilled workers to be paid for doing nothing or, even better, re-train with a new skill set. The upside is human error will be drastically cut, and robots will be as commonplace as pets.
Print The Earth
3D printers are currently being used in both recreational and professional settings. They are used to create toys for your dog or workable machinery parts for major industries. 3D printing is gaining popularity but is often a financial hindrance. In the next 100 years, 3D printing will become much more common as its cost reduces.
We’ll be able to print everything from workable human organs to skyscrapers in the next 100 years and will likely find more ingenious ways to use them.
Elimination Of Disease?
Aided by 100 years of medicinal and biological research, diseases such as cancer, the flu, and other inflammatory diseases may be a thing of the past. With advances in health technology, prevention and effective therapy will be so good that humans will rarely get sick.
Precise medicinal approaches use a patient’s lifestyle, data, habits, genetics, and surroundings to cure disease on a genetic level. It’s custom-tailored health benefits. It’s like getting a custom suit, car, or wedding dress, only for your health.
In the 1800s, doctors recommended cocaine to cure addiction and heroin to treat a cough. In the 1900s, doctors started rearranging parts of the brain in lobotomies to see what would happen. In 2017, scientists created an artificial womb, and a woman gave birth after a uterus transplant. Imagine what another 100 years can do for medicine.
Don’t get too excited about living forever or envision perfect health. External factors like war and climate change are expected to negatively impact life expectancy in 2120.
To Infinity, And Beyond!
Okay, maybe not infinity, but advancements in technology should allow humans to explore the very edges of our solar system and beyond in the next 100 years if governments continue to make it a priority.
There are already rumblings about sending private citizens to Mars soon, and there’s little that thrills, transforms, and challenges humanity more than space exploration.
We will also construct the best telescopes ever created, allowing us to see further into space than ever before. The real question is, what will meet our eye when we venture into space or browse it from Earth?
