Futurists in the 1990s predicted that humans would be living underwater and flying cars by the 2020s. While those predictions were harmless and exciting and pointed toward the growth of humanity in the field of science, experts today are warning of a much darker future.
Daily Mail reached out to several tech experts to ask them what the world will look like in 2050 according to them. Some believe climate change will have made the world inhabitable, others believe AI will take over humanity. Some also think we might contact extraterrestrial beings.
However, it is not all dystopia. Many believe technology will bring lots of good things.
Given below are a few things that might happen by 2050, according to futurists.
While most of us are focused on how AI is causing loss of employment, the real impacts of AI on the job market could be far worse. A recent report by Goldman Sachs said that AI could soon replace 300 million jobs.
According to George Stakhov, chief strategy officer for the global ad agency DDB EMEA who created an AI tool named The Uncreative Agency, the majority of the population will be disenfranchised as some who control AI gain immense power. These AI lords will control all the world's data.
Increasing humidity and heat will cause more and more heatwaves making it nearly impossible to survive outdoors, as per NASA.
While humans can survive temperatures up to 50C, if the humidity too is high, even extremely fit can die within hours.
Dr Ajaz Ali, Head of Business and Computing at Ravensbourne University, believes those who die might not really be dead. In the future, AI could create "digital twins", helping people live even after their death and retaining their legacy.
"By linking AI with digital technologies and motion capture tools, our conscious, knowledge and experiences will be transferred to our digital twins," Daily Mail quoted Dr Ali as saying.
"Loved ones could carry on interacting with their relatives who have already died but exist in a digital twin form."
Alien-hunting astronomer Seth Shostak set in 2012 that we will come in contact with aliens in nearly 25 years.
This means we are just a few years away from meeting extraterrestrial entities. Shostak recently shared that he is now even more confident about his prediction. He believes there are billions of Earth-like worlds that inhabit intelligent life.
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