( A seven minute fantasy read with a large dose of the truth) 

If you take time out from the misery of our troubled world and consider the future I am sure most of us would say we want a sustainable and equal world of opportunities.

However it seems to me that there has never being a time in the history human when the future hold so many unknowns.

The future is no longer just a place we have never been.

Yes, artificial intelligence is all the buzz in the tech industry right now, which can make it feel like a passing fad. But inside Google and Microsoft and Amazon, it’s certainly not. And these companies are intent on pushing it across the rest of the tech world too.

Now, we have Fei-Fei that will help run a brand new AI group inside Google, a move that reflects just how aggressively the world’s biggest tech companies are remaking themselves around this breed of artificial intelligence.

Indeed as we all know no one can predict the future with any certainty. The only future that is certain is that the sun in six billion odd years is going to fry what left of the earth.

We  also know however from past experience that the intricacies of global markets, resource trading and politics mean that difficulties in other parts of the world have global impact.

From this vantage point, the future looks decidedly bleak, and we may well wonder what use we will have for the social sciences in a world of catastrophic environmental decline and change.

 When we still think primarily in terms of the natural consequences of climate change. How can we know what the future will look like?

By 2065 it will be impossible to ignore its social and humanitarian impacts: food and water shortages, mass migration and resource wars seem likely, coupled with large-scale political and economic unrest.

There could be a ‘economic, social and environmental apocalypse. It will cause the collapse of existing infrastructure and telecommunications will be back to pencil and paper or something even more primitive.’

This would be a mistake.

To be able to understand the future, you must know the past. What has taken us to where we are today and what has changed along the way. The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but we humans are driven by the same basic needs as we were 150 years ago. Will this change in the next 150 years?  No.

Whilst trickle down economics and stringent immigration controls will have all but ended real-term deprivation, inequality will remain entrenched and what is called global connectivity will become far more dangerous.

What happens in any one part of the world can have global ramifications.

Why?

Because what is happening is increasingly hidden from view by Artificial Intelligences, with less and less accountability to the point that very few of us understand the decisions that are being made ever second of our existence, supposedly on our behalf.

AI will have powers over vast swathes of people.

Thee good news is.

No matter what happens we will not be able to fool the mind, in the way that no matter how real the experience will feel, you will always know that it haven’t happened for real.

The future of the world is here, you should get with the times.

First we need to start to think about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and to pass on to the next generation, and then we need to know what decisions we need to make today that will give the best result in the future.

To maintain the balance of power in society we must create anticipatory rather than participatory democracies?

We consent to our acts and opinions being counted, and it’s made transparent in the continuous count so we understand the implications of our acts and opinions as a collective. Any inconsistencies are flagged, and we get an option to compare ourselves against the values of the electorate.

We must get rid of all the manipulative rhetoric flying about in what’s left of the news media, making everyone angry and anxious. Life’s tough enough up here without making enemies of your neighbours.

The likelihood of the above happening is zero.

There is going to be a world and nations digital divide, creating self-contained society with culture of independence.

By 2035, even if a majority of humans do not self-identify as Transhuman, technically they will be. Transhumanists will outnumber Christians by 2035.

The future will be filled with digital implants, mind controlled exoskeletal upgrades, age reversal pills, hyper-intelligence brain implants and bionic muscle upgrades. All of these technologies will literally make us more Transhuman.

The future will also be filled with tactile feedback. From smart screens to wearable smart suits, haptic wearables will introduce a new form of intimacy in the digital realm.

Smartphones will fade into digital history as the high-resolution smart contact lens and corresponding in-ear audio plugs communicate with our wearable computers or “smart suits.” We will have the contact lenses that transmit everything the wearer sees.

For the wealthy, reversing age will be common by 2025. It may be extraordinarily expensive and risky, but for people who want to turn back the clock, it will be worth it.

We will have wearable and implanted medical gadgets continuously collecting information from their patients making it easier to diagnose and treat whatever the problem may be.

Although humans still need to feed the AI with information, machines will be able to create new and abstract theories independently – a huge step towards the development of a conscious computer, and potentially a landmark step in the way we carry out research. They could manipulate information into a binary code that will expand the memory of phones, computers and data centers.

Google has already obtained a patent on robot personalities. Owners could have a personality automatically chosen to match their needs, or select one based on a fictional character or even a loved one. AI not only re-shaping the technology that Google uses, but also changing how the company organizes and operates its business.

Cloud computing doesn’t always get the same attention as consumer apps and phones, but it could come to dominate the balance sheet at these giant companies.

Cloud computing could eventually become their primary source of revenue. And in the years to come, AI services will play right into the trend, providing tools that allow of a world of businesses to build machine learning services they couldn’t build on their own.

It will be far from a socially conscious corporation rule with minimal state involvement. What if we can arrange atoms the way they want them.

Japan will be the first country to allow the birth of a human in an artificial uterus.

Forest fires, wars could one day be dealt with by drones that would direct loud noises at the trees or terrorists below.

Believe it or not, we are just getting started. Technology will get even better.

Our material world will have buildings that are made from translucent concrete plastics and shape-changing materials that can heal themselves.  They will have artificial intelligence ‘personalities’ and will be able to ‘talk’ to people. Windows will be replaced by augmented reality virtual screens so people can choose any view they like. They will have video tiles, colour-changing materials and even electronic fibres in mats and other soft furnishings.

In the future we will be struggling with issues that have both natural and social causes and impacts, and we will need research that can synthesise these perspectives.

Robots will replace humans more and more. Companies using them will have to pay higher taxes to sustain the unemployed.

The use of petroleum-based gasoline will be considered primitive, if not illegal.

The transition from an oil-dependent society – decreased fuel imports might jeopardise Gulf State relations.

Our world leading institutions will become more obsolete.

The world’s population is projected to reach 11.2 billion in 2100.

Artificial intelligence, continued exploration of space, hopefully a better state for the poor people in the world, challenges in the climate change, and new inventions that make life a little easier and entertaining for some.

I think happiness matters more than, Loyalty, Fidelity or bit credit, and the million other point schemes you could choose.

Remember that little picture on a computer screen that guides you towards a particular action is often not a true representation of what is going to happen, but just a symbol.  God forbid that it ends up as our Icon.

As we begin a new year the small things seem to matter more these days, which I’m in favour of.

All comments welcome. All likes, bind.