Technology predictions for our world in 2050

When we think about 2050 it seems like it is ages from now and we imagine a completely different world, but in reality, it is just 30 years from now and we can already know what will be possible to have by that time. We have a lot of environmental, social problems and let’s see how technology may solve them by 2050. This article is about tech of the future!

Before writing this article, I did a small research and checked what industry influencers think about this topic, for example Mr Kurzweil, Business Insider, Forbes, etc.
Let’s start with Ray Kurzweil – the world’s foremost futurist, authoring bestsellers like “The Age of Spiritual Machines” and “How to Create a Mind.” He’s so influential that Google hired him to lead its artificial intelligence efforts. He is very well known for making predictions, which are right about 86% of the time.

  

·         Nanobots will plug our brains straight into the cloud

Tech of the future: nanobots. He believes, that by the 2050, nanobots will plug our brains straight into the cloud, it will give us full immersion virtual reality from within the nervous system. Just like we do know with our smartphones, we will be able to do it with our brains, we’ll be able to expand our neocortex in the cloud. And forget about memory problems, evidence problems, etc.

·         People reincarnation through AI

Sounds scary, I know! And probably most of the religious people will be very against it, however,
Kurzweil says that we will be able to “bring back” our relatives through artificial intelligence.
He says that by 2050, we’ll be able to send nanobots into people’s brains to extract memories of loved ones. Augment that with a DNA sampling of the deceased, and it will be possible to create a convincing virtual version of somebody who’s passed on. If you are interested in it, there is a movie about it: the discovery.

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·         IoT technology will change product designs

According to Forbes, by 2020, IoT technology will be in 95% of electronics for new product designs. And by 2050 it is expected to have everything connected to the cloud and to the internet.

·         Space tourism: a week in orbit

According to Business Insider, Space tourism could be feasible in 2050, but likely only for the very wealthy. Rocket companies like Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX will push the envelope with space travel enough that tourism will be feasible in the year 2050. For example, “someone who could afford to pay 100 million quid could spend a week in orbit… but it would only be for rich people in 2050.” he said. “It’s not going to be something that’s cheap anytime soon.”

·         Self-driving cars will make driving safer

Despite the crashes involving self-driving cars that have hit the headlines these years, this area of AI could dramatically reduce deaths and injuries on our roads. According to a report by Stanford University, not only will self-driving cars reduce traffic related deaths and injuries, but they could bring about changes in our lifestyles as well. We will have more time for ourselves.
Also, the increased comfort and decreased cognitive load with self-driving cars and shared transportation may affect where people choose to live.

·         Charge your iphone with the power of a plant

Did you know that you can charge your iphone with the power of a plant? Forests can become the energy stations of the future. Now it is becoming possible, for example, Bioo is a clean-tech company capable of generating electricity from plant’s photosynthesis. Here you can watch a video to know more about it.

·         Ocean Thermal Energy can take us to 100% renewable-energy

Ocean thermal energy, is a largely untapped resource, and one of the world’s largest renewable energy sources. For example, right now Bluerise is working on creating an energy breakthrough by generating utility scale electricity through Ocean thermal energy conversion. It will be able to outcompete fossil fuel based generation and other renewables that require storage and grid balancing. It will play a crucial role in the future energy mix being one of the very few constant energy sources, available day and night, year-round.

·         EU will face a shortage of 800,000 IT workers by 2020

There is a huge demand for developers in Europe, yet most IT education is solely available in English. With 24 official languages spoken in Europe alone, it’s no surprise that non-native English speakers prefer to learn in their own language. However you can start seeing many coding academies, schools and universities focused only on training junior developers for specific companies’ demand, being it a language, a practice, etc. Even though this problem won’t be solved by 2022, with these new IT universities and academies, we can fix the situation by 2050.

·         Drone solution for discovering untouched places

Deep in underground mines, some zones are inaccessible. But company like Inkonova started to work on builds drones that fly, drive and climb and use laser technology to scan zones, and create a 3D map of them. With this advancing aerial robotics technology we will be able to push human reach to any space untouched by man-made infrastructure.

·         Half of current jobs in the world are unlikely to exist in 2050

The world is changing faster than we think and the way we learn things and what we learn should be changed. Employers should create an engaging learning culture at work by empowering their staff to take ownership of their professional development.