I found an article in my newsfeed on Facebook about what life could be like by 2050 and how AI could significantly influence our lives.

https://tenplay.com.au/news/national/august-2017/Scientist-shares-scary-predictions-for-life-by-2050

I'm not against technology by any means, but I believe there is a fine line between what is necessary and what isn't. To be honest, I think at least half of the predictions made in the article are not beneficial to society in any way and will only make the human race become more redundant. We don't need AI technology to drive us around or fly our commercial airlines. I wish I could say that these predictions won't happen in my lifetime, but I will only be 51 years old in 2050, so it probably will. :(

What are your thoughts on this? Do you see the things listed in the article as being a positive or a negative?

What are your thoughts on this? Do you see the things listed in the article as being a positive or a negative?


Those are pretty interesting predictions.

The author seems to consider all of these predictions bad, but I'd personally say they're more of a mixed bag. I would actually adore a world in which technology is sophisticated enough for everybody to forge their own little virtual worlds, much like the direction we were heading at the start of the century with the peak of the simulation genre of gaming. With how badly out of tune I am with the real world culture of today, an escape pod sounds like the most delightful thing to me. Playing The Sims 2, listening to retro music, etc. has already helped provide me happiness where there would otherwise be nothing but misery.

The one truly negative projection the article makes is the further infringement of personal privacy. Hopefully, constitutional ideals will stave off government and commercial surveillance enough that we can at least have our rooms to ourselves.

I will say, though I personally predicted myself that advanced AI beings would become common by the mid-late 21st Century, I think this person overestimates how much they will penetrate popular culture by 2050. I can't exactly see robots replacing humans in something as personally fueled as professional sports until at least several decades after 2050, by which point androids are advanced enough that they earn the same equal rights as actual humans.

I found an article in my newsfeed on Facebook about what life could be like by 2050 and how AI could significantly influence our lives.

https://tenplay.com.au/news/national/august-2017/Scientist-shares-scary-predictions-for-life-by-2050

I'm not against technology by any means, but I believe there is a fine line between what is necessary and what isn't. To be honest, I think at least half of the predictions made in the article are not beneficial to society in any way and will only make the human race become more redundant. We don't need AI technology to drive us around or fly our commercial airlines. I wish I could say that these predictions won't happen in my lifetime, but I will only be 51 years old in 2050, so it probably will. :(


I plan on living a low tech lifestyle at the time.

I'm not against technology by any means, but I believe there is a fine line between what is necessary and what isn't. To be honest, I think at least half of the predictions made in the article are not beneficial to society in any way and will only make the human race become more redundant. We don't need AI technology to drive us around or fly our commercial airlines. I wish I could say that these predictions won't happen in my lifetime, but I will only be 51 years old in 2050, so it probably will. :(

I wholeheartedly agree with you on this.

I don't hate tech but there is definitely a fine line between necessary and unnecessary. Guys like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking warn that artificial intelligence, more than climate change, poses a great risk to humanity.

I think that AI like Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Amazon's Alexa, etc are fine but AI that is virtually human in everyway except physical and AI that controls EVERYTHING is just plain dangerous and silly to me. It only satisfies the fantasy of many technophiles (people obssessed with new technology).

Don't even get me started with being implanted with microchips, or biohacking. That's a whole another conversation though. I forgot to make a thread last month that a business in Wisconsin became the first company to ever test microchips between their fingers and they just use the microchip to scan the vending machine to get a snack. In the future instead of using cards for money or chips on the card, soon there will be microchips implanted inside you in order to buy or sell and people will no longer use paper dollar bills. Again, this is a whole another conversation or a whole another thread for me to get into more detail.

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The author seems to consider all of these predictions bad, but I'd personally say they're more of a mixed bag. I would actually adore a world in which technology is sophisticated enough for everybody to forge their own little virtual worlds, much like the direction we were heading at the start of the century with the peak of the simulation genre of gaming. With how badly out of tune I am with the real world culture of today, an escape pod sounds like the most delightful thing to me. Playing The Sims 2, listening to retro music, etc. has already helped provide me happiness where there would otherwise be nothing but misery.

The one truly negative projection the article makes is the further infringement of personal privacy. Hopefully, constitutional ideals will stave off government and commercial surveillance enough that we can at least have our rooms to ourselves.

I will say, though I personally predicted myself that advanced AI beings would become common by the mid-late 21st Century, I think this person overestimates how much they will penetrate popular culture by 2050. I can't exactly see robots replacing humans in something as personally fueled as professional sports until at least several decades after 2050, by which point androids are advanced enough that they earn the same equal rights as actual humans.


I understand what you mean and I can certainly see why such a scenario would be ideal for many people. But there in lies the problem. Instead of trying to escape the realities of the world, we should all come together and try to make positive change. If everyone started to enter into their own virtual worlds, it would effectively mean the end of pop culture and inter-communication. The box office would be made redundant, because instead of people going to see the latest new releases at the cinemas, people would be coming up with their own movies in their virtual worlds. The same would apply for television and music as well.

So while entering into your own virtual world may seem all well and good, it wouldn't be good for greater society. Popular culture would never progress, because everyone would be living in their own virtual world with pre-existing things, such as past music genres, certain types of programs, and types of fashion trends. The idea of a virtual world seems enticing for people, because they want to escape the current state of life. But if everyone were to do that, then things wouldn't change. It would just be a never ending cycle of past events and trends which are favourable for each respective person.

I think virtual reality has many positive things associated with it, but like I briefly touched on in my original post, the merits of what is and what isn't necessary really need to be evaluated. In my own personal opinion, the option of people entering into their own virtual worlds isn't a good idea. If it's not monitored and planned properly, it can spiral into something which may damage society and human existence for good. I think society will benefit more if everyone collectively inspired for change for the greater good. We've already had the progression of equal rights and same-sex marriage, as well as the greater acceptance of different ethnicities and cultures over the past 50 years. Imagine what else could be achieved if we all stayed together as one, instead of drifting into our own worlds. It's the only way forward.

  Humans will live on after death

So this is one of their predictions that humans will live on after being deceased? I don't know if this will be true but I'd like to see that happen.

  Humans will live on after death

So this is one of their predictions that humans will live on after being deceased? I don't know if this will be true but I'd like to see that happen.
Certainly cockroaches will exist, they can survive anything