Predictions for 2050: What to Expect?

Some of the world’s greatest thinkers and philosophers state that by 2050, the world shall have computers that will process in the exact same fashion as humans. But who can say they haven’t already? There are multiple developments in the fields of technology that we might have just imagined of seeing in reality at some point in history. Advancements in defence technologies, medical and healthcare facilities, finance and trading, tourism, AR and VR – we can already see it happening and incrementing with each passing day. New resources of energy are being tested and implemented vastly to adopt alternative forms of power generation, and abandon the fossil fuels.

Although these steps towards progression are true, there are certain detrimental occurrences all around the globe that are addressed repetitively via iterative discussions at the United Nations, World Health Organization, and semantic bodies. This relates to the accelerated depletion of all non-renewable resources of energy, rising level of emissions, a humongous population that is increasing alarmingly, and a lot more serious issues that need to be addressed with high priority. Furthermore, the potential of the world facing massive wars that might be inclusive of nuclear attacks automatically puts the humankind two steps back from progression. With these environmental issues, the world faces the horror of potential earthquakes, tsunamis, and similar natural disasters.

Let’s Talk about Progress

By the year 2050, it can be confidently stated that the world shall procced to make milestones in all fields, with no constraints whatsoever. Here are a few examples of what is predicted to have been achieved by humans by 2050:

• The World’s First Artificial General Intelligence:By 2050, major tech companies have already launched official projects to develop the world’s first artificial general intelligence. Billions of dollars are invested. However, it leaves the door open to a super intelligent AI being developed by the end of the century. And there’s no feasible limit to how intelligent this AI can become. Such an AI could be smarter than all humans that have ever lived on planet earth.
• Smart Cities:In 2050, a small percentage of cities in some regions have become smart cities.These smart cities connect vehicles on the road to a central network that tracks their locations in real-time. These types of networks receive terabytes of information from a huge number of sources such as road sensors, traffic lights, and so forth.  Those sources provide information such as the number of cars on the roads, road blockages, weather patterns, the state of emergency services, and more.Furthermore, smart energy systems shall be utilised and the same will be distributed using the smart grid.
• Mars Has a Permanent Human Presence:In 2050, a permanent team of scientists and robotics engineers is present on Mars. SpaceX is leading much of this effort. And the first civilian tourists have also arrived.Significant innovations in autonomous robotic mining systems were required before the first human set foot on Mars. Autonomous mining robots mine for and create water. Autonomous robots also extract hydrogen from the water to create hydrogen-based fuel. And satellites containing solar panels orbit Mars provide energy to the Mars base as well.

The Contingencies

The year 2050 as discussed previously, shall also face multiple issues, majorly due to environmental disasters that are the consequence of a series of human wrongdoings. Listing the major issues in this particular case:

• No more fossil fuels: Accelerated adoption of renewable resources is necessary with time. Fossil fuels are at the brink of extinction, while producing mass amounts of harmful carbon compounds. This is gradually being done, mostly due to the low efficiency rates of renewable resources, although lots of research is conducted on the same.
• Water level rise:Higher water levels, more powerful tropical storms, and increased energy use across the globe will lead to widespread power outages. In the US, the effects will be worst in crowded, cities like New York and Philadelphia. By 2050, up to 50% more people there will likely be temporarily without power.
• Rise in temperature: The biocapacity of the world will face more exploitation, which shall lead to a rise in average temperature by atleast 2 degrees. The cities will become richer sources of raw materials for metal than the mineral deposits in nature.

Therefore, keeping these few points in mind, it can be understood that 2050 can be a boon as well as a curse according to the predictions, although all of this depends on the humankind. It is us who shall shape the future, and be the ones to witness it.

In that case, let’s make sure it’s a good view.