Futurists about the future. Future Tense Futur II

Renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil, who is Google's CTO and one of the AI ​​researchers, shared some of his predictions through 2099.


2019 year. We will forget what wires and cables are, since most devices will be wireless.

2020 Our personal computers will have the same processing power as the human brain.

2021 85% of the earth will already use wireless internet.

2022 The United States and throughout Europe will pass a law on the regulation of relations between people and robots. The rights and obligations of robots will be proven.

2024 Computer intelligence will be applied in cars. On cars that do not have a computer mind, driving will be prohibited.

2025 Market launch of implant organs.

2026 We will prolong our lives with the help of scientific technologies.

2027 Each house will have a personal robot, we will quickly get used to them. As accustomed to the refrigerator and coffee maker.

2028 Solar energy will be used as an alternative, will be the cheapest to use.

2029 The Turing test is passed by a computer, which proves that it has a human mind.

2030 Nanotechnology and industry will reduce the cost of all products.

2031 A 3D printer will be in every hospital, used to print organs.

2032 Nanorobots will help understand the human brain.

2033 Autopilot cars will fill the roads of all countries.

2034 Date a person with artificial intelligence, like the movie "Her", you can see your new favorite with the help of contact lenses, or virtual glasses.

2035 The Earth is not in danger of being hit by an asteroid, as technology is smart enough not to allow that.

2036 Cells will be programmed to cure diseases.

2037 All functions of the human brain will be deciphered and incorporated into the advanced intelligence of the computer.

2038 Half human half robot, the advent of humanoid technology. The brain will have more knowledge than any ordinary person.

2039 Implantation in the brain of nanotechnologies will help to feel in virtual reality. Immersion is so real that the brain is not able to determine where reality really is.

2040 The same search engine (Google) will be embedded in the human brain. It is possible to conduct a search not only with language, but also with thoughts. The found material is displayed on lenses or glasses.

2041 The Internet will be 500 million times bigger than it is now.

2042 Almost immortal nanorobots will destroy diseases and strengthen the immune system.

2043 Human organs will be replaced by cybernetic devices.

2044 Intelligent machines will be many times smarter than humans.

2045 The Earth is the big computer of the technological singularity.

2099 Kraken Singularity is slowly conquering the universe.

Most science fiction writers and futurologists see the future of mankind in rather gloomy colors, and with good reason. Our attitude towards the environment leaves much to be desired, we use technology too thoughtlessly and are increasingly improving in self-destruction. However, there are also optimists who see the distant future as amazing and beautiful. Here you will find six of the most optimistic forecasts for the development of our civilization.

1. Status Quo

In the 1990s, American political scientist, economist, and author Francis Fukuyama wrote the books The End of History and the Last Man and The End of Order. He argued that the political, technological and economic state of our planet indicates that humanity is approaching the final stop of its journey. He was wrong, of course. These books turned out to be just a grim reaction to the collapse of the Soviet Union and talk about the so-called New World Order.

A somewhat more realistic assessment of the current state of affairs was formulated by Bill Joy, co-founder of the American software and hardware company Sun Microsystems. In a 2004 article, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us," he wrote about the catastrophic consequences that the development of 21st-century technologies such as robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology could lead to. Joy believes that the most reasonable thing that humanity can do today is to use what is already there. Only in this way can it prolong its existence on the planet.

2. Green planet

The distant future is often seen by us as a kind of "Cybertron", clad in steel from edge to edge. This is the worst nightmare of the “greens”, where technology and the thoughtless use of natural resources have crushed all living things. But who said that everything has to be this way? The future of our planet may well turn out to be much more prosperous than we can imagine. Representatives of "green" futurism believe that we can use high technology to cleanse the Earth, create new sources of energy, and even transform the planet itself.

The very first idea in this series was introduced by Bruce Sterling's Green Design movement. This movement advocates the application of innovative technologies to solve environmental problems. Sterling predicts that the future of the planet will be much more ecologically diverse than at any other moment in history.

In such a future, a person himself will change a lot - in order to live in complete harmony with the outside world. It will receive all our energy from the sources of the Earth itself and the Sun. Having thoroughly studied the earth's ecosystems, humanity will change them too - for example, put an end to all predation and animal suffering. And he will control the weather as he sees fit.

And, in the end, we will learn how to prevent all sorts of natural disasters: the fall of asteroids, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions...

3. Living surrounded by "machines of grace and love"

Unfortunately, it is likely that the age of technological euphoria will soon end. In thirty years, radically improved and intelligent machines of their own may get out of our control, and then we will definitely not be in trouble. But, on the other hand, the power that can destroy us can also be saving for humanity - this is what members of the Singularity movement think.

If the future inventors of artificial intelligence set the right goals for themselves, Singularity believes, then the next generations will live among the so-called "friendly robots" programmed not to harm a person. Moreover, the machines will make sure that nothing bad happens to us and protect us from all possible dangers. Paradise, where a happy future is provided for us by artificial intelligence, is dedicated to a whole poem by Richard Brautigan called “The machines of grace and love are watching everything” and the British film of the same name.

4. Where no one has ever been before ...

It's high time to break away from our little ball and start colonizing other solar systems, some futurists believe. Not only our salvation depends on this (the idea that you cannot store all your eggs in one basket), it is inherent in our very nature - to develop, move on and conquer new horizons.

Even now, our still timid attempts at space exploration bring us many benefits - technologies using satellites and some breakthroughs in science.

What could this colonization look like? Perhaps it will be something like a von Neumann probe - a self-replicating spacecraft that will fly to a neighboring star system, where it will mine minerals for us and create exact copies of itself, which, in turn, will go to other star systems with the same purpose.

Until now, interstellar travelers have not been seen in our Galaxy, in connection with which the so-called “Fermi Paradox” arose, which can be formulated as follows: “Combination of the widespread belief that there are a significant number of technologically advanced civilizations in the Universe, with the absence any observation that would confirm it is paradoxical and leads to the conclusion that either our understanding of nature, or our observations are incomplete and erroneous.

So, quite possibly, we will be the first and only civilization with colonial ambitions in the Galaxy.

5. Interior space

Another alternative idea - an ideal and cloudless existence can be achieved by overloading your consciousness into giant supercomputers. Computers of enormous computing power, like the megastructure called the "matryoshka brain" proposed by Robert Bradbury, will use the entire energy potential of the planet to power the computer system.

Or civilization will find a way to build the so-called "Dyson Sphere", which is a relatively thin spherical shell with a star in the center. Thus, two global problems will be solved at once - living space and energy, which can be obtained in abundance from the central star.

6. Eternal Bliss

The British philosopher David Pierce, in his "Hedonistic Imperative", formulated the idea of ​​building a paradise on Earth, which is to create a biological program that allows you to get rid of all kinds of cruelty, suffering and ailments.

The emotional life of a person will have to be regulated with the help of special synthetic drugs (but not drugs) that regulate mood. And in the long term, the genome of all vertebrates should be rewritten so that there is no more suffering in the animal kingdom.

What our future will actually turn out to be, no one knows. One thing is clear - there is a huge number of options for its development, more than we can even imagine today.

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When science fiction writers and futurologists imagine humans in the distant future, they never assume that our descendants will look exactly like us. Eventually, we will have access to powerful tools that will be able to turn us into cyborgs, decipher DNA, and so on. Therefore, there are no limits in the idea of ​​how we can change or change ourselves.

Here are 10 strange and unusual theories of the post-human future.

1. Voluntary recourse


To start the list, there can be no better theory than the assumption that humanity will not take a step forward at all (as most futurists assume), but will take a giant leap back. The basic premise is that society is now largely a consumer society and we must take responsibility for regressing (from an evolutionary standpoint) to a state where humans are not harming the planet. By becoming a pre-civilizational society, we would cease to be a threat to the planet, nature, and ourselves. The ultimate goal will be the end of civilization and our return to the jungle.

2. Voluntary extinction


But why stop there when you can eliminate the human race as a whole - or better yet, do it in such a way that everyone believes in this idea? This is the goal of the Movement for the Voluntary Extinction of Humanity (VHEMT). The movement's activists are working to phase out the human race, urging humanity to stop reproducing. Armed with the slogan "Live happily ever after," VHEMT's ultimate goal is to return the Earth to its natural, healthy state. Humanity will disappear, and all other living beings on Earth will be able to become free for life, death and independent development. Supporters of the model of voluntary human extinction argue that they are not misanthropes, they simply offer "a reliable alternative to the merciless exploitation and complete destruction of the Earth's ecology."

3. Increasing the "environmental friendliness" of a person


Some "environmental" futurists are not satisfied with the options in which humanity degrades or self-destructs. But they are also unsure of our ability to address climate change and prevent other environmental disasters. The solution of such problems, in their opinion, is possible with a voluntary change by humanity of itself, for life in harmony with the planet. Philosophers S. Matthew Liao, Anders Sandberg, and Rebecca Roach believe that people will need to switch to the use of pharmaceutical meat substitutes (to reduce the number of livestock and, as a result, to reducing the burden on nature), bioengineering with the introduction of cat vision genes (to reduce the need for electricity), as well as reducing our physical size to minimize our ecological footprint (they recommend reducing body weight by 21% for men and 25% for women). They also hope to increase our willpower, which will have a peripheral effect in activating feelings of empathy and altruism.


But why limit ourselves to adding a few new traits when we can take many useful traits from the animal kingdom at once? Transgenic technologies, which allow the genetic mixing of human and animal characteristics, could allow the creation of an almost infinite number of human-animal hybrids. We have a lot to learn from the animal kingdom: Dogs can hear and smell much better than us, cats can see in the dark, some primates have better memory skills, and birds have extremely strong eyesight.

5. All for the brain, not for the muscles


This is a classic vision - the brain takes precedence over the body. In his 1893 work "The Man of the Year Million", H. G. Wells laid out the idea that humanity's dependence on technology would eventually lead to less dependence on the body, and more dependence on the brain. Even a simple knife and fork, Wells argued, would eventually render the human jaw unnecessary. Modern conveniences such as motorized transportation will render the legs, torso, and virtually all muscles unnecessary. Our descendants will essentially become huge brains that move around on their hands. But how real is this vision? According to the principles of Darwinism, physical characteristics will actually disappear unless they are constantly subjected to selection pressure. As for the massive “bulbous” skull, this is unlikely, given that the size of the brain does not correlate with intelligence, as well as the fact that we will gradually unload our thinking by transferring some of the functions to external devices.


"Collective Mind" is a possible future state of mankind in which it has assumed the forms of a social mind, as occurs in ants or bees. In this state, the human will is largely dictated by the demands of the collective, or some overarching organization. The totalitarian experiments of the 20th century were the prototypes of this idea, but fortunately they were limited by the primitiveness of their technologies. But looking to the future, one can easily imagine the daunting prospect of a renewed effort by the state to control the thoughts and actions of the population through widespread surveillance and control technologies. But the new "Collective Mind" can also be seen as a positive step forward in human communication and social organization, what many call the Noosphere.


Advanced reproductive and cybernetic technologies are having a profound impact on our biological nature. We currently reproduce sexually, we are a binary species of females and males. But we can cease to exist as a biological organism in the traditional sense. People will not be tied to one specific biological sex, they will be able to get rid of gender traits and become asexual. Even more radical is the ability to create new biological sexes, or amorphous gender traits, that can be changed on the fly.

8. Control over signs of the body


Assisted reproductive technologies such as genomics will allow future couples to choose for certain traits, or, as it is most often called, to participate in "baby design". It is also possible that advanced gene technologies, and in particular gene therapy, will allow people to change their traits after they are born. However, a number of physical abilities can be used by people to gain an advantage in some areas, leading to a kind of "arms race". Let's take sports for example. Basketball players struggle for height, while swimmers are interested in limb length. Athletes today must possess these characteristics even before entering the sport. However, it is worth noting that the changes may exceed all imaginable proportions of the human body, resulting in some strange and extreme physical forms.

9. People will change to conquer space

It's no secret that people in their current form have nothing to do in space. Long-term weightlessness and solar radiation are too bad conditions for fragile creatures like us. But that hasn't stopped theories from being put forward about how humans can change to endure the rigors of space — and their solutions are anything but petty. Nanotechnology expert Robert Freitas proposed the idea of ​​eliminating human lungs, after which there would be no need for air. Ray Kurzweil suggested that in the future humans will not need food, but will instead be equipped with nanorobots that will activate our cells. And even Craig Venter called for the development of an inner ear that would allow humans to avoid motion sickness, bone regeneration genes, and DNA adaptations for radiation resistance. He also suggested that we will have a small stature, a higher percentage of energy use, and finally all body hair will disappear.

10. Uploads


While the idea of ​​downloading human consciousness into a supercomputer is strange in itself, some notions of life after the download are even more unimaginable. For example, the assumption that a mind uploaded to a computer can create an unlimited number of copies of itself. The basis of this proposal is the suspicion that copying oneself will be quick and cheap. An uploaded mind can also be implanted from a human body into a robot body, permanently changing the actual physical form. Another exciting possibility is to change the basic parameters of the computer environment. This could lead to something beyond human understanding, both in terms of physical space (such as adding or changing the dimensions of environmental physics) and the nature of psychological and subjective self-awareness.

Futurology(from lat. Futurum- the future and Greek. Λόγος - teaching) - predicting the future, including by extrapolating existing technological, economic or social trends or trying to predict future trends.

FUTURE OF CIVILIZATIONS - a futurological long-term forecast for the development of intelligent life. So far, we can only consider the example of one single civilization known to us - our own. But what will happen to us all in 100, 1000 or a million years? What do we know about the future of a super-advanced civilization? Reliably - nothing! In principle, we cannot know what will be interesting and what tasks people of the distant future will set for themselves. We would take this into account before we recall all the already existing futurological forecasts, otherwise we risk becoming like those who wrote ridiculous forecasts about life in the 20th century just a hundred or two hundred years ago, while attributing to us, today, all our own character traits and habits . In turn, the forecasts of our futurologists sin the same way. To be completely accurate, our scientists first thought about the problems of the ultra-distant future of mankind only after they began a serious search for traces of other civilizations within the framework of the international SETI program. It was then that the question was posed: what happens to a civilization when it becomes "adult" by cosmic standards? And although we did not have the slightest idea about what civilizations inhabited (and whether inhabited at all) other star systems, scientists unwittingly equated them with our own civilization of the "model of the third millennium." And so it happened that the questions "What are they?", "What will we be?" and "What would we like to become?" our official science gives almost identical answers. What can you do - there is not enough factual material for generalizations, and except for UFOs, Humanity is the only one known to us from all civilizations. Let's ask the question in a different way: How would we like to see ourselves in the third millennium? According to science fiction films and stories, it turns out that our descendants, as settlers of the Wild West, are simply obliged to pour into the vast expanses of the Universe. Of course, people should go out into the intergalactic expanses, but not as tribes of nomads or locust-like herds of barbarians. Modern humanist scientists unanimously assert that we will carry only peace and goodness into space. But who knows, perhaps - many star systems by that time will already be inhabited by representatives of other civilizations? What if our desire for expansion (see "Star Expansion") does not please them too much? Of course, in fantasy stories, "good" earthlings always defeat "non-humanoid aliens." But are we sure that the aliens will not turn out to be an older and more militarily stronger civilization? And will we not be wrong in such conflicts? Where to look for arbitrators? Futurologists modestly avoid this question, as if taking it for granted that they will wait for us everywhere only with outstretched arms (paws, claws, limbs). Although the logic of all historical events on our planet seems to say otherwise. Will we have to participate in world star wars and great crusades to free the Milky Way? Humanists and pacifists in this case have every chance to find confirmation of their ideals. Indeed, the same logic suggests that if there were at least a few civilizations older than ours in the Universe (and probability theory claims this), then their representatives would have been to Earth many times (fast interstellar flights after some time and for we will no longer be a problem). But if different civilizations visit the Earth (of course - in UFOs?), then where is the battle for the planet and the war for spheres of influence?! If it is true that humanism dominates in space, then we will have to be humane too. In any case, having entered the vastness of the Universe (probably not the first), we will simply be forced to reckon with the old traditions of non-intervention. In any case, at first, until our strength gets stronger ... Well, when our weight in the intergalactic arena increases, we can hope that our bloody habits and ancient instincts, as well as the scenarios of Hollywood Star Wars, will be forgotten by that time. .. Let's try to list all possible options for the development of Mankind starting from the foreseeable future (i.e. from the beginning of the 21st century), considering that we have already begun our expansion into the Universe: , or another catastrophe associated, for example, with the radiation of a supernova that broke out or with the fall of an asteroid, is unlikely, because after the colonization of other planets (there is hope that we will have time to implement it), civilization automatically insures itself against complete extinction. True, the silence of space in the radio range and the suspicion that all civilizations (and we too!) Do not live to "maturity" forced some astronomers to accept a new hypothesis: According to calculations, the probability that civilization, as a result of its technogenic development, will enter a fatal dead end for itself is approximately 10%. During the years of the Cold War, nuclear war was considered the most likely such a dead end, after that - ecology, overpopulation, the emergence of man-made viruses, chemical and radiation disasters. In the future, regional conflicts and even seemingly harmless physical experiments may become dangerous for the entire civilization... there are simply no free planets left. We will have to be content only with our native Earth and the role of a stellar backwater, naturally, the risk of self-destruction in this case will increase many times over, and colonies on the Moon and in outer space potentially cannot ensure the proper revival of the human race in the event of a global catastrophe on Earth. Considering that Humanity will be able to settle and spread in the future not only in the space of our 3-dimensional world, but also in other dimensions of Space-Time, it can be considered simply unworthy of mentioning the option when we have absolutely nowhere to go in the endless expanses of the Universes and Times. The question should be put like this: do we have enough desire and means to master what the older civilizations neglected? 4. ALIENATION Scenario: if the entire Universe has long been divided into spheres of influence between the old super-civilizations, then we risk being left alone with our desires and ambitions. Astro-neighbors need us no more than, say, a clan of supermillionaires - a poor, ill-mannered relative, naively waiting for reciprocal loud declarations of love and sympathy. But it's still flowers. It will be worse if the “clan” suddenly likes in a poor relative just the bad manners and militancy characteristic of us ... 5. The role of a “Pawn IN ANOTHER GAME” is disgusting if we do not know the true goals of this game. I don’t really want to be in the role of the Papuans of Oceania, who during World War II, having changed their spear and bow for an automatic rifle, with great pleasure went to fight both in the Japanese army and in the US army, not seeing any difference for themselves. Perhaps, to some extent, all young civilizations go through the role of "Papuans-mercenaries", and this scenario of development can be considered as the most probable, especially since ... if you believe the numerous stories of contactees, then UFO pilots are already using us with might and main for their unknown purposes. Of course, we would also like to play a far from last role in the interstellar arena, but in fact all the above and below options for the development of Mankind could be reduced to just one question: how independent will we be in the future in choosing a policy? At the same time, without implying that independence is preferable. In practice, it always turns out the other way around: “homeless children” either resign themselves to social rules and become respected citizens, or become social outcasts with all the ensuing consequences. 6. A STAR WARS variant with a mature military policy independently pursued is possible under all scenarios. The principles of humanity say that bloody politics should be abandoned, but experience tells us that one must be ready for aggression at any moment. The same experience, unfortunately, tells us that very often, in the absence of external enemies, internal enemies are quickly found. No one will guarantee that independent colonies will not start hostility among themselves without finding enemies in other galaxies. It follows that we should always be ready for the news that we are the only civilization... 7. The SOLONEL scenario is highly unlikely. According to Kardashev, only zero percent is the chance that there is no one else in the incredibly large Universe except us. From the fact that this illogical case is very common in science fiction, we can conclude that subconsciously people strive for leadership even at the interstellar level. True, the option is not ruled out that without competition in space, the United Humanity will quickly lose interest in the search for new endless colonies, and then ... 8. The option "STATUS" is possible under all scenarios. The example of the eternal existence of civilizations in a state of complete indifference to everything is taken seriously by many astronomers as an explanation for the radio silence of the cosmos, but practice shows that a potentially healthy society does not stagnate for a long time, is it then worth seriously considering this episode? 9. Scenario "GREAT RING" - perhaps the most optimistic of conceivable options, in which tens and hundreds of different civilizations, mature and barely out on interstellar routes, begin to "make friends with families." The humane and tolerant attitude of representatives of different galaxies towards each other is described in many fantastic works, so you should not go into too much detail, especially since this option is quite satisfactory for scientists working under the SETI program. Even the probabilities of some hypothetical civilization similar to ours entering the intragalactic association (about 10%), the intergalactic association (20%) and even the union of civilizations, which occupies a significant part (about 1 - 10 billion light years) of the size visible part of the Metagalaxy (already more than 60%)! It is impossible not to mention that in the case of the existence of other civilizations, the expansion of any of them with the help of global panspermia could have the most catastrophic consequences for already inhabited planets. 10. Scenario "HIERARCHICAL LADDER" - in essence, only a variant of the previous scenario, but - a variant even more likely (again, relying on our logic!). Different civilizations, in principle, should be different in their development. But how to classify them? Usually, when mentioning the degree of development of society, they refer to the SETI classification, in which hypothetical civilizations are divided according to the degree of energy availability: civilizations can consume as much electricity in total as the light falls on the surface of their home planet; a more developed civilization spends almost all the energy of its native star for its needs; and subsequently - all the energy of the native galaxy. The full use of the energy falling on the planet was supposed to be achieved with the help of orbital solar panels and energy converters, and the full use of the entire star was supposed to be achieved with the help of a solid sphere built around the luminary (the author of this idea is F. Dyson) or shells several astronomical units in size. It is not yet clear from a technical point of view how to trap and use all the light coming from the galaxy, and whether it is possible from a legal point of view to intercept this energy if there is someone else in the galaxy besides our civilization ... Although the topic of hierarchies is in scientific works in space it is not found anywhere in its pure form, however, many astronomers wrote about it one way or another between the lines. Indeed, no one particularly objects to the fact that our civilization, after the beginning of the era of astronomy and contact with neighbors, is waiting for something like a qualitative leap in development, but who can guarantee that this leap will be the last in our history!? Recall that K. Tsiolkovsky and other scientists wrote that in billions of years (or earlier?) people will turn into incorporeal ethereal beings; modern observations of some types of UFOs and studies conducted by Academician V. Kaznacheev both directly and indirectly confirm the existence of such a field life form. It may happen that after millions of years, as a result of natural (or unnatural) evolution, a person will lose not only his usual appearance, but also the former properties of the physical organism. Even if people are already used to that time with the reality of frequent space flights and flights in Time, all the same, after this, a new breaking of habits and characters, a change of priorities, goals, space friends, etc. are inevitable. The transition to each new qualitative level for mankind will mean first of all, as it were, a new discovery of the Universe. How many times there will be qualitative leaps in the development of Mankind, and what a person of the field and post-field forms of life will look like at least approximately - this is now even impossible to even imagine! (Another option - to imagine - you need to look again at some types of UFOs). Billions of years will pass, in the ideal case, the post-field Humanity will completely master the Space-Time, and if for some reason the triumphant procession of people is not interrupted, then someday our descendants will reach such heights that in our minds they will simply become Gods.. .

"Copy a person's consciousness onto an electronic device." This is not an idea from science fiction literature, but a very possible future. Ray Kurzweil, futurist, author, and director of engineering at Google, shares his thoughts on how technology will evolve over the next thirty years.

The Motherboard portal called Ray Kurzweil "a prophet of technological destiny and technological salvation." So far it has been very accurate.

In a tight time frame, author, inventor, computer scientist, futurist, director of engineering at Google shows that 86 percent of his predictions have come true - including the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of the Internet, and the ability of computers to beat humans at chess.

Catch up and overtake: when a computer becomes smarter than a person

Kurzweil continues to share his vision for the future. His last prediction was made at the SXSW conference, where he claimed that the "singularity" - the moment when technology becomes smarter than humans - will come in 2045. This is not just thinking out loud: Ray Kurzweil has devoted his entire life to developing machine learning methods and creating artificial intelligence technologies.

“I have proven that by 2029 artificial intelligence will pass a valid Turing test, and thus reach the level of human intelligence,” Kurzweil told Futurism.

office in cyberspace

Kurzweil's vision of the future does not stop at the "singularity". He also predicted how technologies such as Neuralink Ilona Mask or Kernel Brian Johnson , will influence our bodies, guiding humanity towards a possible future in which both our brains and our bodies in general will be mechanized.

This process could start with science fiction-level breakthroughs in virtual reality technologies. Kurzweil suggests that virtual reality will be so advanced that physical jobs will become a thing of the past. In a few decades, our movements will only need to put on a headset. All the knowledge of the world is already available to any person through electronic devices, regardless of location. It remains only to establish a direct connection between the brain and the world's "data cloud".

As Inverse highlights, this paradigm shift could have some interesting implications. Without the need to live close to work, we could reach an unprecedented level of de-urbanization. People will no longer need to flock to big cities or be tied to a particular place. Inverse suggests that such decentralization may reduce the possibility of terrorist attacks. Blockchain technologies will also contribute to this.

technology of immortality

According to Kurzweil, technology will not only allow us to rethink the modern concept of the workplace, it will also enable us to replace our biological machines with more substantial equipment.

He suggested that by the early 2030s we would be able to copy human consciousness onto electronic media.

“No more flesh, blood or bones – just a scanned copy of your brain in a machine – and that will allow people to take on any form, from a box to a bird,” Inverse explains. This ability has a more serious meaning: people will no longer die. Since our brains will no longer rely on fluctuating biological processes, we could (theoretically) live forever.