Seven prophecies of the billionaire that have already come true, and seven more that should come true in the near future.
The most accurate predictions about what our world will be like in the 21st century do not belong to psychics and soothsayers or even futurologists, but to businessman Bill Gates. The head of Microsoft in 1999 wrote the book "Business at the Speed of Thought", where he made many predictions about the technological future of the world.
For the end of the 20th century, they seemed amazing and funny - then people were just beginning to get used to such concepts as a computer, the Internet and a mobile phone. However, a little less than 20 years later, most of Gates' ideas did come true.
Smartphones
Gates suggested that soon everyone will have compact, portable devices that will allow them to always be connected and have access to the Internet. A little less than 10 years later, the first smartphones were born.
Social networks
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5 years before the advent of Facebook, Gates said that Internet platforms would appear for communicating with family and friends, as well as for conducting public discussions between residents of not only individual cities, but also entire countries.
Online broadcasts
In the 20th century, live streaming was perceived only as a TV broadcast, but the founder of Microsoft was sure that they would be much cooler on the Internet, because users would be able to discuss what was happening in real time and make their predictions when it comes to broadcasting a match, for example.
Smart House
At the end of the 20th century, video tracking systems for home security were available only to the wealthiest, but Gates was confident that soon video cameras and home control sensors would be available to everyone, and in the event of strangers entering the house, fire or breakdown of any household appliance, they would send a signal to owner's phone number. In Russia, such smart home systems are only gaining momentum and are quite expensive, but in the USA they have been widespread almost everywhere for several years.
Online payments
“Most of the purchases will be done online,” Gates wrote, explaining that the need for paper money would practically disappear. Of course, paper money has not gone anywhere, but non-cash payment has really almost completely replaced "paper" for many of us.
Aggregator sites
People spend a lot of time comparing options and finding the best price, Gates said, although a computer is clearly better at such a chore. Indeed, it is now impossible to imagine self-monitoring online stores or air carrier websites in search of the best price - aggregators do all this for us.
contextual advertising
Back in 1999, the billionaire said that advertising should be targeted and based on an analysis of the purchases of each specific client. This idea formed the basis of contextual Internet advertising, which is currently the most effective.
Since Gates is such a good predictor, I wonder what the billionaire thinks about our future now. In his interviews and public speeches, the head of Microsoft actively talks about where technologies are going and not only them …
Humanizing computers
The most anticipated technology, according to Gates, is a computer that thinks like a human. Now artificial intelligence performs only simple tasks such as searching for specific words, but they have not yet been given the essence of such concepts as "family", "career" or "vacation". The emergence of computers that can read and understand text the way humans do is the next step in the development of technology.
Robots will take tens of millions of jobs away from humans
The development of artificial intelligence will lead to the fact that many professions will simply disappear, since robots will be cheaper and better perform their duties. People will have to retrain, because new professions will appear and develop at a tremendous speed, related to the control over the activities of robots, their development, training, repair, and so on.
End of AIDS and HIV viruses
Gates is investing huge amounts of money in the development of vaccines against AIDS and HIV, and according to him, scientists have come close to solving this problem. By 2030, these terrible diseases will simply cease to exist.
Death of millions of people from a worldwide epidemic
The greatest danger to humanity is not at all the cataclysms that disaster films frighten us with, but viruses. “In terms of the spread of disease, we have created the most dangerous environment in the history of mankind,” says Gates, stressing that in the event of a pandemic of an infectious disease, such as the Spanish flu, it will spread throughout the world in just 60 days. As a result of such an epidemic, about 20-30 million people can die.
Technology will conquer hunger and poverty
If now poor African countries survive mainly due to humanitarian supplies from civilized countries, then in 15 years there will be no problem of hunger in Africa. This will be possible through innovative technologies for fertilizing crops and producing meat without animals.
Oil and gas will not be needed
In 15 years, the whole world will be supplied with electricity by wind, solar and other types of renewable energy. By switching to clean and cheap energy, humanity will also partially solve the problem of poverty, since it will reduce to a minimum the number of people who do not have access to water supply and electricity.
NASTIN SERGEY