Speaking at the World Government Summit held in Dubai, an expert in theoretical physics, a famous popularizer of science, as well as author of many popular science books, Michio Kaku led a discussion of a topic that will affect us (we mean all of humanity) in the next 20 years … It was about changes: those things and technologies that will change our life, going into almost every aspect of it.
These changes have already begun. We can observe how scientists and engineers every day make another revolution in the development of artificial intelligence, space flights, medicine and biology, getting closer and closer to the universal basis of our life - DNA. The advancement of science and technology is certainly inspiring, but the pace at which it is happening can create a certain level of anxiety for some. Moreover, according to Kaku, things will become even more confusing in the next twenty years.
Everything from toilets, which are able to carry out chemical analysis on the go and give recommendations on how to reduce certain substances in the body, and ending with the walls that will talk to us, - Kaku described at the same time beautiful, a little scary and to some extent even a comical picture of the world of tomorrow.
Life 2.0
Kaku started by saying that time will change everything. Including our language, which will evolve along with technology. What does it mean? For example, this means that over time, the word "computer" may disappear from the everyday life of human speech. No, of course, the word itself will remain, but we will lose the importance of the term itself. In some countries, Kaku says, the word "computer" will disappear from use because these devices will become truly ubiquitous. There will be no things in the world that won't be computers in and of themselves. Everything will be computerized.
The scientist continued with the topic of how 3D printing technologies will change the quality of our life.
“We are talking about a new world. A world where everything you can imagine, you can create yourself,”commented Kaku.
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He described a world in which we can print ourselves a new pair of shoes, jewelry or any other piece of our wardrobe. If your child wants a new toy, you don't have to go to the store for it. All you need is to go online, download the design you like, download it to your computer, and then print it on a 3D printer in the next room of your house, which, by the way, may also be printed using a 3D printer., only in larger size.
By the way, with regards to the house. Our dwellings will no longer be just dwellings. They will become tools. Computerized, "live" instruments. And we will also communicate with wallpaper. Yes, with wallpaper. Do you doubt it?
“We will have smart paper in the future. This paper will be able to show us absolutely any information at our request, just like the screens of our today's computers. We will communicate with the walls. And not only we, but they are with us. The architecture of our homes will change so much that our ordinary walls will become our smartphones, laptops and huge television screens."
Imagine yourself sitting in a room and talking loudly not only with all the things that surround you in it, but even at this moment being inside the most distant corners of the digital world. However, for some, it can be depressing and lonely. But this is how the world of the future awaits us.
Technologies will appear in our access that will help us establish contacts with other people in other parts of the world. Kaku noted that such tools will allow you to share your thoughts and ideas with people whose language you don't even know.
“You will be able to communicate in any language. Your contact lenses will help you with this, translating and reproducing the text written to you directly onto your retina,”commented the popularizer of science.
Want to freshen up and go somewhere? Regardless of where you are going - far or not - you no longer need your own car. And you will no longer need to have a driving skill either. You will be driven by cars. On your own. Self-governing. In addition, you can travel light, since you will have to take more things with you. Everything you need can be 3D printed on the go.
We are approaching a future in which socio-economic relationships will be completely different, said Kaku.
“We are building the so-called 'ideal capitalism', in which the concept of intermediaries and all the negative aspects of ordinary capitalism will be absent. The winner in this will be the community, the losers are the middlemen, the third parties. Stock traders,”said Kaku.
The last issue of discussion concerned ourselves directly.
“Artificial intelligence will be able to bring us victory over what no king or queen of the past could win - the aging process. Over time, we all age and die. The old gives rise to mistakes in work. Once we can use AI to compare millions of genes in old people with millions of genes in young people, we can determine where and how aging begins. And then we'll just root it out."
The picture of the future, you see, promises to be attractive. But is it really so? The answer is difficult. It all looks tempting, but let's get back to this question in 20 years.
Nikolay Khizhnyak