Reading Time: 3 minutesAre we experiencing the break of a revolution? Did the technological era ended and the era of artificial intelligence just started? In the future, will we find the maximum collective intelligence power? How will the world be like in 20 years?
Many scientists and futurists believe that we are at the start of a revolutionary era, in which society will learn to co-exist with artificial intelligence.
Most of them believe that the next 20 years will probably define the future of humanity and the world.
So, let’s start here: What’s up with artificial intelligence?
Usually people picture AIs as amazing machines with genius and threatening minds that will exist in the far away future, but in reality, these amazing machines already exist and are not much like that.
Machine learning is a subarea of artificial intelligence, whose role is “teaching” computers to “think”.
In order to do that, computers access a set of data and infer some information taking into account some algorithms.
There are companies already doing it and using it to their advantage, offering new features or products to their clients. Here are some examples:
- Google: it saves information about people in the entire world and then uses it not only to search but to share information with you. It targets advertising taking into account your personal information (e.g. age or sex) and your browsing history.
- Netflix: it uses your search history to recommend you new movies or tv shows. It also analyses global information to improve and invest in content of their own, that is more likely to succeed according to global trends.
But this technology is not only used by companies to make a profit. Keep in mind that it is also very useful to other fields of investigation and studies such as:
- Biotechnology: that collects information from several DNA sources, for instance, allowing us to identify some diseases or treatments.
- Financial security: everyday companies search for innovative ways of detecting and improving fraud on transactions.
- Surveillance: images from cameras are automatically detected and processed, for instance, as used on facial recognition.
- Marketing: collects data from consumers in different contexts and allows a better segmentation and prediction of future trends.
Now let’s put things in perspective: The first computer was born in 1822 and the first internet connection was created in 1969!
In 49 years, we changed the entire paradigm of society and are now completely dependent on this new reality.
And that’s easy to examine using Angry Ventures, a product venture builder, as an example. A few years ago, it would be almost impossible for us to be doing what we are today. Let’s check that out:
- I’m a software developer so it’s obvious that 5 decades ago I couldn’t be doing this. I would maybe be working at a factory at an assembly line or doing the maintenance of some old machine.
- Carlota and Tiago are digital marketers, so they would probably be salespeople or work in advertising, Mad Men style.
- Carina is a graphic designer, and as she is terrible with hand drawing, she would be some kind of terrible street artist.
- Fernando… well, Fernando would continue doing the same. He’s great at talking to people and sharing thoughts and ideas, so he would find his place transforming the world in some other crazy company.
Getting back to the starting point, if in 49 years all this change took place, take a minute to imagine how the world will look like in 20 years, knowing that tech evolution has exponentially grown.
Well, I’d like to share with you what someone else has already envisioned.
“Energy – Solar power, which relies on nanotechnology, will be cheap enough and powerful enough to power the entire world within 20 years, says Kurzweil.
Neuroscience – Projects to reverse-engineer the brain will construct a full, synthetic model by 2029, says Kurzweil, giving us greater insight into how the brain thinks.
Genetics – Within 10 years we will all have digital copies of our genome, leading to medical therapies are personalized to our individual genetic makeup.
Nanotechnology – As robots get smaller and smaller, we will be able to insert them into our bodies to repair damaged or aging tissue. ”
I have no certainties about how the world will work and how different its synergies will be, but when I imagine this scenario I know that in 20 years, a software developer will be a totally different job.
And I figure that my house will be smart enough to do my dinner, my shopping, feed my pet and warm my room.
Start loading your imagination and prepare yourself for a totally different world! Change is in progress.
#SoftwareDeveloper, #SolutionFinder, and #BugKiller... I'm fluent in a few code languages and addicted to TV shows. Making magic with software in @AngryVentures
