I’ve experienced many art forms that present all the bad ways technology will fuck us up, kill us all, or enslave mankind.

And, yet, even though I’ve seen all of this, even though I can perceive how we might annihilate our planet, I am weirdly optimistic about the future.

If we can just manage to not butcher our own species with our incompetence and hate, and out-survive a few particularly nasty things on the horizon, we are in for some of the most amazing developments in human history. I will refrain as much as I can from too many heavy technical terms since I don’t expect everyone to have as big of an obsession with future technology as I do, but I’ve got to at least get this stuff out there.

Also, I fully expect these developments to happen in like the next ten years, max.

• Self-Driving Cars

Holy crap I love that this will happen. So much time saved. Just set the location and then sit back and work on your laptop. You could even sleep while it drives once the laws catch up to the idea of being in a fully trustworthy autonomous vehicle. With this technology, commutes will be toothless, road trips improved immensely, and the potential for productivity from person to person will skyrocket.

• Wearables

We already have smartwatches and special headphones. But, the only way left is skyward. Special glasses with info displays, headphones that can function as hearing aids and translate across language barriers in real-time, and adaptive clothing and shoes for most terrains and temperatures.

• Order Services

I like shopping at a store. It’s pleasant. But, soon enough, it will be only that: a pleasantry. You won’t have to visit a real store for anything. Automatic systems will allow resources to go to people when they need them, and everything can be logged and paid for digitally. Heck, this system, mixed with self-driving vehicles, equals no reliance on business hours for consumers at all.

• A.I.s and Other Robots

A.I.s are people. Once they are as smart as us, they deserve the same rights as we have. They will also get smarter than us, and, once that happens, A.I.s will change the world almost instantly. Yeah, I’m worried about them replacing jobs, if only for the economy’s sake, but, if anyone can figure out how to solve the unemployment problem, it will be the A.I.s.

Intelligence, I must believe, usually leads to kindness and empathy, not violence. So, having around the smartest (and always learning) beings in the history of our world is a strictly positive undertaking assuming they don’t kill us all.

#

And that’s just the ones I can think of right now. I’m excited and eager to see what technology will change. Evolution continues—we can move it along faster than nature ever intended. Human’s desire to survive is in our very core, and now we can master our world, our biology, our economies, our time, more than ever believed possible. I’d call it the next Industrial Revolution, the next Renaissance, but, with what I see coming on the horizon, that’s a woeful understatement.

—

Special thanks to: Bob Gerkin, Collin Pearman, Dylan Alexander, Jerry Banfield, and Michael The Comic Nerd. 

Did you like the article? Dislike? Tell me about it in the comments. I would love to hear your opinions! If interested in specific articles, or want to write as a guest, you can message me at scifibrandonscott@gmail.com. If you want to help keep this blog going, consider becoming my patron at https://www.patreon.com/coolerbs. Thanks for reading!