The Ghost of 1983

It is 1983 in America.

The airwaves are still alive with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” a year after its release, and the world is captivated by the space opera magic of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” On television, “MAS*H” bids its farewell, captivating an unprecedented audience of 106 million. No TV show has ever come anywhere close1; it’s final act serving as a poignant mirror reflecting the world’s yearning for peace amidst the chilling winds of cold wars and brewing global tensions. “Dallas,” “Magnum P.I.,” and “The A-Team” are among our nightly prime time companions, while shows and cartoons like “Scooby Doo,” “Inspector Gadget,” “G.I. Joe,” “Sesame Street,” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” shape the imaginations of the young.

Malls are more than places to shop; they’re pulsating hubs of culture, central nodes in the physical realms of social networking. In the office, amidst water cooler conversations and the rustle of newspapers, typewriters still clack away. Their staccato rhythm reminiscent of a marching band’s snare drums, symbols of another era, yet unyielding and fiercely claiming their space in the present. Meanwhile, computers continue staking their claim with each tentative keystroke and fumbling mouse click. Every interaction between human and machine, heralding the myriad new possibilities of a digital future.

Apple’s Lisa promises a new frontier in personal computing, but the world still tiptoes around the unfamiliar terrain of using a mouse and graphical interfaces. It’s not until a year later with the introduction of the Macintosh that computing embarks on a course that will permanently embed itself into daily human life.

Rotary phones still stand their ground, chained to walls, their dialing circles demanding ritualistic patience as the price for instant communication. And while touch-tone phones begin to emerge, they are the newfangled gadgets of the time, making their debut alongside the answering machine whose blinking light serves as a beacon for an eventual “always-on” world. The DynaTAC 8000x, the world’s first commercial cellular phone, is introduced by Motorola but with a 2023 equivalent price tag of around $10,604, it wasn’t set to enter global consciousness anytime soon.

In dimly lit, hushed corridors and guarded labs, ARPANET adopts the TCP/IP protocol, laying the foundation for the modern internet. And, unbeknownst to many, a young British computer scientist named Tim Berners-Lee is gaining experience in computer networking. A year later, he would rejoin CERN, setting him on a course that would forever change the world.

With the founding a few years earlier of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, comes a palpable enthusiasm around AI. But as it unfurls its potential, it is met with both wonder and wariness. Winter was coming…

Tucked away in academic papers and obscure forums, discussions on digital encryption and decentralization continue. David Chaum publishes “Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments2” around the same time he releases “Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups3,” the first known proposal for a blockchain. These works, however, are just the obscure hints of a revolution that would later challenge established paradigms around control, power, trust, and money.

As for me, 1983 found me amidst the adventures of “G.I. Joe” and “Mr. Rogers”, or relishing the simple joys of bike rides in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And you? Perhaps you hadn’t yet embarked on life’s journey. But for all, it was a world on the cusp of transformation. Every click, keypress, and phone dial was a step towards an unimaginable tomorrow. Trying to recapture the nuanced realities of that moment is like attempting to put a genie back in the bottle. History is distilled, narrated, and selectively reconstructed in both our personal and collective consciousness. Once we know a story’s outcome, it becomes challenging to recall our initial impressions or feelings. So, what might a visionary from 1983 have imagined for 2023? Would they feel underwhelmed, scoffing at our lack of flying cars and struggles with nuclear fusion? Or would they be in awe, participating in a video call meeting or conversing with chatbots that have effortlessly crossed the Turing threshold?

2023: Whispers from the Ghost of 1983

Fast-forwarding to 2023, the world has transformed in ways a visionary from 1983 might find both expected and astonishing.

The whispers of the internet from ARPANET have now become the World Wide Web’s deafening roars, an infinite living library where information and misinformation dance a perilous tango. Cell phones, once a luxury, are now omnipresent mini-computers, wielded by toddlers and centenarians alike, boasting capabilities from high-resolution photography to instant global communication. Waiting by the phone for that one call or trudging to the mailbox for a letter are ancient rituals; real-time chats, video calls, and instant social media updates are the norms.

Television, once the focal point of living rooms, now competes with streaming platforms that offer a buffet of content anytime, anywhere. AI, having endured a long arduous winter, is in the midst of a renaissance. Virtual assistants, chatbots, and complex machine learning models influence decisions from what we buy to whom we date. Cars, while not yet soaring in the skies, are becoming increasingly autonomous.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, inspired by early whispers of digital encryption and decentralization, are challenging traditional banking, and promising decentralized autonomy from everything to money, computing, and the very backbone of the internet.

Yet, for all its progress, 2023 just like its long-lost brethren 1983, is a mosaic of complexities. The digital age, while connecting the globe, has brought with it questions of data privacy, digital ethics, and cyber warfare. AI’s promise walks hand-in-hand with fears of job displacement and algorithmic bias. And the global pandemic, COVID-19, showed just how interconnected yet fragile our modern systems can be.

The Whisper that Became a Roar: Lending Your Ear to the Hushed Voices of Tomorrow

As we approach the close of 2023, I find myself reflecting on a year of monumental shifts. ChatGPT, which began as a mere murmur in the AI community, and imbued with voices that stretch back decades, quickly grew into a deafening roar that couldn’t be ignored, amassing 100 million users in 2 months and faster than any application in history. It would seem that this is the most pertinent area to focus on when thinking about the future. Is it though? Which of the whispers of 2023 will gain momentum in the coming years, echoing louder and bolder, to shape the world of the next 40 years? How do we discern the quiet hints buried in whitepapers, research labs and discord servers amidst the cacophony of voices, ensuring that we pick up on the right signals?

History is replete with declarations of the impossible, with assertions that particular thresholds can never be crossed, dreams that can never be realized. The Wright brothers were told flight was an unreachable fantasy, just as skeptics dismissed the potential of the telephone and the internet. Time and again, the unimaginable is rendered real by human persistence and ingenuity. Our very survival as a species hinges on our capacity to dream, to imagine, and to bring to life the ideas that once seemed beyond reach.

2063: The Roar of Tomorrow

As we sift through faint whispers of 2023 and project them forward to 2063, why not envision a world that teeters on the edge of fantasy? Let’s don the cap of the visionary…

It is 2063.

Cities, reshaped by the urgent needs stemming from climate change, evolve into lush sanctuaries, embracing the nature we once ruthlessly eradicated. As we delve deeper into nature’s mysteries, we might come to honor its incredible prowess. Imagine buildings as living entities, organically grown rather than constructed, existing in harmony with their inhabitants.

The complex tapestry of human languages, once a formidable barrier to true understanding, has now been almost entirely dismantled. Wearable tech does more than merely translate; it offers insights into the rich cultural histories, the emotions, the very heartbeats pulsating behind every spoken word.

Conversations around AI have faded into the background. It’s embedded within myriad systems but seems primitive when juxtaposed against augmented humans. Neural enhancements and biological augmentations have smudged the line dividing man from machine. Direct neural interfacing has rendered learning near-instantaneous, experiences are exchanged with ease, and perhaps, consciousness becomes fluid and transferrable. Some opt to project fragments of their being into vast digital realms, navigating multiple realities simultaneously.

Music in 2063 is not merely a sensory treat; it’s an immersive journey. Apply a neural patch, and you’re no longer a passive listener; you’re plunged into the emotional and creative ethos of the artist, perhaps even accessing the very recesses of their minds.

And food? It remains largely unchanged since the dawn of the agricultural revolution some 12,000 years ago. Yet, are there whispers suggesting a future where food merges art with nourishment? Molecular gastronomy might empower individuals to craft meals that appeal not just to the palate but also to emotions, memories, and distinct nutritional needs.

Our gaze might also stretch beyond the confines of Earth and this universe, expanding our understanding of existence, delving into the abstract realms of metaphysics and the vastness of the multiverse.

The awe-inspiring crescendo of 2063, no matter how dazzling, will undoubtedly be punctuated by moments of discord. Ethical quandaries, the reshaping of societal norms, and the quest for meaning in a world saturated with technology will pose significant challenges. The ethics of biohacking might spark heated debates. What does “human” signify in a world where the organic and synthetic are intricately linked? Will we grapple with prolonged episodes of “Future Shock”, as Alvin Toffler vividly detailed in his seminal work?

But for now, we dream. We dream boldly and without restraint. Go on, proclaim that AI will revolutionize everything. Skeptics will always exist, and their voices are crucial. Together, we must stride forward into a future strewn with challenges but shimmering with promise.

[1] Andrews, Travis. “106 million people watched ‘M.A.S.H.’ finale 35 years ago. No scripted show since has come close.” The Washington Post, February, 28, 2018

[2] Chaum, David. “Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments.” CRYPTO, 1982

[3] Chaum, David. “Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups.” Dissertation, Computer Science, UC Berkley, June 1982

[4] Delgado, Michelle. “From ‘the Brick’ to the iPhone, the Cellphone Celebrates 50 Years.” Smithsonian Magazine, April 3, 2023