The World in 2054

Back in 1984, SciFi author Isaac Asimov was asked to make predictions about 2019; 35 years in the future (https://bit.ly/2BYw5RW). He was asked this question to match Orson Well’s 35 year predictions from his book 1984.  So I am inspired to see if we, collectively on LinkedIn, can create some predictions for 35 years in the future…  What will the world look like in 2054?  I will start with some of my thoughts, but it will be great if you all can add your own ideas to the comments section.

Workforce Distribution

Many jobs as we know them today will be automated in 2054, requiring a massive redistribution and reeducation of the workforce to a more services oriented distribution.  Firstly, the millions of Americans who earn a living driving (truck drivers, TLC drivers, delivery, etc.) will be replaced by fully autonomous vehicles.  But driving is not the only at risk career…  Robots and AI will not only handle many “assembly line” and repeatable jobs, but even most surgeons and doctors will be replaced by robots.  And don’t think that computer programming will be a good career option 35 years from now either as most AI will write their own code before 2054 as well.  This will push most successful careers into the service industry as empathic jobs will be harder for computers to replace.

Consumer Technology

The year 2054 will look quite different than today with regards to consumer technology.  Forget phones and watches, wearable technology will be fully integrated into everyday clothing - maybe just with a single earpiece. IoT will be standard in virtually every consumer good which can be controlled simply by saying it out loud - with complete home integration and connectivity.  

Within the next 35 years, televisions will be a thing of the past and replaced by either some form of holographic visualization or VR technology where the viewing experience is more immersive than TV is today.  Video game technology will be virtually indistinguishable from reality by 2054 as well.

Medical Industry

This may be more wishful thinking, but nanotechnology may revolutionize the medical industry.  Imagine getting an injection of billions of nanobots that travel through the blood stream looking for and destroying foreign, cancerous cells. This can virtually eliminate many diseases and viruses if we get there by 2054… Which also means the average life expectancy by then will be between 120-150 years old!

Space Exploration

It will be interesting to see where we are in the 35 years with regards to space exploration.  Space travel technology is getting better and it is likely there will be commercially available space flights available well before 2054. It is feasible that we will not only have a human-staffed lunar base, but man will likely have landed on Mars by then as well.

American Political System

The US has become highly polarized recently, and this is not sustainable over the next 35 years (or 8 presidential elections). Before 2054 will see the rise of a third political party which is more moderate due to the polarization of the two party system.  

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I could think of some more areas to predict, but had fun coming up with this list and look forward to hearing what else you all predict when you think about the year 2054.