AI in 50 years

In 50 years, I would expect AI to be fully integrated into our everyday lives. AI should seamlessly integrate into our routines. The beauty of a lot of AI is that we don’t even notice that we’re interacting with it. Things that were once seen as AI, after they are integrated into the mainstream, are no longer seen or thought of as AI. This is known as the AI effect [1]. I expect the Internet of Things to grow and all of technological devices will be connected and available through a single manager/assistant.

Hearables are up and coming, and in 50 years, I expect many more people to constantly have hearables in their ears at almost all times. In our discussions, many people concluded that hearables aren’t really AI, but may become so in the future [2]. I think that hearables will become a huge part of virtual assistants and will completely be considered AI in 50 years.

Cars will be vastly improved in the next 50 years. More companies will come out with autopilot features and completely autonomous cars. I think the jobs in the trucking industry will take a huge hit because there will be a lot more autonomous trucks that won’t need to take breaks or work for a maximum number of hours in a row.

I think AI will take over more jobs in the next 50 years, but I don’t know what percentage. In an article that we discussed for class, the author said that “50% of all jobs in the industrial and services sector” would be taken over by AI [3]. I think that this is plausible in the next 50 years, but I think it will probably take longer than that. People need some time to adjust to the possibility that they will need to change occupations and learn how to live and work alongside AI. 50 years is a pretty short time to expect such a huge adjustment.

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_effect

[2] unpublished communication

[3] Dirk Helbing, August 2016, researchgate.net, available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305969593_Innovation_Accelerator_Why_Our_Innovation_System_Is_Failing_-_and_How_to_Change_This