Can We Change Humanity’s Course?

Many of the prevailing views of our world fifty years from now include massive flooding, food shortages, water wars, and AI that rules over us like an evil overlord. Technology pundits, government officials and activists urge us to believe we are already in the midst of our dystopian future and that it is irreversible. Now, they argue, we must instead respond to the future dystopia. This was the prevailing ideology in the years before we landed on the moon too; and yet, the moon landing was the great challenge that galvanized a nation, and the world, to take on the impossible. In doing so, it ushered in decades of technological advancement, wealth and opportunity. 

We now find ourselves in a moment where collective action can propel us forward into new great achievements: we just need to throw out the prevailing thought that we are already settled into our dystopian future. Instead, we can create a world where humanity is future-proofed, by relying on our ability to take on and accomplish the impossible. 

The future is what we make it

The current failure of imagination when it comes to our future hinders our ability to move forward. We have neglected to believe in the potential of humanity to combat our most pressing crises including issues related to climate change, space, human waste, and more. Humans are resilient. When the narrative is going against us, we find a way to alter the status quo, and now we have the opportunity to do just that. 

In years past, we’ve seen amazing innovations and ideas by visionary tech leaders, scientists, even politicians. Altering Bobby Kennedy’s words just a bit, the world has always had people that see things as they were and asked why, but our future is dependent upon people who dream of things that never were and are willing to ask, why not? 

It’s something I like to call, future-proofing humanity, and it’s up to us to ask the right questions, come up with new technology solutions that are different than what we’ve been fed for years. It’s about looking at climate change and asking if planting trees is really the best solution. It’s about looking at AI and asking if we need to believe that math will become sentient. It’s about looking at jobs and asking if we think jobs are finite and wealth is limited to our current system. It’s about finding new opportunities and ideas for old problems. 

By 2069, I believe we can address many of the issues we face today, and take a new giant leap for mankind. 

Using technology to discover alternative solutions 

By 2069, we can stop and reverse climate change related concerns. Not simply by cutting emissions through technology and alternative solutions to capture carbon, but by also transforming it. We will have harnessed the power of nature. For example, we should consider the raw potential of algae. It is not only an untapped food source, but also a fuel source and a key ingredient in capturing carbon emissions. The potential for it to supplement trees as the defacto suggestion for cutting carbon emissions will increase. 

We will can find a way to reuse human waste as fuel -- perhaps as a means of fueling our interstellar flight operations which will require a massive amount of energy consumption and energy transfer. Doing so will alleviate the waste burden on our home planet and by proxy create better universal living conditions. The ocean is better at carbon capture than trees but the current human trash problem is impacting the ability of the ocean to do its job. If only we could make ocean clean-up as sexy as planting a tree. 

Space won’t be the only new frontier for colonization

In 2069, human space travel will be as regular an occurrence as commercial flights from New York to Los Angeles. We will have small colonies on both Mars and the moon. These small-scale communities will foster interdependent living among groups of disparate people, and they will have the chance to re-envision community, how we live our lives, socialize, work, and more.

In 2069, if we continue to see the rise of oceans around the world, people will begin to colonize water spaces including using oceans for large scale farming and living communities. Given that 71% of the earth's surface is water, this will open new opportunities to re-evaluate how we live and provide additional growth potential for the human race.

Colonization does not have to extend beyond the earth beneath our feet, either. Previously uninhabitable lands will flourish with agricultural growth and climate stability through implementation of next-gen biodome technology and automated agricultural processes. Imagine a lush farmland with a surplus of grain, vegetables, fruits, and cattle -- all within the Sahara Desert. We will be able to bring natural produce to areas where cultivation was previously impossible, and in doing so create new healthy, self-sustaining communities and improve the quality of life of those all over the globe.

AI will be collaborative, not a personal assistant 

In 2069, we will have a society in which AI has helped to solve the world’s biggest problems including the reduction of jobs humans largely don't have interest in doing. While many worry that AI will remove jobs (and it will), it is short sighted to assume that there is a fixed number of jobs for humans. Instead, jobs will evolve and with that hopefully the enjoyment people have in those jobs.

Recent studies have shown that an overwhelming majority of people hate their jobs (85 percent). We have come to accept that jobs we dislike are a necessary evil to live in today’s world. This false truth has been accepted by people from all walks of life-- and it’s driven our society into a period with prevalent levels of depression and anxiety. 

Through technological innovation, and increased development in AI capabilities and intelligence (paired with advancements in robotics and connectivity), we will break free from the mindset that work needs to be “work,” and instead use our time to develop careers that don’t require a specific input/output for corporate gain. Because of the ability to use technology to mitigate mundane tasks, people will be able to work toward bringing change that is important to them as individuals, and also important to the future survival of mankind. Whether it be community engagement, environmental clean-up, or social welfare, people will be able to bridge the gap between individualized passion and corporate social and environmental footprint.

The day we set foot on the moon in 1969 was a capstone moment for our species, a triumph of imagination, and proof that the human spirit plus technology could accomplish great things. The question we need to answer moving forward is, who among us will dream of things that never were, and ask, why not?