1- Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) with broadband will be made available for public use
Technologist and futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted that, by the mid-2030s, we will begin connecting the human neocortex to the cloud. In this next decade, there will be tremendous progress in that direction, first serving people with spinal cord injuries, in which patients will regain sensory capacity and motor control.
2 – High-resolution Virtual Reality will transform retail and real estate shopping
Lightweight, high-resolution virtual reality glasses will allow people, from the comfort of their living rooms, to shop for everything from clothing to real estate.
3 – Greater focus on sustainability and the environment
A rise in global environmental awareness and concern over global warming will lead companies to invest in sustainability, both out of necessity and for marketing purposes.
4 – CRISPR and gene therapies will alleviate and cure diseases
Gene editing technologies will continue to advance in precision and ease of use, enabling families to treat and, ultimately, cure hundreds of hereditary genetic diseases.
5 – The ability to sense, see, touch, smell, and know anything, anytime, anywhere
We are rapidly approaching the era in which 100 billion sensors (the Internet of Everything) will be monitoring and sensing (imaging, listening, measuring, touching, smelling) many of the nuances of many environments in many places around the world. With appropriate devices, wearables, and avatars, we will be able to "teleport" and experience what it is like to be in many other places on the planet without leaving home.
6 – Disruption of advertising
As Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life, your personalized AI will soon understand what you want better than you do. A time will come when we entrust it with our purchasing decisions.
7 – Lab-grown food production
Lab-grown food production will advance, delivering higher-quality, cheaper, and healthier proteins. In this next decade, we will witness the birth of the most ethical, nutritious, and environmentally sustainable protein production system ever developed by humankind.
8 – The insurance industry will shift from "reimbursement after damage" to "risk prevention"
Today, fire insurance pays you after your house burns down; life insurance pays your family after you die; and health insurance (which is really illness insurance) pays only after you get sick. In this decade, a new generation of insurance providers will leverage the convergence of machine learning, ubiquitous sensors, low-cost genome sequencing, and robotics to detect risks, prevent disasters, and ensure safety before damage occurs.
9 – Autonomous vehicles and flying cars will redefine human travel
Fully autonomous vehicles will soon be much faster and cheaper. Fleets of aerial ride-sharing vehicles (flying cars) will be fully operational in most major metropolitan cities within this decade.
10 – 3D printing
On-demand production and delivery will give rise to an "instant economy of things": you place a custom order on your phone, the factory produces it with 3D printers, and drones deliver it to your door within a few hours. All without human intervention.
11 – You will have your very own Jarvis (Iron Man's virtual assistant)
Virtual assistants such as Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod will expand their capabilities, gain portability, and become your cognitive companion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, wherever you go.
12 – Cheap and abundant renewable energy worldwide
Continued advances in solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, and biomass grids will lead humanity toward cheap, abundant, and ubiquitous renewable energy.
13 – Collaboration between Artificial Intelligence and humanity will surge across all professions
The rise of "AI as a Service" (AIaaS) platforms will enable humans to partner with Artificial Intelligence in every aspect of their work, at every level, across every industry.
14 – Artificial Intelligence will reach human-level intelligence
As predicted by technologist and futurist Ray Kurzweil, artificial intelligence will achieve human-level performance within this decade (by 2030).
15 – A large portion of things will become smart
The price of specialized machine learning chips is falling rapidly as global demand increases. Combined with the explosion of low-cost microscopic sensors and the deployment of broadband networks, we are approaching a decade in which a large portion of the objects we use will become smart.
16 – Mixed reality
For those using mixed reality devices, 3D holograms and information will appear overlaid onto the real world (as in the film The Terminator) to help them make better decisions and experience highly impactful situations.
17 – Abundance of capital
An era of capital abundance will see increasing and facilitated access to financial resources for most people anywhere on the planet. This will enable the funding and testing of entrepreneurial ideas, which in turn accelerates innovation. A projected US $300 billion in crowdfunding is already anticipated by 2025, democratizing access to capital for entrepreneurs worldwide.
18 – Average life expectancy will increase by 10 years
Dozens of innovative biotechnological and pharmaceutical solutions (currently in phases 1, 2, or 3 of clinical trials) will reach consumers in this decade, contributing to a 10-year increase in average life expectancy and improving the quality of life for the elderly.
19 – Universal high-speed connectivity
The universalization of high-speed connectivity will bring approximately 3 billion individuals into the online market, which will be impacted by tens of trillions of dollars as a result. Furthermore, the average intelligence of the human race will increase through a greater number of interactions between individuals and between humans and AI.
20 – Reduction of global poverty
The universalization of information to nearly every individual on the planet will greatly reduce the disadvantage one person has over another. Access to information, financial resources, and markets will contribute significantly to the reduction of poverty worldwide.
Based on the text “20 Metatrends for the 2020s” by Peter Diamandis