This is the dark future: 2030, 2040, 2050 and beyond. Reporting from multiple dark timeline challenge distances (TCDs). Innovation has the potential to do a great deal of good, but it can also produce bad and ugly outcomes!
Opportunities and (good) achievements are shown in the This is the Future Blog.
This blog reports back from the future, from multiple Timeline-Challenge Distances (TCDs), in erratic order. These TCDs indicate how near or far an innovation, activity, or event is time wise and challenge wise. For a given TC distance, it can be achieved relatively quickly by investing a huge effort in the associated challenge; or if the challenge is mainly ignored then the outcome takes a longer time. Society can choose which paths it wishes to travel down, and how fast it wishes to go.
TC distances: short (1 to 7 years); medium (7 to 14); long (14 to 21); beyond (>= 21). "Beyond" falls into the era dominated by artificial intelligence, which includes ideas, science and innovations that were not foreseen by (most) humans.
All entries are shown by default, unless you select one or more of the following tags.
Effectively, some nations leave the UN, and ignore rules about human rights. Some of these countries form a new alliance.
Traditional patterns of global trade change radically; and the risk of conflict heats up. These breakaway nations have authoritarian / totalitarian regimes.
TCD ~ medium
Tags: People
One billion people suffer increased hardship or death because of climate change.
The issues include: sea level rise; floods; droughts; limited access to water and food; storm damage; migration and conflict.
TCD ~ short and medium (and for some people and places, TCD ~ long)
Tags: Environment People
Innovation changes so fast now that some infrastructure projects are so out of date that they are abandoned. Better solutions are adopted instead.
Projects that take a long time are often outpaced by new, and much better, innovations before a project can be finished. This has created significant problems for planners and investors that failed to derive an accurate vision of the future. Effort and resources are wasted!
TCD ~ long
Tags: People Process
Innovation in warfare continues to become more destructive, and weapons even reach into space.
TCD ~ short, medium, and long
Tags: ICT AI NanoMatlBio Robot TransHuman Machine Space People
Did AI decide to kill humans? No: it was provoked, by humans.
TCD ~ beyond
Tags: AI People
Devices and stations in low Earth orbit face increasing risks from space weapon tests and the vast amount of debris and space junk.
A number of satellites have been destroyed and one astronaut has been injured, by high speed debris.
TCD ~ medium
Tags: Space
Synthetic, genetically created, "lifeforms" are used in manufacturing.
Across the world, environments have been polluted, crops contaminated, and health problems have arisen. See Global Security Toolkit.
TCD ~ long
Tags: Science NanoMatlBio Machine
Over reliance on AI leads to some embarrassing, and significant, blunders.
The best of AI continues to make outstanding predictions and decisions. However, not all AI systems are equally competent; and even the best can sometimes make mistakes. People make the mistake of thinking that all AI systems are competent all of the time, in any scenario. For example, a number of fatal vehicle crashes (often caused in unusual scenarios and influenced by reckless people) have driven the need for a law that requires AI systems to indicate their confidence level for each scenario, and alarm the user when that confidence falls below a prescribed value.
TCD ~ short
Tags: AI
Transhumanism provokes conflict against Humans 1.0.
Conflict breaks out amongst those with and without body and brain enhancements. See Global Security Toolkit.
TCD ~ long
Tags: TransHuman People
Just about everything is now connected to the Internet. The resulting Big Data gives AI systems the potential to know almost everything, with significant risks to privacy - depending on the regime you live under. See Global Security Toolkit.
TCD ~ short
Tags: Science ICT AI Robot TransHuman Machine Transport Energy Environment Space People
VR use rapidly turns into an addiction. Long term users risk becoming obese, suffering health and mental problems, and losing interest in the real world. Those that have jobs typically become unemployed because of their poor work record and their inability to focus on any task.
Brain implants amplify the above problems. This application is illegal in most societies, but as with drugs that does not stop everyone.
See also: Global Security Toolkit.
TCD ~ short (brain implants ~ long / beyond)
Tags: ICT TransHuman People
Virtual World exploits its citizens.
Like lab rats, citizens are experimented on to allow ZME to achieve its aims.
See also: Global Security Toolkit and Virtual Reality: A perfect simulation?
TCD ~ beyond [or now?]
Tags: Science ICT AI Space
Bio-electronic trees interfere with communications and IoT.
The absence of safeguards allowed some synthetic genes to mix with other trees, which contributed to noise across the communications bandwidth, reducing the effectiveness of Bio-Electronic Trees in some areas. Later this was exploited as a tactic by enemies to jam communications.
TCD ~ beyond
Tags: ICT NanoMatlBio People
For a safe future you need...
Tue 11 Jan 19:14:53 GMT 2022