Try to think of technology 5, 10, 15+ years down the road. No one knows what advances we will truly see in technology - it is a blurry set of details that if you squint, you can almost get a sense of where we will be.
Exhibit A: Envisioning Technology 2011
Some takeaways from the hard to view, squint-and-you-may-get-an-idea image:
Space and the impact our developing technology will have on it will not see real development until around 2030 and beyond. While I somewhat agree with this, I feel like the reason many people don’t see our space endeavors as being possible or on the radar because our space programs are not in the limelight, as opposed to our Internet, Energy, and Artificial Intelligence platforms. I believe we will see vast developments with our space programs sooner than this chart predicts.
Energy is an important and evolving technological field. I see this as being a big focus for the upcoming years. Any way technology can improve the future of our environment by improving how we harvest energy I believe will be a very important and highly debated topic.
Artificial Intelligence will not wait until 2020-25 to start having a bigger impact on our lives. We are already starting to see how we talk to our devices and the devices talk back. I think we are only in the beginning stages of this and soon will look back and not remember when this wasn't a part of our daily lives.
I wonder what this graph would look like if it were rewritten today. I think the overall view might still look the same with a lot of variances in the details. The major subjects may stay in the same relative places but the smaller branches would be moved around based on what we know today.
The bottom line is technology is advancing and having a profound impact in multiple areas. That new device that talks back and gives you the information you were looking for before you asked it will not only benefit you in your daily life, but also others in various fields. In some way or another, technology impacts nearly everything we do, either for the good or the bad.
" Technology should do the hard work so that people can get on with the things that make them happiest in life. "
- Larry Page, Co-Founder, Google
Space and the impact our developing technology will have on it will not see real development until around 2030 and beyond. While I somewhat agree with this, I feel like the reason many people don’t see our space endeavors as being possible or on the radar because our space programs are not in the limelight, as opposed to our Internet, Energy, and Artificial Intelligence platforms. I believe we will see vast developments with our space programs sooner than this chart predicts.
Energy is an important and evolving technological field. I see this as being a big focus for the upcoming years. Any way technology can improve the future of our environment by improving how we harvest energy I believe will be a very important and highly debated topic.
Artificial Intelligence will not wait until 2020-25 to start having a bigger impact on our lives. We are already starting to see how we talk to our devices and the devices talk back. I think we are only in the beginning stages of this and soon will look back and not remember when this wasn't a part of our daily lives.
I wonder what this graph would look like if it were rewritten today. I think the overall view might still look the same with a lot of variances in the details. The major subjects may stay in the same relative places but the smaller branches would be moved around based on what we know today.
The bottom line is technology is advancing and having a profound impact in multiple areas. That new device that talks back and gives you the information you were looking for before you asked it will not only benefit you in your daily life, but also others in various fields. In some way or another, technology impacts nearly everything we do, either for the good or the bad.
A diagram like the one found in your Envisioning Technology 2011 link really helps me see how close, or how far, we are from different technologies--many of which I did need to use the acronym chart to identify. And, I completely agree that while these visions are incredible to the lay person, they are just as blurry. It’s amazing to me, just how much vision these developers have and the drive they have to get there. In my own personal life, I like to think in the VERY near future, maybe no more than one to two years out. I feel that no one can truly envision what will happen in the future, and that leads me to wonder what would happen to this diagram if someone were to redraw it today, in 2013. Which technologies would be here now, which would be much farther away? Just one small shift in the timing of one idea could, theoretically, unbalance the entire vision, and change the outcome of many current ideas.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has made so many advances so fast in the past couple of years. It is so hard to imagine what will come next. As I think about the advances in technology and what will be developed next, I think about my kids and how can I prepare them for these new unknown technologies.
ReplyDeleteAs I read your blog and the articles, I began thinking of the changes that we have seen in recent years. There are some that I would have never thought of. Who would have thought that the iPhone would lead a revolution in phones and change the game of mobile devices. I read how 3D printing is changing the landscape in so many different areas. For example I just read the other day how a 3D printer provided a splint for a lung and allowed someone to survive. While there is writing on the wall of where things will go, there is no real clarity. That is why I think that Christian is right when he describes the future as a blur. While we have some idea we really don’t know what will materialize until it actually arrives but I am definitely excited about it!
ReplyDeleteGood point on the iPhone being a game changer, Dion. Makes me wonder what other pieces of technology we will look back on and see how they changed how we view/use technology. If something like the iPhone can come and completely change the market and world of technology, what's stopping something like Google Glass from doing the same?!
DeleteI too have seen a lot lately out there on 3D printing. I can't help to think how cool this technology could be in the classroom. Students could digitally create models of different concepts or new ideas, and print and test them for their effectiveness. I can definitely see an awesome engineering twist to this technology!
DeleteAs long as there is real intelligence and not artificial intelligence, technology will never end. Not only will it never end, it will evolve at an increasingly exponential rate. What makes technology is humans ability to think and generate ideas. The more technology we have, the easier it will be to make these thoughts and ideas come true. To me, it is exciting to think about the potential of the future. In the realm of technology and war, it is kind of scary. Technology can be used for bad just as much as it is for good. This is going to be a part of our lives forever and it gives a whole new meaning to technological responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up a great point about how technology can be used for both good and bad. I think that this is the challenge that we face with our students. We as teachers need to show our students how technology can be used for good. We need to be the examples because as we all know, sometimes we are the examples that they have. If we do not show them how to use it properly then they could use it in such a way that could get them into real trouble. This is why student education of how to use technology is so important.
DeleteThe first thing that came to my mind as well was how the advancement in technology will impact things like war. To me, things like Drones, where pilots sit thousands of miles away, and complete air-strikes without the fear or consequences, is a scary thought.
DeleteJay- much like in Superman 3, where Superman splits into 2 and there is good Superman and Bad (poorly shaven, dirty) Evil SUperman-- the plot was to rob banks of major money with a virus in the computer- after superman was split into 2 by synthetically created Kryptonite- in both cases technology was used for evil. This will always be the case, we just have to be wise in our choices and look into all the applications of our technology.
DeleteI agree, Dion. New technologies are growing exponentially, and it's OUR students who will be creating these new technology just 10, 15 (or less) years from now. It's our responsibility to make our students good technology citizens, and make sure they are aware of the risks and moral boundaries for technology.
DeleteIt is fun to look back and identify the "game changers" in technology and identify what will come next. I see the convergence of all these technologies into one as the main catalyst at this point.
ReplyDeleteI try not to rely on my cell phone, but it is everything, from internet, to email, to camera, to entertainment. My phone talks with my computer, car,...etc. As these technologies continue to converge, I think the future becomes more clear.
As to whether this is actually progress in society...???
Many game changers... but in regards to space. The best thing the space race has given our world is new technology. I think the possibility of finding intelligent life in outer space is somewhere between slim and none... not that I doubt in intelligent life, but it is just too hard.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has already made huge headway in our daily lives, and the key is too look at what way technology can better serve us on a daily basis.
I agree. I am excited to see what new technologies come out that will enhance our every day lives.
DeleteI agree that the key is to look at what ways technology can better serve us, but we can't discount how technology can hurt us and be prepared for that. Just today, I read an article in the USA Today that talked about Chinese hackers breaching top US weapon designs. It's a scary thought to think that others who are one step ahead in technology can actually hold the key to your entire country's defense systems.
ReplyDeleteAnd I add to your concern, Jay, that we aren't raising enough of our children to be science/math/computer literate. Our class discussion about the need to become coders may not just be about teachers staying ahead of our kids, but also helping future generations to keep pace with hackers and "evil geniuses," who may be anywhere on the globe. I listened to the same story about the Chinese hackers on the headlines on television this morning, and it really stopped me in my tracks. I wonder if we are doing enough to raise and teach our kids to become coders and programmers.
DeleteIn the Envisioning Technology Website under Methodology/Resources, there is another Website listed, Singularity Hub. "Singularity" is a new term for me. It refers to the moment at which technology will have catapulted us so far into change that we won't be able to return; it's a moment in time. One phenomenon will be that technology will become more human--"it" will be able to assess it's own needs and it will be able to create on its own, much like humans can. It will be artificial intelligence surpassing human intelligence. Relating the idea that technology will be thinking for itself and creating on its own to the concerns Jay and Dion and others have had about the potential for good vs. evil brings my concerns to even higher levels. We might be forced, someday, to focus on space exploration, which as Christian mentioned, has declined in recent history, because we might be fleeing our own inventions. Okay, that's worst case scenario. (As a footnote: Singularity Hub is another interesting Twitter account, and not at all doomsday.)
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