If you thought the last decade brought some astonishing developments in technology, just wait for the next one. We are witnessing exponential growth in the world of tech.
What makes the upcoming megatrends so unique, when compared to other trends, is that they are affecting virtually every industry. Typically, we see developments that affect a few or a group of industries. But this is not the case any longer.
Let us examine the five (5) hottest megatrends that will change the human landscape over the next decade and beyond.
Average Human Lifespan could Increase by 10 Years or More
Several factors are converging in the medical community that will have a huge impact on human health. All of them collectively are expected to increase the overall human life expectancy by 10 years or more.
One of these high tech factors is the field of genomics. This is expected to become a $4 billion industry by 2025. We will be witnessing new technologies in gene editing that will be revolutionary. These developments will offer the latest in disease treatments and developments.
Another high tech factor affecting human health will be big data. As the use of artificial intelligence begins to embrace big data, we can expect health issues to be resolved quicker and more effectively.
Finally, we will see huge developments in the food industry. Foods will be cleaner and the agricultural industry will also use gene editing to make foods more nutritious and sustainable.
Massive Access to Capital
Over the last few years, we have seen record flows of venture capital and seed capital. This trend is expected to continue its upward trajectory. Abundance in the capital is the lifeblood of the world economy as it results in effective innovation.
As AI plays a bigger and bigger role in traditional banks², we can expect to see their operating costs plummet. This will place more focus on customer experience and service.
We can also expect crowdfunding to continue growing to record levels. Experts believe that $300 billion will be flowing into crowdfunding by the year 2025.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) could Achieve Human-Level Intelligence
If you have been following the development of AI and the upcoming singularity — which is when AI reaches human-level intelligence — then you’ve heard all kinds of predictions when it will occur. The year 2040 has been a common prediction by many experts.
However, we have seen a few times in the past how AI has made exponential developmental leaps. For instance, in the year 2015, scientists believed it would take AI twelve years to learn how to play Go. It took only two years.
What will a difference is when Al algorithms and learning tools are shared more and more on open source and made available on the cloud. This will allow talented individuals to supplement the abilities of these algorithms. We can expect developments in AI to increase as never before.
Expect AI and Human Collaboration in all Professions
Nothing is more exciting than the notion of having AI and human intelligence come together for common objectives. We can expect to see much more of this soon.
AI will become more involved in our daily in virtually every conceivable task. We are only limited by our minds.
For instance, AI will help physicians diagnose patients, help scientists analyze mountains of data, help traffic engineers reduce congestions in real time — just to name a few. AI is already creating new software by itself. And the theoretical capabilities of AI is literally off the charts.
Autonomous Vehicles will Redefine Daily Travel and Reduce Costs
This shouldn’t be much of a surprise to many of us, as we know that self-driving cars are already being developed. It’s just a matter of time before they are fully functional.
The real question is how these autonomous vehicles will affect our daily lives and travel. We can expect to see self-driving car fleets that are fully automated, and perhaps even aerial ride-sharing — meaning flying cars.
We should see our travel costs go down sharply when these self-driving cars become available. Not only will fuel and insurance goes down, but we will also see other industries like finance, real estate, and urban planning transformed as well.
