Our Kids' Facinating Future?

We Parkites, born around 1940, wonder what life may hold for our children and grandchildren.  Afterall, consider the changes in our culture in just the past 77 years that we have been around!  What could life be like for our grandkids?  We occasionally get some input into just that question.  We will post here those "prognostications" as we discover them.  Whether or not you think these ideas have any serious, predictive value, is a judgment only you can make.  But these entries will get you thinking.  And you might also think that you are glad that we lived when we did!

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Entry #1: March 10, 2018:

An interesting talk by the Head of Daimler Benz.

A bit mind-blowing to say the least!   He predicted an interesting concept of what could lay ahead.

In a recent interview, the Head of Daimler Benz (Mercedes Benz) said its competitors are no longer other car companies, but Tesla (obviously), and now, Google, Apple, Amazon et al.

Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.
 
Uber is just a software tool; they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.
 
Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although it does not  own any properties.
 
Artificial Intelligence:  Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world.  This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.
 
In the U.S., young lawyers already can't get jobs.   Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more-or-less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy cx
 
So, if you study law, stop immediately.  There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future; only specialists will remain.
 
Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, four times more accurate than human nurses.   Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans.  By 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.
 
Autonomous cars:  In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public.  Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted.  You don't want to own a car anymore.   You will call a car with your phone; it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.  You will not need to park it; you only pay for the driven distance and you can be productive while driving.  Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car.
 
It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that.  We can transform former parking spaces into parks. 
 
1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide.  We now have one accident every 60,000 miles (100,000 km).  With autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 6 million miles (10 million km).  That will save a million lives each year.
 
Most car companies will probably go bankrupt.  Traditional car companies will try the traditional approach and try to build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will take the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.
 
Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi are completely terrified of Tesla.
 
Auto Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, car insurance will become much cheaper.   The car insurance business model will slowly disappear.
 
Real estate will change.  Because if you can work while you commute, people will move farther away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.
 
Electric cars will become mainstream about 2020.   Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run on electricity.   Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean:  solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, and you can now see the burgeoning impact.
 
Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil.   Energy companies are desperately trying to limit access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar installations, but that can't last.   Technology will take care of that strategy.
 
With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water.  Desalination of salt water now only needs 2kwh per cubic meter (@ 0.25 cents).   We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water.  Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.
 
Health innovations:  The Tricorder X price will be announced this year.  There are companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample, and you can breathe into it.
 
It then analyzes 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease.   It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world-class medical analysis, almost for free.  Goodbye, medical establishment.
 
3D printing:  The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years.   In the same time, it became 100 times faster.  All major shoe companies have already started 3D printing shoes.
 
Some common spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports.  The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to keep in the past.
 
At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities.  You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoes at home.
 
In China, they already 3D printed and built a complete 6-story office building.   By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.
 
Business opportunities:  If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself:  "In the future, do you think we will have that?"  If the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?
 
If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea.  And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st century.
 
Work:  70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years.  There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a short time.
 
Agriculture:  There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future.  Farmers in third-world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all day on their fields.
 
Aeroponics will need much less water.  The first Petri dish that produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow-produced veal in 2018.  Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows.   Imagine if we don't need that space anymore. 
 
There are several startups that will bring insect protein to the market shortly.  It contains more protein than meat.   It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).
 
There is an app called "moodies" that can already tell in which mood you're in.  By 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions, if you are lying.   Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when the truth is being told.
 
Bitcoin may even become the default reserve currency … Of the world!
 
Longevity:  Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year.