The future is here. Today, there are more technological advancements than ever before. Pop culture shows and films depicted a similar future, and it is remarkable how close we are to what was science fiction only a few decades ago.
Smartphones, tablets, flat screens, video calls, robots, artificial intelligence, and more are things that we take for granted nowadays were only a fantasy 10 years ago. Even flying cars and quantum computers seem to be right around the corner.
While tireless engineers and developers were responsible for creating today’s technology, there is no doubt that pop culture played at least a minor role in our perception of what the future would be like.
The tech in your living room used to be a thing of cartoons
No matter how old you are, chances are you have seen The Jetsons. If not at the time they aired, at least on syndicated reruns or featured as a reference in other shows or films of our time.
This futuristic family had a robot maid that cleaned the house, pretty much a Roomba on steroids. Today’s kitchen gadgets still lack the automation and versatility of Rosie the Robot, but they have the smarts to eventually get there.
For example, tech giants like LG and Samsung have introduced smart fridges with integrated displays that are powered by Amazon Alexa. They offer a centralized hub to order groceries, jot down notes, and browse the web in one place.
There have also been a couple of advancements in the realm of actual robot helpers. Samsung presented at CES 2017 a fleet of robots designed to guide travelers at the airport, another to mow your lawn, and a third one that is an airport concierge.
Our future has both dystopian and utopian hues
Some of the latest technological advancements sound straight out of a dystopian novel, while others are true innovations that we couldn’t have imagined even in our wildest dreams.
Elon Musk, for example, is pushing for an accelerated future in which commercial air travel, clean energy from the sun, and going from one city to another through a superfast tube are common things in our daily lives.
Meanwhile, tech giants like Intel, Google, and Microsoft are rumored to be close to figuring out the last pieces missing from the quantum computer dilemma. This, combined with the rise of artificial intelligence, sets up a landscape that makes some scientists wary of the future.
Regardless of people’s reservations about what lies ahead of us, it is undeniable that we must keep going. Organizations, governments, and corporations need to harness technology to solve the problems of tomorrow today.
Source: Tech News World
