Washington: About 30 years ago the personal computer began to make its way into regular use and it went on to transform society and the way humans live their lives.
Kaspersky Lab's experts decided to mark that anniversary by looking further into the future and imagining how information technology might develop and change our lives in the new digital realities of 2045, 30 years from now.
Before long it's likely that the world's population will include billions of people and billions of robots, with the latter doing almost all of the heavy, routine labour. People will work on improving the software for the robots and the IT industry will be home to companies developing programs for robots just like they now develop apps for users to download and install.
To a certain extent the boundaries between robots and humans will become blurred, as transplants will start using electronically controlled artificial organs and prosthesis will be a routine surgical procedure. Nanorobots will travel deep into the body to deliver drugs to diseased cells or perform microsurgery. Specially installed sensors will monitor people's health and transmit their findings into a cloud-based storage that can be accessed by the local doctor. All of this should lead to a considerable increase in life expectancies.
Moreover, people will live in smart homes where most creature comforts will be fully automated. The software that runs the house will take care of energy, water, food and supplies consumption and replenishment.
The PC might have started the whole IT boom, but by 2045 we'll probably only see it in museums.
It won't just be dreary chores that are consigned to the history books - production of certain items will no longer be needed. Instead 3D printers will enable us to design and create what we need, from household items like dishes and clothes to the building bricks for a future home.
Alexander Gostev, Chief Security Expert at Kaspersky Lab, said that it is clear that every year technologies will get even smarter and the people who work with them will need to keep up. People can certainly be sure that cybercriminals will continue to make every effort to exploit any new IT advances for their own malicious purposes, but whatever our world looks like in 30 years, we should start improving its comfort, safety and well-being now.
Gostev added that technology is just a tool and it is entirely up to us whether we use it for good or for evil.
