Cyber Society Forum

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Cyber Society Forum

Ten Ways Your Life Will Change
in the Cyber Future
by Edward Cornish

SUMMARY: Infotech will make it easier to keep your personal information handy--and easier for other people to access it. You'll be snug in a smarter and more-secure home, yet the Internet will give you access to a world of friends--and even sex partners. These are just a few of the ways communications and computer technologies will change life in the next 25 years, according to the president of the World Future Society.

omputers and telecommunications have brought a new revolution that will transform human life even more profoundly than the Industrial Revolution. The following are a few possible future developments:

1. Infotech will be implanted in our bodies.
A chip implanted somewhere in our bodies might serve as a combination credit card, passport, driver's license, personal diary, and you name it. No longer would we worry about losing our credit cards while traveling. A chip inserted into our bodies might also give us extra mental power.

2. Cybersex systems may become widely available.
At least two approaches to cybersex are being discussed. One involves the development of attractive, lifelike robots able to function as lovers. Unlike human lovers, the robots would not be late for dates or throw one over for a younger lover. They could also be traded in for a newer, sexier model without legal proceedings or recriminations.

The second approach, sometimes referred to as teledildonics, is designed for lovers who are separated but connected electronically. Each lover dons a snugly fitting bodysuit containing tiny electronic units woven into its fabric. As the lovers move, the bodysuit conveys appropriate tactile sensations to both parties, so that they feel as if they are actually making love. Both approaches offer absolutely safe sex and foolproof contraception.

3. A global culture will develop as infotech ties the world's people together.
To meet the demands of the international set, companies everywhere will be under pressure to produce the goods desired by the global traveler, who will be a walking billboard for global lifestyles. A few local variations may be acceptable as curiosities or souvenirs, but most workers will be pushed to make products acceptable to the global market. Locally produced goods will languish along with national customs and languages.

4. Permanent mass unemployment is a serious possibility for the near future. However, it will not arise because the world is running out of work that needs doing.
Some scholars worry that the cyber revolution means there simply will not be enough jobs for all the people who need to earn an income. Already, many countries are finding that a growing number of workers remain unemployed for years and don't know what to do about it.

But the world is NOT running out of work for people to do. There are debilitating diseases that lack health workers and scientific researchers, devastated environments that require remediation, and millions of children who need caretakers and tutors.

Developing programs that will successfully move the unemployed into doing the jobs that need doing is one of the great challenges of the future.

5. The cyber society will put a high premium on entrepreneurship.
A fast-changing society poses major dangers for people who have difficulty adjusting to new situations, but it is a wonderland for entrepreneurs--those imaginative and energetic self-starters who can recognize emerging needs and create ways to fill them.

6. Cash may become unpopular with everyone except thieves, tax dodgers, and paranoiacs.
Once, cash was king; now, many stores shun it due to security concerns. Furniture merchant Scan International Corporation of Silver Spring, Maryland, stopped accepting cash after two employees were shot and wounded by thieves seeking cash. And FedEx has not accepted cash at most of its airfreight locations for at least 10 years.

7. Important, complex, sensitive decisions will be submitted to computers, but people may strongly resist the computer's judgments.
Computers will be well suited to making decisions in situations that involve far more factors than a human brain can keep in mind. Furthermore, human judgments are heavily influenced by people's momentary emotional state. So it will make sense to let computers decide many issues.

Many people will protest when computers begin deciding emotion-wrought issues, such as should Granny be taken off the life-support system? Still, it seems likely that society will eventually recognize that humans are--to put it bluntly--too stupid, too selfish, and too neurotic to make wise judgments about complex, emotional issues without the help of computers.

8. Movie fans in the future will have more power to alter films to meet their own specifications.
Suppose you want to see Marilyn Monroe star in Casablanca in place of Ingrid Bergman: Your wish may be granted. New technologies can manipulate images of Marilyn and recreate her voice speaking the lines.

Images of Monroe and other popular but dead stars may be used to create new libraries of films so fans can see their idols in new situations.

9. Privacy will be harder to maintain.
Your life may be an open book to anyone who takes an interest in your personal affairs, such as your lover, your employer, or your nosy neighbor. Already, women are hiring private detectives to check up on their boyfriends, and getting the information is becoming easier thanks to databanks packed with information about people's personal finances, purchases, employment, medical problems, and more.

10. Infotech will make our houses more comfortable, economical, and secure.
The "smart houses" of the future will pamper us by doing such chores as scanning visitors with hidden video cameras, automatically sprinkling our garden and houseplants when they need it, and adjusting the heating/cooling system constantly to keep us comfortable at the lowest possible cost.

About the Author
Edward Cornish is founder and former president of the World Future Society and editor of THE FUTURIST magazine, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.