1. While neural network research continues at a somewhat steady pace (slightly increased by the influx of new grads influenced by the last decade's glow around AI), neural nets become very small building blocks for task-design (by that I mean that all current small advances with neural nets can be integrated in a bigger-picture kind of design software to quickly prototype higher-level concepts such as modelling certain subsets of the brain, such as many of the Vs in the visual cortex)
2. Surveillance increases throughout the world (in numbers of cameras, privacy-invading devices and techniques, changes in legislation, improvements in AI), as well as counter-measures to AI-powered tools (wearables/clothes with specifically crafted noise to deceive detection algorithms, randomize gait, etc). Very little is won by people on the legislation front despite protests, since tracking ties in so well with advertising that there is enormous financial leverage and lobbying working on it.
3. SpaceX puts rich people on space trips mostly in orbit around the earth & spacewalks, maybe on a moon trip
4. VCs overall bet on remote work, ecology, as well as more upfront sustainable business models than in the previous decade
5. EU learns (a bit late) to cope with migrant crisis and improve its immigration (in part due to a more diverse aging population), albeit at the cost of perhaps losing a couple Eastern-European members.
6. Still, the improvements don't compare quite as much with Canada, the population of which increases at the highest rate in western countries thanks to immigration (including a lot of skilled workers), its increasingly better weather (one of the only relatively lucky countries facing climate change), and its bridge between US-UK-EU via new agreements (with UK and perhaps EU).
6. Decentralized networks become mainstream for specific fields (not sure which), prompting an evolving dialogue about the future of the internet
7. A new form of betting-investment mimics the bitcoin craze of a few years ago, mixed with a patreon/kickstarter/gofundme-type structure (something that makes it easy for the layman to invest in exchange for perks or financial promises that supposedly beat the market at short term)
8. Either a non-white or a non-male US president is elected at least once
9. FDA-approved research around drugs that were traditionally shunned by older populations (thanks to the war on drugs) proves fruitful for very specific needs (certain types of depression, PTSD, BPD, insomnia, etc), thus progressively bringing them into mainstream at a pace only slightly higher than what happened with cannabis. Drugs involved are mostly psilocybin, ketamine and mdma.
10. A bit farfetched but why not: one astronomical event scares the bejesus out of the world, leading to substantial improvements in the following years. (Asteroid passing far too close without being noticed -> sharp increase in NASA and ESA budgets.. or Solar flare destroying power grids and electronics over an entire continent -> huge investments in shielding, or in alternative power sources perhaps even for individuals - depending on where the event happens)
2. Surveillance increases throughout the world (in numbers of cameras, privacy-invading devices and techniques, changes in legislation, improvements in AI), as well as counter-measures to AI-powered tools (wearables/clothes with specifically crafted noise to deceive detection algorithms, randomize gait, etc). Very little is won by people on the legislation front despite protests, since tracking ties in so well with advertising that there is enormous financial leverage and lobbying working on it.
3. SpaceX puts rich people on space trips mostly in orbit around the earth & spacewalks, maybe on a moon trip
4. VCs overall bet on remote work, ecology, as well as more upfront sustainable business models than in the previous decade
5. EU learns (a bit late) to cope with migrant crisis and improve its immigration (in part due to a more diverse aging population), albeit at the cost of perhaps losing a couple Eastern-European members.
6. Still, the improvements don't compare quite as much with Canada, the population of which increases at the highest rate in western countries thanks to immigration (including a lot of skilled workers), its increasingly better weather (one of the only relatively lucky countries facing climate change), and its bridge between US-UK-EU via new agreements (with UK and perhaps EU).
6. Decentralized networks become mainstream for specific fields (not sure which), prompting an evolving dialogue about the future of the internet
7. A new form of betting-investment mimics the bitcoin craze of a few years ago, mixed with a patreon/kickstarter/gofundme-type structure (something that makes it easy for the layman to invest in exchange for perks or financial promises that supposedly beat the market at short term)
8. Either a non-white or a non-male US president is elected at least once
9. FDA-approved research around drugs that were traditionally shunned by older populations (thanks to the war on drugs) proves fruitful for very specific needs (certain types of depression, PTSD, BPD, insomnia, etc), thus progressively bringing them into mainstream at a pace only slightly higher than what happened with cannabis. Drugs involved are mostly psilocybin, ketamine and mdma.
10. A bit farfetched but why not: one astronomical event scares the bejesus out of the world, leading to substantial improvements in the following years. (Asteroid passing far too close without being noticed -> sharp increase in NASA and ESA budgets.. or Solar flare destroying power grids and electronics over an entire continent -> huge investments in shielding, or in alternative power sources perhaps even for individuals - depending on where the event happens)