'BACK TO THE FUTURE' PREDICTIONS FOR 2045

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V18 2015 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 18, Number 43, October 25, 2015, Article 36

In a USA Today article this week, "Back to the Future II" screenwriter Bob Gale discussed what the film got right and wrong about the year 2015 (and hoverboards aside, they were spot-on in many ways). Even more interesting are Bob's predictions for the next 30 years. -Editor

For this edition, USA TODAY asked me to again predict life 30 years in the future. I hope I'll be around to see what I get right.

In 2045, people will own fewer things. This is already happening as a function of cloud storage for media and the sharing economy. Thanks to Uber and Lyft, and same-day local delivery for almost anything we want to buy, it's easier than ever to function without owning a car, and public self-driving cars in our business districts will accelerate that trend.

Virtual reality will make it easier for people to work from home or from decentralized workplaces, all of which means fewer cars on the road, less wear and tear on our infrastructure, but less tax revenue from auto sales and gasoline taxes. Therefore, our governments will find new ways to tax us and "feed the beast."

A fast food restaurant will be operated by just two people, and some of that fast food will be soy, processed to taste just like chicken and beef. Cashiers will be a thing of the past because transactions will be made via smartphone, with the meals prepared and packaged by robots. Already, store checkers are being replaced by self checkout, and both they and restaurant waiters will become an endangered species.

Advanced robots will handle almost all factory and warehouse labor, and consumers will manufacture smaller items in their own homes with 3-D printers. By 2045, robotic systems will construct buildings and roads. And the most important job in society will be "repair person."

Turning our garbage into energy will prove more efficient than wind and solar power. We'll have "Google MD," a system using biometrics and data crunching to diagnose common ailments from our own homes — a good thing, given an aging population and a likely shortage of doctors. Improved medical technology, data and treatment will lead to longer lifespans, but our new ability to predict future health based on genetics and bio-analysis will result in some difficult moral dilemmas.

Cash will still exist because it will be necessary for bribery and other criminal activity. More recreational drugs will be legalized, newer drugs will be developed, and society might encourage habitual criminals and iconoclasts to live in a drug-induced stupor because it will be cheaper than incarceration.

Although I still don't expect flying cars, there will be hoverboard parks, similar to today's skateparks.

Finally, the people of 2045 will be nostalgic about the simpler life of 30 years ago. They'll wish for a DeLorean Time Machine so they can forget their troubles by visiting that wonderful year, 2015.

This was just an excerpt; be sure to read the complete article for the full rundown on predictions for both 2015 and 2045, including "synchronous stimulation toys" and a declining birth rate. -Editor

For grins, see this article for a peek at an imminent future technology - a potentially revolutionary 16-lens camera -Editor

It takes really high-resolution images. It lets you adjust the depth of field in your pictures after you take a shot. It excels in low light despite having nothing bigger than a smartphone sensor and nothing more expensive than a plastic lens embedded in it. And despite its phone-like face, with no moving parts, it has an optical zoom range of 35mm to 150mm.