The Future is Now

April 10, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

In an expansive article that looks at society’s relationship with technology Markus Dettmer, Hilmar Schmundt, and Janko Tietz highlight:

  • 75% unemployment could be a possibility in our computer controlled future. The world is creating more jobs for computers than for humans.
  • Insurance companies offer discounts to drivers who offer to have their driving tracked by sophisticated sensors. This has led to a reduction in the number of claims – since drivers know that somebody is always watching they are more likely to drive carefully.
  • Human traders might become a thing of the past as computer programmed traders are faster and can process much more data.
  • Small children whose parents have smartphones try to enlarge photos in paper-bound photo albums by dragging their fingers away from each other, mimicking the smartphone gesture.
  • Sufferers of Parkinson’s disease can embed electrodes in their brains that can control their behavior albeit with tradeoffs. One individual can press a button to release chemicals into his brain that make his speech more comprehensible at the expense of his handwriting.
  • Patients with chronic pain can shut off their nerves.

To read many more examples, what one of the creators of the microchip has to say about technology, why Google and Facebook are just a series of microprocessors, why cars are a waste of space, and how machines have already replaced humans in the cockpit read the entire three part article here.

Source: Spiegel Online

Via: Freakonomics