In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first connection of computers to the Arpanet network - the predecessor of the modern Internet - the Pew research center asked hundreds of IT experts to imagine what the technology would become in half a century.

What will the Internet and digital life be like in half a century? This question was asked by 530 researchers: innovators, developers, businessmen, politicians, scientists and activists.

The fifth element: how 5G will change the familiar world
72% agreed that the changes will be for the better. 25% had the opposite point of view. Only 3% are convinced that no significant changes will occur.

Optimists are confident that in 50 years progress in digital technologies will lead to longer life expectancy, longer leisure time, more even distribution of wealth and power, and also give people other opportunities for prosperity.

At the same time, almost all experts expressed concern about the increasing surveillance of citizens and the level of abuse of personal data by corporations and states, the violation of the cybersecurity of connected devices, and the economic and digital division of society.

Analyst Jerry Michalski, for example, believes that by 2069, programs will have “rights, personality, and limited liability.” A third of the population, thanks to cryptocurrencies and distributed systems, will separate from states and join various movements, collectives and communities.

“Few will have the luxury of privacy or full-time employment. There will be no facts - everything can be fake, everything should be questioned, ”he said.

hightech.plus