I am writing this on my mobile phone which is an incredible example of technology. The age we live in now is unprecedented and it is staggering to think that the children of today will grow up always knowing this connection to the internet; and through smart technology, our connection to everything.
Sometimes I turn my phone off. Quite often I don't and just turn off my mobile data/wifi when going to sleep. Already I suggest a high percentage of society dont"t turn off either - they are always connected. This is a likely rising trend.
Still, there are a lot of things I prefer not to do on my phone such as email, business and finances; though this may change as I improve the device I use in the future.
As technology improves we have seen the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Amazon's Alexa for example)to assist us in our daily lives to improve and make our lives easier. Experts predict this exponential growth will reach a level that AI matches and surpasses human intelligence around 2045. This is a time when the children of today will have a impactful influence on society much like millenials do so today.
Of course, currently it is our Smart devices which connect us to the Internet yet already there are under the skin microchips with capability to unlock doors and perform other functions. It is not an exaggeration to expect this to advance further until handheld devices are a thing of the past. Should this happen, humans would be constantly connected online. Could this be the 'mark of the beast' which is written of in The Bible?
It may seem a stretch to imagine vast quantities of the world agreeing to willingly have a microchip inserted under their skin. However, in the future the youth of today will be in power and technology will continue to play a key influence in their lives. If the chips are promoted as being of benefit then the masses will accept them. The repercussions for humanity could be cataclysimic.
The world we live in is staggering and emergent technology (including Artificial Intelligence) is just waking up; at some point in time a technological singularity seems inevitable. How we educate the youth of today offers our best chance of influencing whether our future world will be a digital paradise or a dystopia.
