The Invisible Internet and Free Money. What Will Our World Be Like in 2050?

Technology is developing rapidly, and imagining what the world will look like in 30 years is quite difficult. Agreed, few people in 1990 could have predicted that we would carry the entire library of humanity in our pockets. However, considering the trajectory of our current development, we can attempt to make a few assumptions. Philosophers, scientists, and visionaries suggest that the world of the future won’t look like movies about flying cars. The changes will be deeper: they will touch the very essence of what it means to be human.

Here are several predictions that are highly likely to become reality by 2050.

1. The End of the Screen Era and the “Invisible Internet”

In 30 years, smartphones will become as much of an anachronism as pagers are today. We will move from carrying devices to integrating them. The Internet will cease to be a place we “enter” or “log into.” It will become a layer of reality overlaid on the physical world.

• Augmented Reality (AR): AR glasses or contact lenses with retinal projection will become the norm. You will look at a street and see a route, a restaurant rating, or a passerby’s name floating in the air.
• Neurointerfaces: Chips (the successors to Neuralink) will allow us to control technology with the power of thought. Typing text, calling a taxi, or switching music will be possible just by thinking about it. The boundary between the “self” and the “network” will blur.

2. Medicine 2.0: Old Age as a Curable Disease

By 2050, medicine will shift from treating symptoms to the preventative repair of the body.

Average life expectancy in developed countries will approach 100-110 years, and these will be active, healthy years.

• CRISPR and Genetics: Genome editing will allow for the elimination of hereditary diseases before birth.
• Bioprinting: There will be no waiting lists for organ transplants. New kidneys, livers, or hearts will be printed on 3D bioprinters using the patient’s own cells.
• Nanorobots: Nano-sensors will circulate in the human bloodstream, tracking the appearance of cancer cells or blood clots in real-time and destroying the threat before symptoms appear.

3. The “Useless Class” Economy and the Flourishing of Creativity

Robotization and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) will take over 80% of routine work. Drivers, accountants, translators, factory workers, and many representatives of creative professions will be replaced by robots and AI assistants. Work will cease to be a means of survival.

• Universal Basic Income (UBI): To avoid a social explosion due to mass unemployment, governments will introduce UBI. People will receive money simply for the fact of their existence.
• The Economy of Attention: The main resource will be human attention and emotions. Spheres requiring “human contact” will flourish: psychology, art, craft, sports, philosophy, and caregiving. We will pay big money to be served by a living person, not a robot.

4. Ecology: Adaptation Instead of Salvation

By 2050, we will likely lose the battle to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees. The climate will change, and technology will be focused on adaptation.

• Food: Traditional livestock farming will become a luxury and an unethical relic of the past. 90% of meat will be grown in laboratories (cultivated meat) or produced from plant proteins. This will free up huge areas of forest and save water.
• Energy: We will finally master controlled nuclear fusion. This will give humanity practically infinite and clean energy, which will allow for the desalination of ocean water on an industrial scale, solving the drought problem.

5. Digital Dictatorship or Total Transparency?

The main currency of 2050 will be private data. The concept of “privacy” will disappear completely. Cameras, sensors, and AI will know everything about you: from your heart rate to your shopping list.

• Social Rating: Social rating systems (similar to those being tested in China) could become the global standard. Access to loans, travel, and the best schools will depend on your “digital behavior.”
• Crime: Street crime will practically disappear (it is impossible to commit a crime when every millimeter of the city is monitored by AI), but cybercrime will reach the level of wars between corporations and hackers.

What Will Become of Humans?

In 30 years, the world will become safer, fuller, and healthier, but at the same time—more psychologically complex. We will face a crisis of meaning. If a robot doesn’t need a salary, writes symphonies better than Beethoven, and calculates better than Einstein—why do we exist?

Humanity in 2050 will have to find an answer to this question. Most likely, we will move away from the race for efficiency toward a search for hedonism, spirituality, and exploration—both of virtual worlds and near space (the first permanent bases on the Moon will already be a reality).

It will be an amazing time. The main thing is to survive until then and not lose our humanity in this digital paradise.