The Digital Future
In 100 years, AI powered machines will fill a huge part of our lives. From our jobs to our personal lives, AI will fundamentally change how we interact with each other and the world around us. Life will be less about encapsulated moments and more about fluid experiences.
AI machines will replace many of the tedious or dangerous jobs that we have today. People will no longer have to work as cashiers, truck drivers, or factory workers. The job market will shift to prioritize jobs centered around these machines. Data analysts, AI support, and AI developers and will replace the jobs lost to technology.
Businesses will have more customized offerings and we will see businesses thrive in niche markets. By then, they way we do business will have changed. There may no longer be a need for brick and mortar stores. AI tools could function as buying assistants by ordering things we need before we know we need them. As AI improves our ability to deal with physical constraints, creative jobs will increase in value. My hope is that we will see new avenues for artists, photographers, filmmakers and other creators to reach new audiences.

Our personal lives will change as well. Everyone will grow up with their own AI assistant. Serving as a constant companion, your assistant would be constantly communicating with you. In the morning, without needing to be prompted, it could tell you the weather, how long it will take you to get to work, and what you need to bring with you for the day. At a more advanced level, the assistant may also know what your goals are. To help you achieve those goals, the assistant may verbally give you recommendations, or it may alter your surroundings to make tasks easier to accomplish. These are the basic, daily functions that the assistant would have. The assistant could also serve as a record of your life, a resource to help you make decisions, and a source of emotional support.
At its core, an assistant has the ability to process vast amounts of data, making it much better at planning. By working together with AI machines, we will be able to reduce unnecessary labor and focus on doing the things that matter most to us.
Although AI can bring value to the human experience, I am hesitant to embrace it. I fully support the automation of physical tasks, such as autonomous cars, factory machinery, and construction equipment. In this regard, AI can help remove the risks of human error and make dangerous jobs safer. However, tools that are involved in your personal life, such as Alexa and Siri, raise questions of privacy and business ethics. For me, it feels fundamentally wrong to hand over so much of my personal information to one company. It puts me at risk of identity theft and fraud if my data gets leaked. In addition, I worry about giving a company so much power in my life. If I relied on an AI tool from one company, that company would have an influence on the kind of content I consume on a daily basis. This is beginning to happen all the time today. For example, Facebook manipulated news feeds to show positive articles about Mrs. Clinton during the 2016 elections. What I consume through media shapes my perceptions of the world. I am worried that if AI machines became normalized, I would become complacent. Living in a fully immersive digital experience will distract me from questioning the truths that the software presents to me. I don’t think I’m ready to introduce AI into my personal life.
Whether or not I’m ready for it, we are moving into a digital world. AI will do amazing things. From a societal level, it will reduce the level of physical danger involved in many jobs. It will also change the way that we do business. Manual tasks will occupy less of our time and we will have more freedom to pursue new things. While AI will definitely bring improvements in our lives, living in an immersive digital experience can be terrifying. Companies will have the power to directly influence your perceptions and your personal information is put at risk. With its pros and cons, AI is coming to change our lives. How we change to meet it is up to us.