The Future of Self: What will the world look like in 2060?
We’re living in the midst of a turning point in history.
What will happen to the world after coronavirus? Although it’s impossible to know for sure, one thing is clear: it’s going to be a long game and we’re currently in a process of establishing our “new normal”.
In fact, we’ve been here before: 20 years ago. That’s what happened to us during 9/11. Even though it’s been almost two decades, the “anti-terrorist” emergency measures are still in place and the collective trauma keeps ringing the bell in the minds of the millions.
I think we can all agree that one lesson humanity learned from COVID-19 pandemic is that physical proximity to others can pose an enormous health risk. In other words: east or west, staying the fuck home is best.
Even if a vaccine would be developed and the economy reopens, would you fancy going to concerts, sports competitions, and other crowded events? What if there is another virus outbreak just around the corner, waiting to explode like a ticking bomb?
The truth is, we might be in the midst of a transition to a society where nearly all of life happens online. Shopping, meetings, entertainment, socializing, working, and even dating will all be affected. When life gives you lemons, well, at least you have a high-speed internet.
Right now is the perfect time to reassess our values and reflect on the future of humanity because let’s be honest, we suck at rationality and logic, especially when the anxiety volume gets louder than common sense.
Question is: where are we going given our current trajectory? — No human is an oracle, but there are ways to come up with some ideas based on the current trends in technology, science and culture.
Now that we got our daily dose of freak-out from the potential Covid-19 implications, let’s fast-forward a bit and imagine the post-corona world 40 years from now. How will the average person’s day look like? What will be the future of work? How about the future of entertainment and fashion?
In this post, my focus will be primarily on these subjects. I recommend taking my vision with a grain of salt and entertaining it in a similar way you would consider a plot for the “Black Mirror” show or a sci-fi novel. Remember: trends are just trends and shouldn’t be taken at face value.
Ok, enough disclaimers and other fluff, let’s get straight to the vision!
1. Welcome to “Virtuality”, a social media dystopya
It’s the year 2060. Most of the jobs are automated and the new jobs are not emerging [Y.N. Harari talks about that in “21 lessons for the 21st century]. Because a lot of people are now unemployed and unable to get employment due to AI automation, universal basic income (UBI) inevitably gets introduced as a measure to support your basic needs.
The climate change crisis and the fear of future virus pandemics permanently locks people indoors. So, they are retreating to the online world to stay sane and getting further alienated from flora and fauna.
Government merges with the Big Data giant like “Google”, which, in turn, starts paying its users for content creation [J.Lanier explains this vision]. Even today, getting cash for your data and content is something that’s already in discussion. Since people rightfully get more and more stingy about their privacy (thanks to the Cambridge Analytica scandal), the long-term future for the traditional data salesman looks bleak.
Due to unemployment and lucrative economic opportunities in content creation, people’s main goal in life becomes playing a freshly introduced AR social media game “Virtuality”. This game is a mix between Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram, but way more immersive, gamified and addictive.
Unlike today’s social media, playing “Virtuality” brings you major real-life consequences. For example, after you reach a certain number of followers, you will be granted a new car, house, or other objects of ownership.
It is an ultimate influencer anti-utopia.
The social status is measured by the number of followers and likes. There is no escape. Everybody is forced to play this immersive game because all economic, political and educational structures are set up through it. For example, to apply for UBI, you’d have to have a “Virtuality” profile.
According to the book “Future Fit” by Andrea Clarke, there will be two major demands in the future job market: a strong personal brand and creativity. Companies of the future will strictly hire only those who have the same values and “brand” as they do. So, if you’re vegetarian, you won’t be hired by a vegan company, sorry ☹ .
Thus, having a personal brand becomes mandatory but thankfully you can easily set it up. AI will gladly categorize you with labels as it currently does with the targeted ads.
As for the content creation, you won’t have to do everything from scratch or anything at all. AI can generate your posts based on the data set of things you’re aspiring to create. Want to make a mix between doge memes, renaissance art and give it a headline “Good Vibes Only”? — no problem, AI will generate it in seconds!
Besides, you can buy apps that will allow you to automatically compile messages, visuals and audio that is consistent with your personal brand.
Your AI assistant, which has the most ASMR-crisp voice ever, will set up a daily schedule for you to make sure your activities also align with your landmark. The only thing you have to do is to give your AI authorization and vua-la! You are ready for the “Virtuality” game.
2. Uncomfortable Dilemma
The main principle of branding is consistency. If you’re a vegan and an anime-fan, you better never eat meat and post about Harry Potter., Otherwise, you’ll lose your followers, get fired from your job for “brand-inconsistency” and damage your social status. “Virtuality” users hate complex personalities and nuanced opinions, everything should be on brand to set you up for social success.
Because there is a lot of pressure to win the game (think radical neoliberalism and meritocracy), chronic anxiety becomes a new normal.
The gamified system objectifies users. Essentially, they are no longer actually creating content, they are the content, which, in turn, helps AI harvest the data for machine learning. In this world, everyone is attached to their brand image in a “special snowflake” kind of way.
The truth is: things you own, also own you back. If you’re attached to your story, your story takes control over your agency. The reason why people will keep being attached to their “personal brand” is that the idea of impermanence, an uncomfortable truth of “momento mori”, will keep being an elephant in the room.
Ok, I think the rant about the impermanence and attachment deserves its own post, let me spare your attention for the sake of this read. Let’s go back to the “special snowflake” effect.
Did you know that the level of narcissism increased by 40% since the late 80s, whereas empathy decreased by 30% [1]? — The transformation is already set in motion.
Polarization of the internet, in turn, adds the fuel to the fire by constantly feeding us with information confirming our existing biases. As such, it makes us intolerant to any kind of opposition or criticism (the dark side of identity politics and customised feeds).
Ok, now, stop reading Harry Potter. You are an anime-fan after all.
3. Deep fake it, until you make it
The Media industry makes significant progress with the refined version of a deep fake technology.
Imagine watching a film that is generated from the data set of all Steven Spielberg’s movies and occasional nostalgic inserts from your childhood memories (the ones you documented in your digital profile)?
In the future, AI tracks your neural activity while exposing you to different kinds of audiovisual stimuli. In this way it predicts what kinds of movies/sounds you would like.
Maybe Steven Spielberg’s deep fake film would not be your thing after all. But how about the music therapy uniquely customised to your brain activity to sooth the anxiousness of the day? — yes, please!
Presently, there is an entire industry built around AI technologies for music creation. The most prominent projects are IBM Watson Beat and Google Magenta . Although these developments are not as sci-fi as the tech imagined, it is important to keep in mind that they are simply a stepping stone in the future of AI generated music.
4. Fashion, Trends & Culture
Here are some factors that I think will influence the culture of 2060: Pre-AI-world nostalgia, climate change, radical post-modernism and an abandonment of gender construct.
In the “Virtuality” world, all objects are 3D printed and machine-made, so there is a demand for things that are opposite of that, meaning authentic, organic, artisanal and human-made. In addition, the nostalgia for the pre-AI world and raw human experience making the concepts of wilderness, tribalism and imperfection top-notch.
People are wearing “polished imperfections” as a daily outfit. For example, there are make-up trends inspired by dirt and scars. Even though the tribal-like symbols are widely used — there is no real substance behind them. It’s an era of radical post-modernism after all!
Everything looks and sounds magical, but lacks any meaning. Form for the sake of form, sound for the sake of sound. Maybe for future folks lack of meaning is their meaning?
In the similar vein, I imagine that there is a genre of porn where people are rolling in dirt and then hanging out in the cave, binging on foods that look like meat. It is this weird mix between the stone-age act of mating and depiction of insatiable hunger (overeating like in mukbang videos).
Since the concept of gender is abandoned, future folks find the thought of gender hilarious. This attitude is reflected in their choices of attire. Hyperfeminine and hypermasculine outfits are becoming popular. For “Virtuality” users it feels like wearing a funny halloween mask that, again, lacks any real meaning.
As for aesthetics in general, nature imitation (aka biomimicry) will have a strong influence. Living indoors most of the time and not seeing a lot of natural sunlight, makes people nostalgic about the world before climate change.
So, this nostalgia is reflected in the luxury items of interior design and fashion: lots of greens of all shapes and kinds, tree trunk inspired geometric furniture, clothing patterns that resemble x-rays of tiny sea creatures.
Presently, the works of a fashion designer, Iris van Herpen is a great example of clothing inspired by biomimicry.
As for the foods, people will stop eating meat and turn to lab-grown substitutes instead. A Finnish company, Solar Foods has recently introduced a natural protein source using just water, CO2 and renewable energy. If the meat made from the “thin air” is not your cup of tea, how about fungi, algae and Ikea-designed bugs-based substitutes? I think it’s time to wear a t-shirt “the future is vegan” because there is very little doubt about it.
5. What’s next?
There are plenty of important things that I’ve yet to cover. For example, what will happen to people who would decide to merge their brain with AI (using Neuralink)? How about the culture of the people who will live off-grid? What will be the deal with biohacking and CRISPR? — These are just some examples of things that would be incredibly interesting topics to explore.
Back in the early 20th century, futurists imagined that in 2020 people would colonise Mars and drive flying vehicles. The funny thing is, nobody predicted the rise of the internet and how this technology will change the face of the world forever.
My point here is that: we can’t be certain about how the future unfolds. However, speculating about it is so much fun! Trends are rapidly changing; it’s going to be a wild ride whichever road we take. But, perhaps, where we’re going, we won’t need roads.
