This Is What the Future Will Look Like

What technological developments will have the greatest impact on our future? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answer by Kevin Kelly, senior maverick and co-founder at Wired, on Quora.

"What technological developments will have the greatest impact on our future?"

By far, the greatest impact in the coming decades will be due to artificial intelligence. It will equal or exceed the scale of changes brought about by the industrial revolution. That revolution was ignited by our invention of artificial power--steam power, motors, electricity--which greatly amplified and extended the natural power of muscles. Up until then, the only way to make things was to employ animal or human muscle.

Once we harnessed artificial power and delivered it as a commodity on a grid, we could build skyscrapers, railways, factories, and the entire world of modernity. This artificial power transformed everything in our lives, from business, to education, to the military, to science, and beyond.

With the coming of artificial intelligence, we are going to repeat that revolution. Instead of merely harnessing 250 virtual horses as we speed down the highway in our car, we are going to add 250 virtual minds and make it a self-driving car.

As we deliver this AI as a commodity on the grid so that anyone can purchase as much AI as they want, we will begin to cognify everything that we formerly electrified. Cheap, ubiquitous, ever-improving AI will transform everything in our lives. It will be a second industrial revolution.

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