Where Is Technology Leading Us: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Abstract

Describing the future as the Cyber Revolution suggests that it could turn out to be a very scary place. And, as Carl Hiaasen suggested in his book Assume the Worst, this may very well be the best way to not be disappointed in the future. The choice of the title for this book was deliberate. The word revolution was intended to suggest that the future is going to be characterized by much more than a few shifts in how we work and play. There is truly going to be incredible change. Some of that change is going to be scary bad. Other happenings may seemingly be half-crazy and disturbing. Yet not all hope should be abandoned. In fact, many other aspects of the impending future may very well turn out to be rewarding and positive.

The lifeblood of tomorrow’s world will be data, in all its manifestations. By developing machines that can finally capture and make sense of data we will unlock solutions to problems that have tormented us since the origin of man.

Shawn Dubravac, in Digital Destiny

The first ultra-intelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make.

Irvin J. Good, British mathematician and close associate of Alan Turing