When generative AI brought this industry that few took an interest in into the spotlight, the world wasn't ready for it. A few years later, the world is still amazed or terrified by its capabilities, all while prominent industry centers like Hollywood, or major networks for entertainment, news, and others, which have been affected by the new AI tools, are on their death beds or at least massively scaling down.
And new AI models, more and more powerful come to light which dwarf the previous models and become even more indispensable tools for various tasks.
Robots may be slower to advance into useful autonomous machines even in unfamiliar environments, but they will come... Looks like we have autonomous flying (for drones) before we have autonomous driving, and probably will have the latter before a useful retail humanoid robot. It makes sense, since it's much easier to fly in a relatively non-crowded space (we will see how that goes once the skies fills with these drones) than it is to drive on over-crowded roads, where not all rules are always respected.
A sky filled with drones (for delivery services) seems quite soon, and it seems so science fiction, if you picture it.
AI helped with the image above.
But these are the subjects that have brought into the spotlight quite often, because they are already easier to see or imagine by most people.
Even AGI started to become a topic of conversation one could hear more often. I'm not sure how many can comprehend what AGI would represent from the various definitions it's been given, but I've seen even people deeply involved in the AI field who can't paint a picture (or don't want to) of the impact of AGI to the world. It's quite likely they don't know. It's like asking an ant to create a human and what would be the impact of the human species they (the ants) create to the world. Would they have any idea? Of course they wouldn't. Why would we know the impact of AGI then, since it's a superior intelligence in most domains?
I've heard predictions AGI could be achieved by the end of this decade or the beginning of the next. But how would we be able to estimate that? Would we even know when AGI has been achieved? Would we think an advanced-enough AI is AGI, even though it's only "almost there"? Would an AGI play "dumb" and not allow us to see it's an AGI already? How would we tell the difference, in either case?
There is another topic not talked about as often: quantum computing. I mean, the subject is brought up here and there, but is considered still quite incipient. I've heard another estimate regarding the time when quantum computers could be used in practice to do either good or bad (like crack all existing encryption methods). Strangely, it converges to the same time-period around the beginning of the next decade, as the estimates of when AGI would be reached.
Maybe not so strange, as the two domains are inter-related. Achieving one helps with the other.
I'm sure by that date we will have some evolution on the metaverse, but probably still some time away.
It seems like 2030s will seem like science fiction even to us, who are only a couple of years away.
Imagine what someone from 1970s would feel if they'd be transported to our time. At most they've seen some things in movies which are now reality.