This is a part 2 in the “Top 5 most disruptive technologies of the next decade” series. In the previous one, I talked about how technologies like wireless charging, autonomous cars, AR/VR, Internet of Things and 3D printing are going to help change the world.

While these are certainly among the cutting edge, they do not complete the list of the technologies that will reshape our world in the coming decade.

There is a lot more going on which will have a direct and indirect impact in the way we live and work. Today, I am going to talk about 5 more ultra revolutionary technologies that are changing the world as we know it.

1. Genetic Engineering

DNA is the code of life and when you have the ability to modify the code of life itself, you cannot even imagine the kind of power that is and the possibilities it opens up.

In the recent times, thanks to CRISPR, genetic engineering has become a lot easier, cost effective, time saving and experts believe that we are on the verge of a DNA revolution, with infinite possibilities at our disposal.

CRISPR powered genetic engineering will help us gain immunity from a number of diseases and even cure conditions like blindness. Not only that, we might also be able to enhance ourselves in various ways, almost giving ourselves superhuman abilities.

The magic of CRISPR is not limited to the human species only. We have the ability to genetically engineer insects, animals, birds and even plants to make them more suitable to our needs and wants. We are already witnessing a great deal of application in this field and things have only just started.

2. Blockchain

Blockchain technology may not sound too sci-fi like or even revolutionary for that matter but you should never judge a book by its cover or in this case, a technology by its word.

As the world is increasingly doing things online, there has been a need of recording every transaction, every important transmission of information in a way that is incorruptible, verifiable and which can stand the test of time. Blockchain is the ultimate answer.

Blockchain technology has its application in cryptocurrencies, decentralised social media, global payments, asset ledgers, financial transactions and virtually across any type of digital records.

In the coming decade, we will begin to see blockchain being adopted by major businesses and governments all over the world and it will literally explode into the mainstream.

3. Drone Technology

Since last year, drones have really gone mainstream and it seems like they are being adopted for more and more applications and yet their full potential is still not realised.

In the coming decade, drones will literally be everywhere. These unmanned aerial vehicles come in all shapes and sizes and that makes them useful for all sorts of tasks like security for example.

Amazon has been trying to make drone delivery a reality where a product could be delivered to your house within a few hours of your ordering it. Drones will also increasingly be used for search and rescue missions in disaster prone areas. Not only that, drones could also serve as futuristic ambulances, wherein patients could be flown to hospitals quickly saving time and life.

Drones will also play a huge role in agriculture, enabling farmers to make efficient use of their resources by monitoring crop health, yield, pests and lots of other things. They are already being used to plant trees by shooting seeds from the air in large deforested areas! The next decade could see this happen globally.

4. Quantum Computing

The computer will go down in history as one of the most important innovations of humanity. The world we live in today has largely been made possible because of computers. I believe that there is not one sphere of life untouched by computers.

If computers were revolutionary, just imagine what a Computer 2.0 will be like. I am talking, of course, about quantum computing. Basically, quantum computers are those that work on the principles of quantum physics rather than classical physics, making them much faster. How fast? Well…. millions of times faster!

Quantum computing will probably touch everything that we do today just as computers already are doing. The way we do business, the way we predict climatic conditions, run simulations, perform massive calculations, advancing sciences and everything in between.

The most complex calculations today for a classical computer will be a piece of cake for a quantum computer. So, we will see things like weather forecast get more accurate, artificial intelligence become more intelligent, online security become more secure and basically everything that we already do become faster and more empowered.

5. Artificial Intelligence

AI, though still in its infancy, has already managed to achieve so much that it makes one think what it will achieve when it is developed for years to come. In fact, AI is now capable of rewriting its own code to make itself more intelligent!

You may already be aware that Google’s AlphaGo beat the world champion in a popular board game called Go. In fact, AI has now beaten humans in many video games and this just shows the capability it already has.

Also, there is an AI lawyer called Ross that is actually doing legal work. In the coming decades, we will begin to hear more instances of AI taking over the jobs of humans in many different fields, especially in the field of finance where AI will be able to take much better decisions based on complex algorithms.

Perhaps one of the most important and sci-fi like ability of AI will be to help us humans make scientific discoveries and inventions. I don’t know if this will happen in decade to come, but one day, AI will be able to make all our scientific discoveries all by itself!

All images used are from the public domain.