The Future

Last week, Japan announced it would officially stop using the floppy disk. This got me thinking; I vividly remember using this piece of technology back in high school. It served many purposes, but mostly it was for carrying documents from one computer to another. Fast forward 20 years, and we’re in the midst of Large Language Models (LLMs) that have consumed extraordinary amounts of information from the internet. Just imagine where we will be twenty years from now. What technology will we use then, and will we consider LLMs as ancient as we now view floppy disks? It’s hard to imagine, but such a day will come. I've always enjoyed speculating about future events and making predictions about what’s to come.

One of the things I have predicted in a previous article of mine, titled Data Point, is the standardization of personal data storage. Looking ahead, I think most innovation will be in standardizing this part of our digital lives. Currently, our data is scattered across various services. With services built around removing your personal data, such as Incogni, it’s clear how we’ve hit an all-time low when it comes to data privacy. With the rapid rise of AI, I believe whichever company can collect the most data and win over the most people based on accuracy and privacy, while being affordable, will win the race.

I think there is an incentive for both consumers and AI companies, including large ones like Apple, to find a solution to aggregate all of this personal information, but in a way that we can all agree upon. This might be key to fully having AI adapt to our personal needs. The only way to collect this data into one place is through data standardization. To bring my idea to life, "Data Point" is the fictional name of what I envision to be a standard where we own our data as part of new regulations, and third parties must request access to this data, including AI companies. Companies can ask for your data, but will need to return the data they require in the future.

More importantly, when you decide to update or delete data, such as your name or email address, it will be reflected everywhere. You might ask why companies would ever agree to such a reverse system, but I estimate it will be the result of a growing desire by the same corporations to obtain any kind of personal information, regardless of its origin or context, given how anything can be valuable. It’s really the market power pushing these companies into this arrangement, combined with regulations and a shift in how we perceive and value our personal information.

Another innovation that I envision is an ever evolving web that will power most applications. This will likely become the standard for consuming content and interacting with software, as they will no longer want to support a dozen different platforms. This prediction centers around innovation in both the web and browsers, combined with the powerful capabilities of AI that can be integrated into any web application. As I’ve written before in my article titled Streaming Software, I think most applications will live in the cloud.

As a result, we won’t need any powerful AI computers or devices. Especially considering the introduction of the 5G network and possibly many G’s after that, it’s becoming clear that internet speed and our ability to consume content on demand will be the most critical aspect of technology access. Meanwhile, with gadgets like AR glasses getting smaller and smaller, there simply won't be any room left inside these gadgets, and the only way to interact with software is through the web, where we remotely access certain apps or data that we need on the spot, simply by asking.

Many things will happen in the next twenty years, and some innovations will affect others. However, I think these predictions will form some of the pillars upon which our technological future will be built. I am eager to find out if I was right or wrong. Just as nobody was able to predict Nvidia’s stock price, neither can we tell who or what will lead this race when it comes to innovation and creating the next big thing.