What does the future have in store for the human race? The question cannot be accurately answered because it would be impossible to describe precisely what hasn’t actually occurred in time. Using facts from the past and making a logical decision based on them is the closest we come to an accurate prediction of the future. “Robot Renaissance” by Danylo Hawaleshka and “The Lonely Planet” by John Ibbitson contain predictions of the future world we could live in. While they both seem to forecast a different aspect of the future, Danylo focusing on robotics and the future of electronics and Johns comparison of the human population and social patterns, there is a similarity between the two topics that could link them and form another prediction that has scared some and excites others. Will there be a decline in human life and a rise in the humanoid, a robotic version of us, and what will occur if this happens?

Computers started a new age when they first began to make an impact on society, even the arrival of the simple calculator, the Z1, which was built in Germany around 1931 by Konrad Zuse had the potential to change the world. (Anne Arbor, 1) The computer was

Ibbitson, John. "The Lonely Planet." Working Words. Ed. Wendy Wilson.Scarborough: Nelson 2003. 363-371

The future is still uncertain, especially when it comes to technology. We build computers and machines to aid us in completing specific tedious tasks. The world is changing everyday and these machines become tailored to suit the task we need done and since it becomes easier, we are able to complete these tasks quicker. But what happens when the decline of our population occurs? Computers could fill the gap, replacing humans at the grunt level of labor with a robot tailored to the task which can out perform and outlast any human competition. They could also prove dangerous by providing us with a system of information gathering and manufacturing so capable that any type of new age war would be devastating. Perhaps after computers become smart enough and begin to think on their own, they will decide they don’t need us anymore and adapt our destructive nature to rid the world of us. But I would still like to hope that by the time we begin to run into global population and economic problems in the future, that I have my own robot buddy to make me laugh when I’m down and make me eggs when I wake up in the morning. Only time can prove which ideas will unfold and which will remain merely a prediction.

Some topics in this essay:
John Ibbitson, George Orwell, Anne Arbor, Danylo Hawaleshka, Deep Junior, Computers Humanity, Lonely Planet, Planet UN’s, John Holland, University Michigan, arbor 1, john ibbitson, lonely planet, anne arbor, anne arbor 1, danylo hawaleshka, words ed wendy, wendy wilsonscarborough, nelson 2003, wilsonscarborough nelson, wilsonscarborough nelson 2003, social patterns, ed wendy wilsonscarborough, wendy wilsonscarborough nelson, future world,