Early developments in AI have been of overwhelmingly great importance and value to society. Most of the experts responding to this canvassing – both the pessimists and the optimists – expect that it will continue to provide clear benefits to humanity. Those who are hopeful argue that its advance will naturally include mitigating activities, noting […]

The following sections share selections of comments from technology experts and futurists who elaborate on the ways internet use has shaped humanity over the past 50 years and consider the potential future of digital life. They are gathered under broad, overarching ideas, rather than being tied to the specific themes highlighted above. Many of the […]

A notable share of the most hopeful respondents to this canvassing declared that in order to serve the public interest and improve digital spaces, the tech industry, government and civil society need to focus on achieving an ethical tech design that values people over profit. They said that this – combined with vastly improved individual […]

Whether they expressed optimistic or pessimistic views about the “new normal” in 2025, these respondents also weighed in with their worries for the near future of humans and digital technologies. Their views embraced several overarching themes that can be summed up in one: The advantaged enjoy more advantages; the disadvantaged fall further behind. Much of […]

Following is a collection of comments by several of the many top analysts who participated in this canvassing: We will soon interact with digital technologies less frenetically Kenneth Cukier, senior editor at The Economist, wrote, “Many people are frazzled by the always-on internet, but this is a feature of our embryonic understanding of how to […]

As they considered the potential evolution of ethical AI design, the people responding to this canvassing were given the opportunity to speculate as to whether quantum computing (QC), which is still in its early days of development, might somehow be employed in the future in support of  the development of ethical AI systems. In March […]

Some 15% of these respondents are not at all confident that the Internet of Things will be safe enough to command trust among users. They argue that a number of the problems mentioned elsewhere in this report will be severe enough that some people will retreat from super-connected life. They particularly stress how key systems […]

The respondents to this canvassing offered a variety of ideas about how individuals and the broader culture might respond to the algorithm-ization of life. They noted that those who create and evolve algorithms are not held accountable to society and argued there should be some method by which they are. They also argued there is […]

To a striking degree, the experts who answered “yes” – that new ways of teaching and learning will successfully emerge for job skills advancement – focused on how trainers, educators and employers will innovate new ways to implement and partner with technology to provide solutions that enhance outcomes. Many of the hopeful respondents predicted that […]