The Changing World of 2038

Outlook for young people

Today's children face a complicated future in the America of tomorrow. Many

predictions will come true and some will not. From the current trends we can predict that

there will be a need for highly educated people which will result in a rise in income and

a demand for higher education. There will be a need for highly educated humans to

continue the work in advancing technology. Less educated people will find times to be

hard with a lack a job security.

While looking at the trends in finances and technology, I find that future

generations will see growth and setbacks in their economy. Looking at a change in

income will be led by a change in jobs. The amount of human jobs will go down but the

need for humans with higher education will rise. In order to fulfil this need we would

need to put 100 million additional people through higher education (Grey, 2014). In

Greys study around the future of the workforce he says that, better technology makes

more better jobs for humans (2014). With this trend the focus needs to be on educating

future generations in needed areas. Many humans believe that robots will take over the

jobs that they have and although this is true other jobs will be available for humans.

Humans with a high level of education are needed to make advances in technology to

keep the robots current and productive.

In the article U.S. Could Have 4.2M Green Jobs by 2038 (2008), The U.S.

Conference of Mayors projects that there will be 4.2 million (green) jobs over the next

three decades. Under assumed scenarios and with government commitment and
investments, the report projects green jobs could contribute 10% of new jobs through

2038, representing the fastest growing job segment in the U.S. economy. By 2038, the

report forecasts that renewable electricity production will create 1.23 million jobs;

alternative transportation fuels 1.5 million jobs; engineering, legal, research and

consulting positions will be more than 1.4 million; and commercial and residential

retrofits at 81,000 jobs, for a total of 4.2 million. Areas that need highly educated

humans are in the automotive industry, education and medicine. Although all areas will

be highly robotic, humans will be essential.

In the video Humans Not Need Apply by Grey (2014), he discusses the

connection between horse and car to car and auto. Decades ago people thought that

the car was the beginning of the end for horses (Grey, 2014). In that same way autos

will replace drivers. Autos are automated machines that are currently being used in

placing like warehouses to move product but it is predicted that they will take over the

streets by 2038. Drivers will be replaced by driverless cars. Sebastian Thrun is the

founder of GoogleX which is the home of the Google self-driving car. Thrun and his

team have made advances in technology that will be in full effect by 2038. The benefits

to a self-driving car are, but not limited to, easy of travel, lack of human error and

increased freedom for visually impaired travelers. Car crashes account for 40,000

deaths in the the United States every year. Jobs will be added and jobs will be taken

away from the creation and maintenance of a driverless car but the more important

piece is that lives will be saved.

 Five years ago, an amazing teacher or professor with the ability to truly catalyze

the lives of his or her students could realistically hope to impact maybe 100 people each

year. Today that same teacher can have their words spread on video to millions of

eager students (Anderson, 2009). Cloud based learning systems will improve teachers

efforts with results of reaching more students in a more meaningful way. (Neti, 2013)

Students will engage in classroom communities and build communities with students

from different schools and even different countries. Classroom discussions would be

focused around information that is being provided via tablet or touchscreen work station.

Students would be able to have conversations with students who had the same

interests and learning style. Teachers will still be needed to guide students who need a

physical reminder but the bulk to the education will come from a computer. The

computers would be able to guide students in their studies and personalize their

program. I do predict that robots will replace some positions such as cooks and janitors

for cost effective reasons.

Communication will be widespread. Areas that once had sparse connections will

be in the thick of communication. Forms of communication will advance with items such

as the Cicret bracelet introduced in the linked YouTube video. The ability to

communicate with people around the world has been happening for years but with

advances in technology communication will be fast, clear, easy and affordable.

As healthcare providers have a need to communicate with their patients there are

advances in technology that are allowing this wirelessly. Smartphones and tablets

allow healthcare providers to more freely access and send information. Physicians and
service providers can use mHealth tools for orders, documentation and simply to reach

more information when with patients (Jayanthi, 2014). Patients can be an active

participant in their healthcare plan and have the luxury of doing most tests from home.

There are other advances in medical technology such as DNA sequencing. The

advancement in cancer research is amazing. Global cancer rates are expected to grow

by 75% by the year 2030(Royyuru, 2013). This will be taken care of by the growing use

of DNA samples. With advances in technology, sequencing DNA will result in quick and

specific treatment plans. Royyuru also predicts that the time it takes to find the right

treatment could be reduced from weeks and months to just days or even minutes.

These advances in technology are essential to the health demands that society is

showing.

Although I can not say what will happen in 2038 my hope is that it is positive. I

am sure that generations before us shook their heads at the thought of a tablet or

smartphone. The advancements in technology can be daunting, exciting and scary.

Here is to the ever changing and complicated world of 2038!

 References

Anderson, C. (2009). One answer to the question: What will change everything?
Retrieved February 11, 2015, from
http://moodle.wou.edu/pluginfile.php/129723/mod_resource/content/2/What_will_chang
e_everything.pdf

Grey, C. (2014, August 13). Humans Need Not Apply. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from
https://youtu.be/7Pq-S557XQU

Jayanthi, A. (2014, January 28). 10 Biggest Technological Advancements for

Healthcare in the Last Decade. Retrieved March 12, 2015, from
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/10-biggest-tec
hnological-advancements-for-healthcare-in-the-last-decade.html

Neti, C. (2013, December 17). IBM innovations that will change our lives in the next five
years. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibm_predictions_for_future/ideas/index.html

Royyuru, A. (2013, December 17). IBM innovations that will change our lives in the next
five years. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibm_predictions_for_future/ideas/index.html

Strack, R. (2014, October 1). The workforce crisis of 2030 -- and how to start solving it
now. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/rainer_strack_the_surprising_workforce_crisis_of_2030_and_
how_to_start_solving_it_now

The Cicret Bracelet: Like a tablet...but on your skin. (2014, October 30). Retrieved
March 14, 2015, from https://youtu.be/9J7GpVQCfms

Thrun, S. (2011, May 31). Sebastian Thrun: Google's driverless car. Retrieved March 4,
2015, from https://youtu.be/bp9KBrH8H04

U.S. Could Have 4.2M Green Jobs by 2038 - Study. (2008, October 3). Retrieved March
10, 2015, from http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/16875