By 2030, Artificial Intelligence could be looking after our elderly, making films and teaching lessons — or it could have wiped out the human race.
These are the wildly different predictions from eight AI experts from the US and UK, who predict how the technology may change our lives within the next decade.
It comes amid growing calls for regulators to put the lid on the development of AI, amid fears that it could lead to waves of job losses and render us obsolete.
Below are eight radical changes that will have happened by 2030:
The above shows eight predictions from experts in the US and UK for how AI could change the world by 2030
Generate entire films in a day
AI technology could become so good that it will start to generate entire films within a day, predicts New York-based writer of Apple TV Sci-fi series Silo Mr Howey.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, he said it was only a matter of time before AI tools were capable of making films.
‘I’ve had access to alpha versions of art generators for a few years now, and I’ve watched how quickly they go from very rough approximations to photo-realism so good that you can’t distinguish the AI art from photography,’ he said.
‘Generated films are now in the same early stages that I saw still art go through two or so years ago. It’s only a matter of time and processing power before films are created in real-time.
‘The films will be terrible at first, but they’ll only get better. I think people will watch them and be fascinated by them even when they aren’t very good, the same way we find our nonsensical dreams captivating.’
Hugh Howey at the premiere of Silo this year
He added: ‘These things only get better, and their improvements are permanent. They don’t have to re-learn and start over the way we do. They just grow and grow.’
His comments echo predictions from the director of Avengers: Endgame Joe Russo, who predicted last month that AI would be able to make movies in just two years’ time.
Mr Russo told the entertainment news website Collider: ‘I’m on the board of a few AI companies.
‘Potentially, what you could do with [AI] is obviously use it to engineer storytelling and change storytelling.’
Teach lessons
Will AI find a place in the classroom? (Midjourney)
AI also has the potential to transform the education sector and tailor lesson plans to classes.
Dr Ajaz Ali, the head of business and computing at Ravensbourne University in London, made the prediction.
He said children could soon have their own personalized AI tutor who will deliver lessons tailored to the areas they are struggling with.
This could even be done through augmented-reality glasses or robots, he suggested.
Dr Ali said: ‘We could also see AI-powered virtual tutors, who will provide personalized feedback and support to students.
‘In the next ten years, we may see AI-enabled virtual classrooms that can create a more immersive and interactive learning experience.’
It is expected that AI could be used to complement current conventional teaching methods, rather than fully replacing teachers.
Currently, available AI platforms like ChatGPT can already generate lesson plans for teachers tailored to a specific class.
Wipe out the human race?
AI ‘doomer’ Eliezer Yudkowsky has bet AI will wipe out humanity (Midjourney)
Amid suggestions that AI will improve our lives immeasurably, there are also experts warning that it could end the human race by 2030.
Among the doomsayers is American computer scientist Eliezer Yudkowsky who has bet $100 that the human race will be wiped out entirely by January 1, 2030.
A renowned researcher at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute in Berkeley, California, he is one of the most vocal experts to warn over AI.
Writing in Time earlier this year, he said: ‘If somebody builds a too-powerful AI, under present conditions, I expect that every single member of the human species and all biological life on Earth dies shortly thereafter.
‘The likely result of humanity facing down an opposed superhuman intelligence is a total loss.
‘Valid metaphors include “a 10-year-old trying to play chess against Stockfish 15”, “the 11th century trying to fight the 21st century”, and “Australopithecus trying to fight Homo sapiens”.’
He says that AI could obliterate humanity if its intelligence surpasses humans, and that it then develops different values and goals to humans.
Other leading experts saying that AI could ‘destroy civilization’ include billionaire Elon Musk and British scientist Stephen Hawking — although they stop short of suggesting all humans will be wiped out by 2030.
Musk has been sounding the alarm over AI for years, warning just last month that it could destroy civilization — although suggesting it will not totally wipe out humans because we are an ‘interesting’ part of the universe. He claimed that it would be more intelligent than humans by 2030.
Dr Hawking previously warned that AI could ‘take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate’ which humans, which are limited by biological evolution, would struggle to keep up with.
‘We may face an intelligence explosion that ultimately results in machines whose intelligence exceeds ours by more than ours exceeds that of snails.’
Experts say AI could boost the world economy by a fifth
Boost world economy’s value by nearly a fifth
Experts also suggest that AI could boost the value of the world economy by $15.7trillion by 2030, or more than the value of India and China’s economies combined and up by a fifth compared to current levels.
The prediction was made by analysts working at ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm PwC, which is based in London.
They say this will be driven by the development of more enhanced and personalized products, which will trigger a consumer-driven boom.
PwC said in a study published in January: ‘Our research also shows that 45% of total economic gains by 2030 will come from product enhancements, stimulating consumer demand.
‘This is because AI will drive greater product variety, with increased personalization, attractiveness and affordability over time.’
Solve the energy crisis
Experts have also suggested that it could solve the energy crisis
There are also suggestions that AI could help to solve the world’s energy crisis by 2030.
The most recent energy crisis was sparked by a combination of the Ukraine war, leading to blocks on fossil fuel imports from Russia, and the sudden surge in demand during the economic rebound after the Covid pandemic.
There is also a separate, ongoing energy crisis that seeks to gradually turn over energy production to renewable resources in order to limit global warming.
Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT and is based in San Francisco, California, has said that by 2030 AI will have solved the crisis.
In a series of Tweets in 2021, he said: ‘The future can be so good that it’s hard for any of us to imagine.
‘My basic take on this is that we will have “unlimited” intelligence and energy, and all that will unlock. I think we will have these before this decade is out.
He suggested that AI would do this by helping to develop nuclear fusion, a way of unlocking energy from atoms for use that does not produce long-lived nuclear waste. A meltdown at these facilities is also practically impossible.
Late last year scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California made a breakthrough in developing this system by triggering a nuclear fusion reaction that led to a net energy gain.
Experts predict AI could reach human intelligence and challenge people for jobs
Achieve human-like intelligence
Predictions also abound that AI could reach human-like intelligence by 2030.
Among those making the warning is former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil, a renowned futurist who claims to have an 86 percent success rate on predictions.
While speaking at a Conference in Austin, Texas, in 2017, he said: ‘[The date] 2029 is the consistent date I have predicted for when an AI will pass a valid Turing test and therefore achieve human levels of intelligence.’
He had previously said that in 2014 computers would ‘break even’ with humans, and be able to flirt, tell jokes and tell stories.
There are already mounting concerns that AI will lead to thousands of redundancies as companies start to use the technology to fill posts once staffed by people.
Professions, particularly at risk, include those working as paralegals, personal assistants and translators.
It could also predict medical problems and get someone treated before they spiral out of control
Predict medical problems
In healthcare, AI could predict problems before they happen by 2030, says AI expert Simon Bain, founder and CEO of software company OmniIndex, based in San Jose, California.
Mr Bain believes that the future of AI will be services built to answer specific needs.
But he adds that these will be very different from the current AIs, such as ChatGPT.
Bain said: ‘By 2030, AI could be predicting future healthcare problems via specialists using specialist tools.
‘That’s because the future of AI will be services that directly answer our specific needs — quickly and easily. As in, we tell it what we want, and it gives it to us.’
He added: ‘This future should NOT be based on the current mainstream generative AI (as in ChatGPT or Google’s Bard), as this is simply using tech to regurgitate content and repurpose it.
‘Why rip apart the Mona Lisa to create an unlimited number of similar yet “unique” portraits?
‘While it might be fascinating and impressive and a fun profile picture, it is a waste. And it’s dangerous because it’s simply regurgitating the mistakes, prejudices, and limitations of our own historic content.’
Look after the elderly
Within the next decade, artificial intelligence could have assumed much of the role of looking after the elderly.
Experts suggested AI could help look after the elderly, pointing to robots like ElliQ, which is designed to help keep people company
Heather Delaney, the founder of London-based PR firm targeting tech ventures Gallium Ventures, made the prediction while pointing to the emergence of care bots such as the ElliQ.
The robot — which looks like a desktop lamp — can help battle loneliness in older age and keep people up to date on their calendars.
It works by learning someone’s interests and desires and daily routine to establish when they are available to strike up a question or to proactively suggest activities that they might enjoy. It also reminds older people of their day-to-day schedule and when to take any medications, helping to ensure that they don’t miss any.
Ms Delaney told DailyMail.com: ‘I expect a rise in technology design to assist, support and generally improve the quality of life of the elderly.
‘Elderly homes will rely more on technology to monitor and assess the health and wellbeing of their community while those living in their own private homes will depend more on technology to maintain their home and keep them on track with health.’
Over time, the technology is expected to develop beyond the $250 robot ElliQ currently available.
Older people will also become more likely to accept it into their homes because they have grown up with technology, unlike swathes of the current generation that are more likely to steer clear of devices.
