In order to know the future, first we must imagine it. However in the case of AI, we are at first informed by popular science fiction culture.

That statement may not seem that remarkable at first, but if you stop to think about it, you'll realise that this is completely unique among human endeavours.

Take the building industry for instance, we don't use the story of the three little pigs to predict the future state of housing.

Whereas when it comes to predicting the future of artificial intelligence our opinion is almost entirely informed by science fiction.

This throws up an interesting question; how far are our fears and hopes about what thinking machines can do to and for us, justified?

Falling In The SkyNet Fallacy

It is fairly easy to argue that sci-fi films such as Terminator have had a large, yet an almost unnoticed impact on the human psyche.

Whether you have seen the Terminator films or not, the message has some how got through to you; and that message is:

The only way for an intelligent, global super computer network to go, is bad!

It seems we naturally fear a global artificial intelligence running our lives. We see the potential for things to go badly wrong.

When we are told of driverless cars, or an automated air traffic control system, our first thoughts are of how it can go wrong.

Perhaps then, the Terminator films are just reflecting our natural deep seated fears. At first that seems a reasonable argument, however there's plenty of evidence to suggest that Terminator started the fear in the first place.

Maybe not Terminator specifically, but the whole sci-fi genre has informed the human race of what might be. It may be that entertaining films impact us in ways we don't fully understand. Or maybe when it comes to artificial intelligence we believe that there's nothing comparable today to measure future innovations.

Though if we actually stop and think, there are plenty of clues around to give us hints of the future. If we pay attention to these clues, we see that the future may not be that bleak after all.

The Mystopia Of Dystopia

No good future imagineering can take place without a good old thought experiment, so let's imagine one in particular.

If we look at the robots that are around us today, both the long standing, like car manufacturing robots. Or the new ones like automatic check out tills. We see that these are rather benign and mundane innovations. However the truth of the future of automation lies with them.

Imagine a machine, it's name is Kwark_Alpha_7869, Kwark_A as we shall call him is a service droid.

Kwark_A's talents are it can clean all sorts of hard to get nooks and crannies, and is also registered to sterilise multiple environments, such as operating theatres in hospitals.

Kwark_A perhaps isn't fully sentient, however it is intelligent enough to look for work over the web, and then transport itself to the necessary site.

So perhaps a typical day looks like this.

Tuesday: 03:00

Job List *******

-Exterior Clean - Apartment complex - address on file . .
-Lab Sterilisation - ComPu Robotics - address on file . .
-Hospital Cleaning Round - Central Hospital - address on file . .

Estimated time: 12hrs 57 minutes:
Payment: 23.2837 Ltc

As Kwark_A's owner, or just software owner or leaser, you are entitled to a cut of his wages, after he deducts power and material fees.

When he sets off to his first destination he calls Nubar, the driveless blockchain cab company that allows anyone to turn their car into an automatic transport vehicle.

Each car is able to take fairs and also take itself to service stations. The fees of the cars are distributed in the same way Kwark_A's are.

Maybe you are one of the lucky ones in this future, you have several Nubar cars, and many droids like Kwark_A, carrying all sorts of duties for you.

Or perhaps you aren't at that point yet, so you lease time on various droids and perhaps attempt to write your own programs for the new robots coming onto the market.

Now we can see a future where robots taking our jobs is a good thing. Because it gives us a chance to have multiple jobs at once, freeing us both economically, and much more important temporally.

..there is an endless amount of money in the world, and
only a limited amount of time. Yet most people behave
as if exactly the opposite were true.

~ M.J. DeMarco - The Millionaire Fastlane

Conclusions On Future Opportunities

So where does this take us? Where is perhaps the best place to focus your attention?

For me it is obvious; we have to learn to speak the language of the machines.

In the same way today you can release an app on the app store. Or launch a token on the blockchain, so too in tomorrow's world will you be able to write your own smart contracts onto existing machines.

The truth about future intelligent networks is less SkyNet and more Google. Ultimately any systems we build will be there to do two things; assist us, and make money.

It is up to the individual on how you react to that.

Start now by taking $10 coding courses on Udemy.com, or create a test token on Ethereum. These are things that I am doing or am going to do in order to ready myself for a digital future.

We here on Steemit are in a privileged position, in that we are close to the sharp end of the market in a new and disruptive technology.

As our software gets smarter and our hardware faster, the opportunities for smart contracting will grow. The blockchain will play a huge part in that, as will the as-yet-invented quantum computing coding languages.

The quantum revolution is but a step away, within the next 3-5 years we will see a Cambrian like explosion within computing.

The best way to make sure you are riding the crest of that wave, and not spluttering in the surf behind, is to prepare yourself.

So make sure you are future proof, learn to speak the language of the machines, talk to them, and you may find out you love what they say back.

DO YOU WELCOME THE NEW FUTURE OR FEAR IT? ARE YOU PREPARED TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THE MACHINES; OR DO YOU PREFER TO STAY AT THE USER END? AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Cryptogee