2050, speculative design

A good writer does not think up only the automobile but also the traffic jam.” Frederick Pohl

This week, we spend the day doing a group project. We were given the task to design a product that would help solve a problem we may be facing in the year 2050. This involved speculative design which required us to imagine future scenarios. This means we can take our solutions for the future and think about how we can use that solution with today’s technology. It also means we can predict future issues and think of ways to prevent them now.

As a group, the first thing we did was brainstorm ideas. We thought of potential problems we may be facing 27 years from now. For example, overpopulation, health decline and severe climate change.

We were most interested in what healthcare may look like in 2050. Therefore, we took the post-it-notes related to this and began mind-mapping around them. For example, we thought about age reversal tactics may become more popular. There may be the ability to edit your genes and reverse the effects of certain health conditions.

The product we created, that we think may exist in the future, is an AI assistant that connects to a biometric chip in the body. It can then predict health conditions so you can make lifestyle choices as a preventative measure. It could also tell you about your ancestry and what health conditions you may have inherited. The AI assistant could record your dreams and analyse them. This could then be used to inform you of patterns or meanings behind your dreams.

Although this may seem impossible now, it is interesting to think about. We do think there is a high chance that something like this could exist with AI is becoming increasingly more intelligent by the day. Biometric chips are also being used currently for passports and payments.

There of course are some concerns with a product like this being made. The first being, would a lot of people be open to the idea of a chip being implanted into their body? We asked our classmates if the would be comfortable with this. The majority said they wouldn’t get it, which is understandable considering how new this idea is. However, I believe that by 2050, people would be more exposed to the idea of this and it would become the new normal.

During the class discussion, someone suggested that it could have a connection to the emergency services. For example, it would know if someone was having a heart attack and immediately contact emergency services. I think if the product could do this, even more people would think it is worth having.

Another concern would be privacy issues. There is the chance that if an insurance company could access your predicted future health conditions, they would charge you a higher rate. Or, if employers found that you were likely to suffer with a condition later in life, they may be apprehensive to hire you. Therefore, there would need to be laws and regulations in place to prevent this kind of discrimination. We also thought it would be important to have legal advice when signing up to receive this product so you know what you should and shouldn’t share.

Overall, I found this class very helpful and eye-opening. We got to imagine how technology may advance and how we can design for a future we want to live in. It has also inspired me to try to integrate newer technology into my major project. I want to think beyond a basic phone app, think outside the box and take bigger risks.