Our modern world is advancing alongside technology as it continues to evolve. Thanks to the digital age we live in, our children are able to experience technology we could only dream of as kids. Many are learning to code at a young age and taking the reins as the digital revolution continues.
Tech, such as 3D printing and self-driving cars, will be outdated technology when our children’s generation reaches adulthood.
The world will change and be much different from the one that we now know. It is difficult to envision what will be cutting edge when our children are fully participating in the consumer market and how the world will change. How will much will technological advancements evolve when our children grow up?
Communication
Technology has the ability to affect how we communicate with one another. We have already witnessed the loss of the age of small talk with the implementation of smartphones in our everyday lives. It is now more taboo to call one another than it is to text or email, even in the professional world.
Fortunately, the use of technology has also helped us to better communicate worldwide. We can conduct video conferences and business meetings between offices in New York and Hong Kong, and we can stay up to date with our loved ones and acquaintances we don’t see as often as we would like with a simple thumb scroll through social media.
It is likely that robots will be utilized to replace humans in the workplace. Our children may see bank tellers, grocery store clerks and gas station attendants are replaced by computer screens — thus limiting our human interaction even further.
Many jobs that employ humans will become available to be done remotely from a home office, as we are already currently witnessing. If our children do not have a way to socialize with other people on a day-to-day basis, it is likely that their means of communication and relationship building will differ from how we presently manage it.
Medical Innovation
How our children receive healthcare will likely look like something from our current science fiction films. Recently, the public has become empowered to order their prescriptions, even birth control, through an app without seeing a doctor. In the event you do need to see a doctor, it will become increasingly easier to get a doctor’s appointment via teleconference or through the use of an app on your smartphone.
3D printing has already started to create waves in the medical industry and could provide children with new organs and eliminate donor transplant lists. 3D printing is being incorporated into several industries, including radiology.
What that means for the future of employment for those of our children that will find careers in the medical field is a new level of training never seen in the industry before. As our children grow up, 3D printing will likely be part of many other career fields as well.
Imagine a world in which your children would be able to see a 3D representation of their diagnosis, as opposed to a backlit X-ray. It would aid medical professionals in making more accurate diagnoses and prognoses for their patients without deeming surgery or a biopsy necessary in some cases.
In our grandparents’ generation, and throughout our own, we have seen the evolution of vaccines lead to saving the lives of thousands each year. We now have vaccines for polio and HPV, and we can look forward to successful trials for certain types of cancer, insect-carried diseases such as Lyme disease and much more.
Transportation
Parents can rest assured that the future of driving is projected to be safer than it has ever been in the past. Driving will likely be very different for our children as they grow up with the development of self-driving cars. It is the hope that the implementation of self-driving cars and improved automobile technology will result in reducing the number of accidents that occur, as well as traffic jams.
We can expect new regulations to be passed regarding the types and the number of cars allowed on the streets — like past regulations to remove cars from the road that do not pass emissions testing and hold car manufacturers accountable for abiding by national fuel economy standards.
Autonomous and self-driving cars will likely be closely regulated to ensure public safety. However, regulations may need to be bent when teleporting becomes a reality. It is something we have seen in our science fiction movies for decades. What if travelling at the speed of light is in the future for our children, or perhaps our grandchildren?
It is without a doubt that the world that our children raise their own kids in will look starkly different due to the evolution in technology. No one could have prepared us for the fact that we would have an infinite amount of information available at our fingertips in what we now call a “smartphone.” Raising your child to be adaptive and open to change will empower them to embrace new technology and use it for the benefit of their own future.
