March 16, 2024
GEN ST 297 | Future-ish | Winter 2024
The Winter 2024 GEN ST 297 seminar students were very interactive this quarter and like to explore topics more deeply than we have done in past quarters. Hot topics were AI, ChapGPT, and biomimicry.
Seminar Scenarios
The Winter 2024 seminar students chose to look at the nexus of research & technology with a special focus on key areas of interest that they brought to the seminar . The four scenarios of future states over time for this synthesis are shared below.
Scenario 1. (5-10 years from now). New Technologies Arrive. In the next 5-10 years, consumer experiences will change, particularly in shopping malls where AI will begin interacting with smart phones and other devices to give customers a more focused experience. UW has become very involved with helping design new technologies to boost agricultural production and reduce growing times. In healthcare, human organ health and repair begins to change rapidly with technologies including organ cloning, 3D printing, and computer chip organs.
Scenario 2. (50 years from now). AI’s Many Applications. In sports, new technologies in apparel and equipment aid referees and judges in more accurate calls, especially with AI analyzing aspects throughout the particular sports event. One of UW’s fastest growing areas of applied research is robots and AI helping with very complex research, treatments, and surgeries. AI can track conditions and look for trends that are helpful to the health practitioners in a proactive way. Cloning of small animals, particularly pets, is becoming more common, although policies and best practices in cloning are starting to be identified.
Scenario 3. (100 years from now). New Air & Space Experiences. Many of the today’s challenges in electric vehicles have been solved. New battery materials are being used, other environmental impacts throughout the vehicle lifecycle have been addressed, and they are now very common among the autonomous vehicles that make up 80% of vehicles being used. UW had led the field in creating pill or gummy nutritional products that can be used in situations like remote locations or space travel. These technologies can supplement situations in which authentic food or alternative foods (such as food that is grown in a lab or 3D printed) can’t replicate the nutrient requirements needed for human health in the 22nd century. DJs have started broadcasting their live sessions to and from near-Earth spaceships and space stations allowing for dance fans to get a true stellar experience.
Scenario 4. (250+ years from now). Gardens to Galactic DJs. Hobby farming and gardening has made a comeback, especially as more and more humans live off of Earth. Hobby farming and gardening includes large agricultural sites (such as wineries on several planets), as well as micro farming and gardening in one’s living quarters on Earth, as well as on spaceships and space stations on other planets. One benefit of off-Earth agriculture has been that chemical pesticides and fertilizers are no longer needed. UW students, faculty, and staff win a design award for the first fully solar electric flying vehicle that operates at supersonic speeds. It includes technology to dampen the sonic boom sound when that speed is attained. DJs are now fully inter-galactic. Humans have now made contact and interact with two alien societies on planets in nearby solar systems. The music styles of these homeworlds often intermingle at DJed events being streamed from all of these locations by the galaxy’s most popular DJs.