pew report technology future

The Pew Research Center survey, conducted Feb. 13-18, 2014 and completed in partnership with Smithsonian Magazine, polled Americans on their predictions for scientific advancement over the next 50 years, as well as their attitudes toward developing science that have the potential to become commonplace in American life.

The Washington Post had a more negative take, pointing out that, "around two-thirds of Americans think technology will lead to a future where people's live are 'mostly' better. But what about the other third -- the ones who think that technological advances will make lives worse? Who are these dystopians?

They're more likely to be poor, less educated, and female. And they might be right -- at least about how technological advances could affect their specific situation. According to Pew, 35 percent of people with a high school degree or less thought technology changes would make lives "mostly worse" in the future, as did 38 percent of those living in households with incomes below $30,000 per year. Only 21 percent of college graduates and 22 percent of people in households with incomes above $70,000 agreed with them.

And it's easy to see why some of those people might not be as enthusiastic: Technological advances in recent years have made it more difficult for some people with lower educational attainment or incomes. Think about how advances in communication and transportation meant lower skilled labor went overseas -- and now, is replaced by robots or computer programs. When a robot takes your job, maybe you don't think as kindly about the second generation of that robot."

Pew also asked the expert for opinions. NBC News quoted the experts:

Hal Varian, Google's chief economist: "The smartest person in the world currently could well be stuck behind a plow in India or China. Enabling that person — and the millions like him or her — will have a profound impact on the development of the human race."

Early Internet pioneer David Hughes: "When every person on this planet can reach, and communicate two-way, with every other person on this planet, the power of nation-states to control every human inside its geographic boundaries may start to diminish."

Microsoft Research's Jonathan Grudin: "By making so much activity visible, it exposes the gap between the way we think people behave, the way we think they ought to behave, the laws and regulations and policies and processes and conventions we have developed to guide behavior — and the way they really behave. Adjusting to this will be an unending, difficult task."

But American's are really ambivalent notes tech site re/code, leading with the thought that Americans Think Science Is Great! Except When They Don’t.

"Americans are riddled with ambivalence when it comes to the march of science — optimistic, queasy, expectant or dubious, depending on the particular subject at hand.

On the whole, U.S. citizens expect to see profound advances in the next half century., By then,

• 81 percent of the 1,001 adult respondents expect labs will churn out custom-ordered transplant organs,

• 51 percent believe computers will create artistic works that give Tolstoy a run for his money,

• 39 percent say we’ll have cracked teleportation and

• 33 percent predict we’ll have colonized other planets.

Asked what inventions they most want to take advantage of themselves, participants repeatedly landed on three themes:

• Medical strides that extend human longevity,

• flying cars or personal space crafts, and

• time travel."

Re/code concludes: "On the other hand, nearer realities like robot caregivers, face computers, genetic engineering and drones seem to give a lot of people the heebie-jeebies."

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