US CNN, 'Wrong Predictions About 2020'... 'Robot Revolution' and 'Space Travel' etc.

2020 Predictions: From 'Space Travel' to 'Ape Housekeeper'
Past Experts Predicted "Nanorobots Will Replace Meals"
UK Futurist Says "Robot Development Delayed 35-45% Due to Recession"

Photo by CNN USA (screen capture)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] As the new year 2020 began, foreign media introduced several 'wrong predictions related to 2020.'

On the 1st (local time), the US CNN compared past predictions of what 2020 would look like with the actual 2020. The media cited examples such as the 'robot revolution,' 'diet changes,' and 'space travel' as representative cases.

In 2006, Elon University in the US predicted that by 2020, various types of robots and artificial intelligence would become part of everyday life. At the time, the university stated, "According to futurists and technology experts, machines will perfectly replace human physical labor."

British futurist Ian Pearson said in a 2005 interview with the weekly magazine The Observer, "Consciousness is essentially just another sense. The goal is to design this into computers," adding, "I concluded that it would be possible to create AI computers with superhuman intelligence before 2020."

He continued, "Artificial intelligence will definitely have emotions," and said, "When I am on a plane, I hope it fears a crash more than I do. Because of that, I hope it can do everything possible to stay in the air."

In an interview with CNN this month, Pearson said, "At the beginning of the 21st century, AI was rapidly developing. So at that time, we thought we could have AI smarter than humans by 2015," but added, "It did not progress as quickly as I expected."

He analyzed, "Due to a severe economic recession, development was delayed, and it is estimated to have progressed 35-45% slower than expected."

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article / Photo by Getty Images

The media cited vegetarian diets as the second wrong prediction. In the past, futurists expected that by 2020, food would disappear and nanorobots would replace meals.

Ray Kurzweil, a renowned American inventor and futurist, claimed that food consumption would disappear by 2020. In his 2004 book, he stated, "Nanorobots can extract the exact nutrients the body requires from the digestive system and bloodstream."

In 1913, The New York Times reported in an article titled "Cure Us with Vegetarianism" that vegetarianism would become a common diet in the future. At the time, the president of the American Meat Packing Association claimed, "In the 21st century, Americans will give up meat and live on rice and vegetables." This association is reported to no longer exist.

In addition, space travel and moon travel have long been considered representative images of the future.

An official from a space consulting firm said, "Think about what people were talking about in the 60s and 70s. Space tourism has long been considered a vision," adding, "Go back to Stanley Kubrick's movie." Director Stanley Kubrick released the film "2001: A Space Odyssey," depicting space, in 1968.

The media also mentioned completely off-target predictions such as "time travel with aliens" and "the birth of artificial life."

According to a long-term prediction report conducted by the RAND Corporation in 1964, experts predicted that by around 2020, apes would be raised for the purpose of performing household chores.

The experts who participated in the survey explained, "During the 21st century, households without robots will have living apes to clean and tend gardens," adding, "Using well-trained apes as chauffeurs could also reduce the number of traffic accidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.