I woke up late and had to do everything in a hurry. I frantically searched for my house keys among the couch and jackets, manually typed three different email addresses, flipped through about twenty open tabs in the browser to find the right one, then waited in line for 15 minutes to speak to a customer service agent. Imagine that in ten years, probably, all of this will seem as absurd to us as using a fax or a video recorder seems absurd today. Daily habits evolve so quickly that we often don't notice. Want some examples? Here are 7.
Manually enter passwords
Remembering passwords is one of the most frustrating tasks in our digital lives. Despite the availability of password managers, many of us continue to memorize combinations of letters, numbers, and special characters, or worse, to always use the same one for all services.
With the advent of neural interfaces such as Neuralink and advanced biometric recognition, the idea of manually typing a secret sequence will soon seem archaic. Technology is already evolving towards systems that uniquely identify each person through heartbeat, facial recognition and fingerprint. In the next decade, logging into an account will be as automatic as recognizing a familiar face: a process instant and invisible.
Carry physical keys everywhere
Keys are another relic that will soon disappear. Smart locks that can be controlled from your smartphone already exist, but that’s just the beginning. In a few years, our homes, offices, and vehicles will automatically recognize us, making physical keys as obsolete as payphones.
The combination of biometric recognition and digital authorizations will make physical access to places safer and more convenient. No more frantic searching for keys in the bottom of a purse or coat pocket. The idea that we once carried small pieces of metal to open doors will make our children and grandchildren smile.
Navigate between dozens of open tabs in your browser
Who has never had their browser clogged up with twenty or so open tabs? This habit, born from the architecture of the current web, will soon become a memory. interfaces driven by theartificial intelligence will radically change the way we interact with information online.
In the near future, browsers will anticipate our information needs, automatically aggregating relevant content without having to open multiple tabs. Information will flow to us in a natural, contextual, and continuous way, eliminating the need to manually jump between different sources. It will be like having a personal assistant that already knows what we need before we even ask. anticipating our needs.
Waiting in line for customer service
Being put on hold to speak to a customer service agent is one of the most frustrating experiences in modern life. But this behavior is already becoming obsolete thanks to conversational AI systems.
In the next decade, not only will we no longer wait in line, but preventative systems will detect and fix problems before we even know they exist. Personal digital assistants will negotiate with enterprise systems for us, completely eliminating the need for human interaction for most customer service.
Charge your devices daily
Charging our devices daily is a modern ritual that will soon seem ridiculous. Advances in battery technology, along with the emergence of long-range wireless charging, are about to transform our relationship with energy.
Within a few years, our devices will automatically charge as we use or carry them with us, making low-battery anxiety a thing of the past. Energy harvesting technologies that convert movement, body heat or even ambient light into electricity are already in an advanced stage of development and will soon become standard: eliminating the need to physically connect to a power source.
Manually drive vehicles
Although there are still debates about safety and ethics, autonomous driving is now an inevitable reality. In ten years, (twenty, European friends? And they're coming) the idea of manually controlling a moving vehicle could seem as risky as driving without a seatbelt seems today.
The transition will be gradual, but automation will radically change our relationship with transportation. Time spent looking for parking, navigating traffic, or concentrating on the road will become productive or recreational. Future generations may look at manual driving the way we look at horseback riding today: a traditional skill or hobby, not a daily necessity. As we said in this article, “autonomous transportation will be the most disruptive technology in all of history,” and will radically change our travel habits.
Shopping separately from media consumption
Today we still separate shopping experiences from entertainment, despite early attempts at integration. In the next decade, this separation will disappear completely.
As we watch a show, put on virtual clothes, or interact in digital environments, shopping will become a seamless and integrated part of the experience. The boundaries between advertising, entertainment, and commerce will dissolve in an integrated and personalized experience economy, making the concept of “going shopping” as a separate activity obsolete.
Habits, the first sign of the times
Many of the habits we consider normal today already seem antiquated in the eyes of the new generations. Like rotary phones and video cassettes before them, our daily rituals are destined to become curiosities of the past. Technology is changing not only our tools, but also our behaviors and, ultimately, our perception of what is normal.
