You might think that Steve Wozniak is a fan of artificial intelligence (IA), who loves to be in social networks and that his vision of the future includes robots and machines in the Matrix style. It would make sense: This engineer’s mind helped shape the computing industry with his design of the Apple I, the world’s first personal computer. Apple Computer Inc.., a company he co-founded with Steve Jobs in 1976. But it is not like that.
In fact, wow –as he likes to be called– does not believe in artificial intelligence. “I used to think otherwise,” she admits. “I believed that AI was the biggest threat to humanity, that computers were going to take over and control, and that we would be like their pets. He even thought that one day a brain could be built that would surpass the human being in intelligence”.
However, a few years ago he changed his mind. “Today I know that computers are never going to make it because our brain has intuition, feelings, emotions and consciousness and, more importantly, we are the ones who program them to do things.”
Even, the tech guru confesses, sometimes he gets angry with technology, especially when it is dishonest with the consumer. “I don’t like this world we have today with the internet. When it started we thought it was going to be a good thing, from person to person, but it is very different how it is being applied in reality, ”he warns.
But all is not lost: Woz believes that technology can help man in the future, as long as it is man himself who wants it. In what ways can you contribute? In an exclusive interview for, during ECSE 2019, the co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. shared his vision of the lifestyle that we will have in the distant future, or perhaps closer than it seems.
Cities of 2050 according to Steve Wozniak
We are 30 years away from 2050 and it is difficult to predict what will happen or how we will live, especially since, as Moore’s Law has shown, technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. According to this standard, every two years the number of transistors that fit in an integrated circuit doubles. This has been true for more than 50 years, marking the fate of the processors and chips that carry computers, tablets, smartphones and wearables.
In a nutshell, this law says that over time, technology tends to multiply its performance and divide its cost. Despite this, Woz dares to imagine what the cities of the future will be like and points out that they will have:
autonomous vehicles
“I think there will no longer be cars but self-driving transportation, that is, autonomous,” said Woz, who was one of the early adopters of electric vehicles, especially Elon Musk’s Tesla brand.
It is precisely this visionary who announced that in 2020 there will be a million Tesla brand robotaxis, 100% autonomous, touring the streets of some states in the United States.
Of course, for vehicles of this type to proliferate, another transformation must occur, he warns. “The modern city is going to evolve but that can only happen if cities are rebuilt and infrastructure that already exists is replaced. This could take like 200 years, so we probably won’t see it while we’re alive.”
There are other aspects that must be analyzed. KPMG International’s 2019 Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index (AVRI) assesses factors such as the availability of electric vehicle charging stations, countries’ regulatory environment, research and development, and readiness. of the population to adopt technology. Of 25 countries evaluated, Mexico is in 23rd place.
digital money
“We are going to have a society where cash will no longer be king. Right now there are cities in South Korea that are already being cashless and where there is only digital or plastic money,” says Woz. Another example: Denmark stopped printing banknotes in 2014 and in 2030 it will stop accepting them.
According to the World Payments Report 2018, cashless transactions reached 482.6 billion dollars in 2016, with an average annual growth of 9.8% in the period 2012-2016.
How is Mexico in this trend? You are already taking the first steps to migrate to this system. Even though 85% of the population still uses cash, banking industry executives said last August that the country is poised for a cashless economy by 2025.
And in September of this year, the Bank of Mexico launched the Digital Collection (CoDi) platform, as an option that allows citizens to use less cash when paying for purchases or paying for services with their mobile devices by scanning codes. QR.
The CoDi is one of the main bets to promote the financial sector and bankarization, reduce the use of cash, as well as give more transparency to commercial transactions, since to use it you only need a cell phone (75% of Mexicans have one). and a bank account.
voice communication
The iPhone was one of the revolutions that Apple gave the world, launching its first version in 2007. The one that was named “Invention of the Year” by Time magazine will continue to occupy a leading role in the future, although with certain improvements. “Think about it: the automobile was invented many years ago, and although it has had its advances, in its most natural form it remains the same in design and we continue to use it for the same purposes. I think the same thing is going to happen with smartphones,” predicts Woz. What changes can we see? Mainly, those related to the user experience.
“By then we are going to use them much more but through gestures and voice. We won’t even have to write, we’ll just talk to them. Today, human speak recognition is imperfect but it is going to be transformed to facilitate communication and that is very technologically possible”, she warns. “We’re going there: I love to do everything I can with my voice and there are children who no longer use the keyboard. That makes me wonder where this will evolve.”
THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE
For the cities of 2050 to become a reality, entrepreneurs are needed. Woz pins his hopes on them, whom he considers “the most important people in the world.” “If we didn’t have individuals trying to do new things, creating new wealth, and striving to make life better for everyone (thanks, by the way!), it would be pretty boring. Entrepreneurship is the force of economic growth for a country, for society and for humanity”, he assures.
In this sense, he warns that today “the educational system has certifications and goals that you have to meet and you cannot deviate from that. But in the future, what is going to change is that we are going to understand that education does not have to be the same for everyone, and you are going to be evaluated according to your abilities”, she considers.
“If, for example, at the age of nine you discover a love and passion for chemistry, you should be able to focus on that and forget about what is not relevant to you. Look at everyone who got excited about something, went out of the system and developed some of the coolest things we have today… Why not do that at a younger age?
That is why he calls on parents to train dreamers and for those who are already entrepreneurs, he has a final message: “You are embarking on an incredible experience. The most fun and important part of my life was being an entrepreneur, creating the company and fighting to change the world. Go for it!”