Position Paper #3- Forecasting the Future

                                                            "Hey McFly, you bojo! Those boards don't work on water!" 

If anyone is similar to me, then they were also obsessed with the “Back to the Future Films.” In these films, it stars a kid who ends up traveling back to the future with an older sidekick named “Doc Brown”. These films featured a cool car and some interesting plots. These movies (especially the first one), which were filmed in the 1980s, predicted many future technologies. Some technologies that Back to the Future had predicted includes; “personal drones, tablets, mobile payment technologies, biometric devices, hands-free gaming consoles, smart clothing, wearable technology, video phones, waste-fueled cars, hoverboards, etc..” This movie predicted so many types of technology that are being used to this very day. 

“Technology forecasting attempts to predict the future characteristics of useful technological machines, procedures or techniques."

Since the dawn of time, technology has always been changing. We are closer than we have ever been to having access to every single piece of information we could ever imagine. We have access to all of the world’s data in an instant. Technology has not only changed how we can access information, but it has changed careers, entertainment, communication, medicine, fast food, travel, and many other aspects of overall life. Due to the many changes in technology, the question of how internet communication can impact the future is a question that should come to mind. 

According to Maryville University, “The Internet of the Future Will Be Bigger, Faster, Safer, and More Private.” It is honestly so crazy to even consider what could happen past what is already happening. Technology is now more intelligent than it has ever been. With the development of AI, telecommunications, social media, drones, etc, it is crazy to even consider what could be improved. The main areas of forecasting technologies that will be discussed in this paper include areas of; banking, healthcare, and production. 

The first aspect that may be changed soon would be the category of banking. Finance in general has changed quite rapidly in terms of technology. Now, any common individual can purchase stocks, request loans, move money to various accounts, and purchase everyday items all with the click of a button. Before we even speak about banking, if we are thinking about just finance in general, people can now purchase groceries without their cards. 
Ethical and Religious reasons aside, this is a large technological advance. There have also been stores where cashiers are no longer needed. Mainly in Japan, these convenience stores are completely unoccupied by employees but instead are continuously monitored by cameras. If we go back into the topic of banking, banking has and will probably change in terms of more security measures, and updates in electronic currency. 

The future of healthcare is ever-changing as well! With more time, comes more knowledge. As the years go by, more technology starts to become utilized in healthcare. Mobile health technologies like wearable devices, wellness apps, fitness trackers, and biometrics are offering more efficient ways to obtain clinical data. "Not only can this reduce costs and improve patient outcomes, but this technology can improve quality of life for more patients.” Mobile health technologies can also help with any fears pointing in the wrong direction toward a misdiagnosis. Although a wearable device cannot diagnose illnesses, it can help the person by measuring certain vitals such as heart rate, blood pressure, etc. This can help point in the correct direction to a potential diagnosis. Rather than patients having to rely on their own emotions about how they are feeling, the wearable device can give them a little bit of help leading them to the correct diagnosis. Feelings can sometimes be deceiving, so it is quite helpful to rely on the truth that can be displayed on a screen of a wearable device. 

    Another future of healthcare that has been changing would be telehealth. Telehealth reached a large peak during the Covid-19 Pandemic. During the pandemic, people could not leave their homes. Not only could people not leave their homes, but many people were becoming sick. These individuals along with others who were quarantining, needed ways of contacting a healthcare worker, doctor, and/or a nurse. Telehealth (especially during the pandemic) was a great way to ensure that both the patient and the healthcare worker would remain safe. Telehealth was being used before the height of the Covid 19 pandemic, but the pandemic did popularize telehealth through its many non-contact benefits. Because Covid is not at its most dangerous peak anymore, many patients who use telehealth use it now due to the fact that they do not have to leave their homes to speak to a healthcare worker. If someone is bedridden or disabled and does not want or need home visits at the current moment, telehealth is a wonderful resource for them. 

Another way that technology can be predicted to change would be in the field of production. America produces many products. In this field, technology, including different mechanical aspects, and AI aspects is necessary. “Technological change brings efficiency into production processes and labor performance. There are many types of efficiency; two of the most relevant for us are productive efficiency and dynamic efficiency.” “Improved productivity and efficiency due to technological change, have a positive effect on the cost of production. More productivity means more output per input and more efficiency means that the output is achieved with less cost of production. Hence, the overall cost of production decreases.” Production is a very automated process. Honestly, it isn’t surprising that technology is used here, and that it is predicted to become more automated with more intelligent technologies.