I’ve glimpsed the future and it might just work

What’s the next big thing in tech? It’s a subject that’s been concerning me quite a bit recently. I often get asked to predict upcoming developments and, for the last few years, I’ve been able to answer ‘AI’, and pose the supplementary question of whether it delivers on its promised potential. But the saturation coverage given to AI of late has made that answer seem groan-worthily predictable. AI now feels part of the present rather than the future.

What’s the alternative answer? I haven’t had much luck trawling the usual suspects. Quantum Computing for example, which utilises the mind-boggling principles of quantum physics to create ultrafast computers that can crack even the most secure passwords. It’s not only worrying but hard to explain and the computers are a long way off delivering this, so not much use to me in my quest.

Web 3.0 is even more difficult to explain than quantum computing. It somehow uses blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to create a new version of the World Wide Web that cedes more power to the individual user rather than being dominated by a few big tech companies.

At least that’s the theory. Practical examples seem in rather short supply and many think it’s just a buzzword or worse, that it hands over power to a limited number of venture capitalists, and consumes vast amounts of energy processing data. I’ll wait and see how that plays out.

Perhaps I need to look beyond silicon. Biotechnology is advancing rapidly, enabling breakthroughs in areas like personalised medicine, gene editing and synthetic biology, potentially revolutionising healthcare. I was wondering about the ethics, difficulty and expense of all this, when I had a perspective-changing conversation.

While attending a show at the Royal College of Art, I chatted with the Head of its Intelligent Mobility programme, Dr Chris Thorpe. The future, he suggested, is biophilia. This is biotech on steroids, a broad concept based around a closer connection between human beings and nature. Its impact goes beyond healthcare to agriculture, product design and environmental sustainability in industry.

Early steps might be more mimicry of nature. This is nothing new, of course, a well-known example being Velcro, inspired by the natural hooks found in burrs. But a future biophilic world would also harness, for example, nature’s efficiency at recycling. Most human endeavours in this area reduce the quality of materials in each cycle. Nature doesn’t.

We’ll get better at making biology help us. One can imagine a self-healing car windscreen or growing your own house, or dynamic transport systems with the intelligence of a living organism.

It may seem theoretical and idealistic but it could be just the sort of radical philosophy that makes our overcrowded world more survivable and sustainable, with prosperity derived from natural abundance.

At least it’s solved one problem. When asked what’s the next big thing, I’m now going to answer biophilia and attempt a brief explanation of how future tech might embrace the efficiency and beauty of nature. I’m already looking forward to it.