States will be destroyed, racism will flourish and new pandemics: a futurologist frightened the future of humanity

While humanity is concerned about the threat posed by the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, futurologists urge us not to forget about other dangers. In particular, those that can destroy the Earth with all life on it.

Noah Raeford, a futurologist and expert in public policy, strategy, and new technologies, spoke about such challenges in his Wired podcast Have a Nice Future. Climate change remains a key challenge, he said, and could lead to the collapse of the global economy and the collapse of nations.

Artificial intelligence, he argues, could contribute to this process by destroying a large part of the workforce. However, he calls the emergence of new diseases, which will again lead to global pandemics, as happened with Covid-19, a greater threat.

He talked about a study by the American Development Institute that predicted a 25% chance of a repeat pandemic within the next 10 years. And a 50% chance within 20 years. "In fact, speaking of a pandemic, I'm very concerned, I see a lot of evidence coming out of the thawing Siberian tundra about a variety of incredibly nasty viruses from 15,000 years ago, such as new strains of anthrax," Raeford said. According to his information, these strains could be out there within 10 to 20 years, sooner rather than later.

As for climate change, Raeford believes that the point of no return has probably already been passed and there is no way to stop it. "We may be able to reduce its effects, but in the end our whole lives and certainly the whole lives of our children will be devoted to fighting the effects of climate change," he believes.

The expert predicts that climate change will make a noticeable part of our planet uninhabitable and turn more than a billion people into refugees from climate disaster zones. According to Raford, this will cause a range of social problems, such as clashes at borders, growth of racism and xenophobia, collapse of currencies, collapse of power grids and food crises. Such migration will contribute to new pandemics. In all likelihood, this will all lead to the downfall of existing states.

Among other problems that could put the good future of humanity at risk, Raeford cited the increasing proportion of people who are obese, the rising incidence of diabetes, alcohol and drug addiction.

At the same time, one of the main sources of optimism Raford called the same artificial intelligence. In his opinion, the proper use of such technologies can allow the creation of various revolutionary businesses and open up new sources of profit that will change the life of mankind.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL told how climate change can cause contamination of vast areas with toxic chemicals.

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