This is a topic that I started to write about a number of years ago.

Earlier, I asked Rafiki to pull some of the earliest articles (or videos) that I did regarding this topic. It stretches back the the Steem days, pre-2020.

Some of my earlier works focused upon Steem since the potential of blockchain was clear even back then. Sadly, due to a multitude of factors, this technology, or more accurately its use, is still lagging. What we saw within the ecosystem worked counter to forward progress.

Nevertheless, we are seeing this dating back almost 7 years as evidenced by this and this. Disruption is a very powerful mechanism when it happens.

Right now, we are seeing the green sprouts of what was developed over the last decade. Actually, this is just a continuation of the early Industrial Revolution. Of course, acceleration took place in the last 40 years, a trend we are seeing still in play.

The Age of Abundance is Rapidly Approaching

The convergence we are seeing is amazing.

Here we have a great place to start the discussion. Convergence is the most powerful factor that impacts technological advancement.

To me, the best example for people is the smartphone. The development of this was actually a blending of 3 technologies: mobile, computing, and the internet. Each had its over progress curve, operating for decades individually.

That all changed with the iPhone. When that was introduced, it merged these 3 technologies in one device. Suddenly, we saw a plethora of other advancement such as applications that were possible due to this.

Right now, we are looking at 12-15 technologies that are advancing on an individual basis yet will have impact on others.

For example, progress that is made in the compute world does not only affect the traditional business models. This has significant effects in areas such as medicine and healthcare.

Hardware and software are combining to generate even greater outcomes. This is something that is evidenced by the advancement if AI.

Energy is quickly becoming a topic of conversation. The electricity needs to power data centers is enormous. Simply, there is not enough power for all that is required. Here is where companies are looking closely at every solution. Anything with viability is being considered.

The latest focus is space. Obviously, this is something that held interest to many. That said, we are moving past the nerdy Sci-Fi phase. People are no longer fantasizing about this potential. Instead, we see business plans being implemented to solve the energy problem.

Elon Musk is approaching this. Since he owns both a rocket company along with one (two) that focuses upon AI, he is at the forefront of this discussion. Naturally, he is not alone.

Will we see data centers in space? That is a guarantee. How long will it take? Perhaps we see some prototypes in the next few years. My guess is this will be the norm by the middle of the 2030s.

What is Bringing About Abundance

We are still at a fragmented stage. The smartphone comparison would be Blackberry in the early 2000s. We saw the groundwork for something bigger but it was hard to figure out what that was. Fortunately, Steve Jobs along with the team at Apple had it covered.

Generative AI is changing everything. It doesn't take a lot of research to find how the semiconductor industry is changing. That is a major component to the entire conversation. Jensen Huang of Nvidia is constantly discussing what that company is undertaking.

The basic component to all this are units of cognition. That is what is output. Hence we get what Huang termed "AI factories". Just like physical plants manufacture a product, these data centers are producing mental output. It is why many are focusing upon the potential disruption in knowledge work.

We also have to consider the next step.

Once we have units of cognition, then the challenge becomes turning that from the digital realm to physical. Here is where embedded AI becomes the bridge. When we place this technology in devices that can perform tasks, we see the basis for abundance.

Humanoid robots are getting a lot of attention. Another area is automotive with self driving cars hitting the headlines.

The key here is automation. History shows that output dramatically increases when something is automated. It was probably the primary lesson of the Industrial Revolution.

AI is moving from being a tool to an employee. If this is the case, what does productivity level reach when we have billions of "employees" working 24/7/365 at ever increasing speeds?

What happens when robotics advances to the point where this shows up in physical items?

Connect the dots and we see how abundance is rapidly approaching. The next 10-15 years will alter everything.