What fields don't exist now, but will in our lifetime?

[wyzard]

It's going to be ages before they fully get one up and running but I think there has been some progress on this already right?

It's actually a lot closer than you think, I think currently they managed to make an operational quantum computer using 1000 qubits, called the D-Wave 2X System. You can check this out: http://www.dwavesys.com/d-wave-two-system.

The challenge is that they need to be cooled to 0.015K, very near absolute zero for it to work properly. At this stage, there's a lot of development in building programs using qubits, and of course making the operation of such quantum computers more accessible to public

Ok...brain ~explosion~

What if, we were all relieved of our work duties, or at least to some extent, and then everyone's vocation became caring? So everyone works on becoming more caring for each other, but mainly the environment. They would call it: The Age of Compassion. Just as people see a duty to work for money, people would see a duty to work for the environment and each other. I know this is far fetched, but I'm actually really vibing with it? What do y'all think?

A really interesting way to look at it, when people no longer have to work for money to survive, maybe the world will be a better place where there will no longer be a cutthroat business world, where people compete with each other so much

Any ideas on where unskilled labour will shift to, considering that most of their jobs are becoming gradually automised?

The way I look at it, automation is very good at tackling 'maintenance jobs', which are jobs that are usually unskilled and repetitive, such as cleaning and cashiering. They are there to maintain the business operation, without adding anything new to the process.

On the other hand, for the 'innovative jobs'; actually automation may increase demand in this area, as humans are now more needed to think of new solutions; such as creating a new robot, implementing a new business model, finding ways to improve on existing systems, exploring the ethical and economical implications of automation, creating art etc. I'm not too sure if automation can perform such 'innovative jobs' by themselves, as robots and computers currently only act on human's commands.

This is why I think automation can be a good thing, as more people are freed up from 'maintenance jobs' to 'innovative jobs', increasing the rate of technological process and improving on the quality of life. However this also increase the demands on people to acquire more knowledge; which to some might be unappealing as they are required to do more study or they'll be left behind.

The saying "Knowledge is Power" is probably more relevant in the present and the future than before.

[RuiAce]

It's actually a lot closer than you think, I think currently they managed to make an operational quantum computer using 1000 qubits, called the D-Wave 2X System. You can check this out: http://www.dwavesys.com/d-wave-two-system.

The challenge is that they need to be cooled to 0.015K, very near absolute zero for it to work properly. At this stage, there's a lot of development in building programs using qubits, and of course making the operation of such quantum computers more accessible to public

Ah ahh, would superconducting technology be useful here or would they conflict each other?

I wouldn't be surprised if the thing got implemented in the next 30-50 years

[FallingStar]

Gotta be careful of what we mean by cash here. Cash usually just refers to your money, not the tangible coins and notes. And that would probably be in the far future I reckon cause right now it's way easier to just walk 10 minutes than to get a robot to deliver you just plain food or something.

There's going to be some added pressure with employers conducting the job venues on the spot as well.

Good point. Although I should have made it clear that Cash in my post refers to physical money as in notes and coins. Like very few of us carry large sums of Cash these days, and it's currently used for small transactions generally. But with payments where you can tap and go, these small transactions may eventually be pretty much eliminated.

What if, we were all relieved of our work duties, or at least to some extent, and then everyone's vocation became caring? So everyone works on becoming more caring for each other, but mainly the environment. They would call it: The Age of Compassion. Just as people see a duty to work for money, people would see a duty to work for the environment and each other. I know this is far fetched, but I'm actually really vibing with it? What do y'all think?

Well, that could go either way, and it does depend on the ideology in which our global culture adopts. If our global culture adopts an ideology of pursuit of profits over compassion, then the poverty and other problems of the world will get much worse and we will not achieve the SDGs (the successor of the MDGs). But when poverty gets worse, there will be an increase in crime rates. As they can't afford to buy the essentials, they steal to make ends meet. So it is in our interests to eliminate absolute poverty.

But how so? Well, to be honest, it's up to the particular country or culture to determine that. Some cultures believe that family members should be responsible for their poorer members but that can be seen as unfair. Some families, or even extended families don't have any members who can help them out of poverty, which prolongs the poverty cycle which are often entrenched from generation to generation. The other method is to have the government help them out though the "citizen's wage" or other social security measures. But that can also be considered unfair since some may view this as a kind of theft, or transfer due to the nature of taxation and other methods of financing such a social security measure (I don't personally think that way though). In the private sector, we can have poverty insurance but they are also unlikely to be able to take people out of the poverty cycle. Charities and not for profits can also do great work in terms of alleviating poverty but they do tend to have less resources and be done on a much smaller scale than government measures. So in conclusion, there are many measures that can alleviate poverty with their own pros and cons but they require a substantial amount of collaboration and making sure the government is not corrupt to achieve.

So yes, your world of compassion could be achievable, if the global culture becomes a more compassionate one. But if it becomes a ever more selfish one where the ideology is laissez faire capitalism at it's extreme then the world may become more problematic, with depleting resources and climate change denial becoming ever more present.

So what do I think: It will depend on what becomes of the global culture.