Dubai Future Forum 2023, organised by the Dubai Future Foundation, convened around 2,500 people to address some of the worlds’ greatest challenges and opportunities at the Museum of the Future. More than 150 experts in future foresight shared their insights on the near and far future across 70 sessions, keynotes, and workshops.
Speakers shared their predictions in spheres including space, sustainability, the environment, energy, food, health, medicine, education, technology, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and governance.
Participants predicted that the next decade will witness a paradigm shift in technologies with the rise of completely new technologies, vastly outpacing the development of technologies from the past 70 years.
Participants heard how ‘silicon hospitals’, based on smart semiconductors implanted in the body, will, in the future, act as ‘tiny hospitals’ that accompany people. These will provide accurate medical diagnoses around the clock, which will reduce healthcare costs and lessen the need for surgical interventions. Experts suggested that a new epidemic occurring in the near future could carry a US$1 trillion healthcare bill for the world.
The forum heard how strokes could soon be diagnosed in just 10 minutes – instead of 10 hours – thanks to advances in technology. Other diseases could similarly be treated through super early diagnosis.
Experts noted that new technologies replacing traditional drugs and devices could reduce the cost of medical trials by up to 10 times. Additionally, AI technologies are expected to reduce the cost of producing medicines by USD 1 billion and the costs of medical devices by up to USD 100 million.
Children will soon have the power to conduct game changing science, the forum heard. They will be able to combine their curiosity, collaborative nature and empathetic personalities with AI and quantum computing to impact the world while they are still young. The emergence of ‘citizen scientists’ will help the world to solve its greatest challenges. Currently, just 0.1% of the world’s population are scientists.
Also published on Medium.
