Breakthroughs for 2019

I was prepared to disagree vehemently with this article at Visual Capitalist on Bill Gates’s predictions for technological breakthroughs in 2019 but was pleasantly surprised to find that I agree with all of them. Cruise over to the link to see the eye-catching infographic.

The article is ultimately derived from MIT Technology Review which has this numbered list:

1. Robot dexterity—robot hands that can learn to manipulate unfamiliar objects on their own
2. New-wave nuclear power—both fission and fusion reactor designs that could help bring down carbon emissions
3. Predicting preemies—a simple blood test to warn of a preterm birth, potentially saving many children’s lives
4. Gut probe in a pill—a swallowable device that can image the digestive tract and even perform biopsies
5. Custom cancer vaccines—a treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to target only tumor cells
6. The cow-free burger—both plant-based and lab-grown meat alternatives that could drastically cut emissions from the food industry
7. Carbon dioxide catcher—techniques for absorbing CO2 from the air and locking it away that may finally become economic
8. An ECG on your wrist—the ability for people with heart conditions to continuously monitor their health and get early warnings of problems
9. Sanitation without sewers—a self-contained toilet that could tackle disease and unpleasant living conditions in much of the developing world
10. Smooth-talking AI assistants—new advances in natural language processing that make digital assistants capable of greater autonomy

Note what’s conspicuous by their absence: extravagant predictions about artificial intelligence or breakthroughs in battery technology. AI is there but the predictions are modest and achievable.

I’m not as convinced that the benefits predicted from the breakthroughs will actually materialize. For example, I wonder if animal-free burgers will actually result in fewer carbon emissions than the real kind in my lifetime?