So, you’ve been given a task to write something about how you see the future of humanity, the life on our planet as a whole or outside. Writing about the future is never easy. After all, you are expected to write something that is well-grounded in reality (even though you write about something that is going to happen, according to you). It is not enough to let your imagination run wild. Your conclusions about the future have to be logical and stem from the current state of things. That is why it is so important to choose your topic carefully and only write about the things you are sufficiently well-versed in.
In this article, there is a list of viable future-related topics as well as some tips that will make it easier for you to write about them the next time you receive an assignment of this kind.
❶ What Is Education Going to Be Like in the Future?
Education is the topic that is naturally close to the hearts of most students as it is the part of life they are experiencing right now. How is it going to change in the future?
- Consider the current situation with the rise and rapid development of distance learning. Is it going to become the primary method of education in the future or will the traditional approach remain prevalent?
- Think about the potential role of machine learning and AI in the education system. How are they used today and what will be their potential applications when these technologies evolve past their infancy?
- Mention globalization of education and the blurring of boundaries between individual educational institutions and nations;
- Talk about universal access to the Internet and how it is going to change education levels across the world.
❷ What Challenges Will Healthcare of the Future Have to Deal With?
Healthcare is a bit of a double-natured issue. On the one hand, medical science develops rapidly, with new medicines and treatments appearing every day. On the other hand, challenges faced by healthcare also grow in complexity.
- It is often said that developed countries today face an epidemic of obesity, and the situation only gets worse. What do you think about it? Will things get better or worse over the next 10 to 20 years? What can be done to battle this tendency?
- Consider the issue of superbugs – antibiotic-resistant bacteria that appear more and more often in recent years. What are the potential dangers of such organisms? Will medical science be able to successfully deal with them?
- Mention challenges caused by increased average lifespan of human beings. Ironically, as medicine prolongs human lives, it also creates new challenges for itself. Longer lifespan doesn’t equal better health – quite often all that medicine is capable of doing is keeping people alive without maintaining their quality of life. This means that the number of people suffering from conditions associated with old age is going to grow steadily. How do you think, what can such a situation result in by 2030s?
❸ What Languages Will We Speak in the 2030s?
The growing globalization of the world means more interaction between people speaking different languages. What will this result in over time?
- How do you think, will the English language retain its role as a primary language of international communication?
- Think about other languages that can potentially become important on the international scene.
- Ask yourself: is it likely for the boundaries between languages to start blurring? Is it possible for a universal lingua franca to emerge from the interaction of many different languages?
❹ What Is the Future of Automotive Industry?
We already see some rapid changes in the automotive industry. Will they continue? How will it look twenty years from now?
- Write about self-driving cars. We already see significant success in this field. Are they likely to become widespread? If they do, how is the road of the future going to look like? What will it mean for drivers?
- Are electric cars really an answer to the ecological issues plaguing humanity today, or are they a fad that is bound to pass?
- Elon Musk attempted (unsuccessfully so far) to build a fully automated car factory. Write how it can change the automotive industry once it is implemented.
❺ The Most Important Existential Threats to Humanity
It seems that no matter how much we progress in terms of technology, the situation in the world gets progressively less and less stable giving reasons to be concerned about humanity’s survival. What are the worst threats to our existence?
- You may start by writing about previous instances of humanity being in danger of extinction (the Black Death, the Cuban missile crisis, etc.);
- Divide your essay into parts dedicated to potential anthropogenic and natural causes of human extinction;
- Enumerate the most important known threats and single out the one you believe to be the most significant.
❻ What Impact Will Artificial Intelligence Have on Humanity?
It is very likely that by 2030s, humanity will make significant progress towards creating the first self-aware AI. What do you think about it?
- Start by writing about the difficulties scientists working in this area face;
- Mention what various well-known people (Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, etc.), say about potential issues and dangers of creating superintelligent AI;
- Write about potential applications of a real AI.
❼ Energy Production in the Future: Challenges and Possibilities
Humanity consumes more energy with every passing year, yet even now we mostly depend on fossil fuels that are going to run out sooner or later (to say nothing about the environmental consequences of using them). So what will energy production be like in the future?
- Begin with writing about the current situation in this sphere: what is the share of fossil fuels, what progress exists in using other sources of energy;
- Mention the most promising directions in which we can move: geothermal energy, wind energy, biofuels and so on;
- Write about how you see the picture of global energy production in the 2030s.
❽ Future Homes: Will We Recognize Them as Such?
The first steps in the creation of smart homes have already been made. But who knows how far they will progress in two decades?
- Write about existing technologies in this field;
- Go on to describe the most promising technologies that can change the shape of our homes in the near future;
- Let your imagination run wild describing what a future home is going to look like.
➒ Climate Change: Myth or Reality
Climate change continues to be a dividing topic – which side are you on?
- Cite the arguments of both sides;
- State which side of the argument you are on;
- Describe what you believe the current climate change tendency is going to lead to over the next two decades.
➓ Why Space Exploration Is Important for the Future of Mankind
Do you believe that space exploration is among the most important things we can do right now? What are your arguments?
- Write why the Space Race largely ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and how it affected space exploration in general;
- Mention the potential benefits of active space exploration in the future;
- Describe what successes you believe will be achieved by 2030s in this area.
We hope that these topics and the accompanying tips will help you write your assignment the next time you are given a task to write about future or related issues!