Weekly: 2023 Tech Predictions - How Do AI, Nostradamus, and Blockchain Factor In?

☕️ Reading time: 7 minutes

Happy New Years wayfinder 🎉

You might’ve noticed there was no newsletter last week. That's because I took a week-long break and explored Melbourne and Sydney (Australia) a bit with my partner.

But to start 2023, I’m going to cover some key tech predictions, how blockchain will influence such developments, and how they parallel with some ancient predictions.

Here's an outline:

• ANCIENT PREDICTIONS

  • A change in Earth's orbit

  • Worsening climate crisis

  • Atlantis & Lemuria rising

• TECHNOLOGY PREDICTIONS

  • AI

  • IoT & IPv6

  • VR/AR/MR

  • Micro/nano payments

• SUMMARY + USE-CASES FOR ONE-PERSON BUSINESSES

Let’s go!

☸️ ANCIENT PREDICTIONS

Many predictions have been attributed to ancient civilizations and more ‘recent’ (last few centuries) mystics such as Baba Vanga, Nostradamus, and Edgar Cayce. It's important to approach all predictions with a degree of skepticism since many interpretations of cryptic or ambiguous statements may not be reliable or accurate.

Noting this, however, I do enjoy exploring multiple and even controversial viewpoints. Because I believe there’s truth to be found somewhere in the middle. So before I go into technology predictions for 2023, I will highlight three “ancient” predictions and tie them all together towards the end.

1. A change in Earth’s orbit

Baba Vanga is a Bulgarian mystic and clairvoyant who died in 1996 at 84 years of age. She made many predictions about the future, including some that are said to pertain to the year 2023. However, it's important to note that many of these predictions are based on interpretations of her statements and may not be reliable. But one major prediction was a shift in the Earth’s orbit.

As I write this from Australia, experiencing winter weather in “summer,” I can see how this may be likely. According to a geologist from the University of California - Santa Barbara, there is a pattern connecting regular changes in the Earth’s orbital cycle every 100,000 years. So while there is a lot of justified alarmism around climate change, it also seems to be part of the Earth's natural cycle. Baba Vanga has also predicted solar storms in 2023 which are expected to lead to increased power outages and disruptions in communication. It just happens to be intensifying during our lifetime.

2. Worsening climate crisis

Nostradamus was a French astrologer and physician. He predicted that global warming and climate change would cause turmoil in the Black Sea, a new economic crisis, a worsening climate crisis, the destruction of a large empire, and a civil war in America. He also wrote a quatrain warning of dark times due to rising CO2 levels and temperatures. Additionally, he predicted the arrival of a new Pope in 2023 and Vladimir Putin's assassination, as well as Joe Biden suffering from a mysterious disease (not a surprise).

3. Atlantis & Lemuria rising

Edgar Cayce was an American psychic and clairvoyant, also known as the “sleeping prophet,” and one of my favorites. Cayce's predictions were often based on spiritual or metaphysical beliefs and so not always grounded in “scientific” or “empirical evidence.” However, many of his analyses and predictions proved either valid or had significant positive changes in those who followed him.

According to Edgar Cayce's readings, the mythical continent of Atlantis was a highly advanced civilization that existed thousands of years ago and was located in the present-day Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico (connected to the Mayans of the Yucatan, mentioned in Weekly #005). Cayce believed that the civilization was destroyed by greed and natural disasters and that its ruins could be found underwater.

Cayce also believed in the existence of another lost civilization called Lemuria (mentioned in Daily #033), which was located in the Pacific Ocean and was also destroyed by natural disasters. Cayce believed that recent advancements in technology could be connected to "Atlantean and Lemurian souls reincarnating on Earth" over the last few centuries, suggesting that history may need to be revised with new discoveries. Journalist Graham Hancock's TV series "Ancient Apocalypse," which launched in November 2022, explores these ideas further.

🛰 TECHNOLOGY PREDICTIONS

A number of emerging technologies are likely to see significant developments and advancements in 2023. The areas I’m most excited about include AI, IoT, IPv6, VR/AR/MR, and micro/nano payments.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

If you’ve heard of GPT3 or ChatGPT, then you’re already seeing the impact AI is starting to have on the world. AI has the potential to transform many industries and is already being used in a variety of applications, such as self-driving cars, personal assistants, and healthcare. In 2023, I expect to see even more AI-powered solutions being developed and deployed, including areas such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML).

Blockchain technology can significantly improve our AI efforts by providing a reliable audit trail for AI models. If you think of AI as a human brain, and blockchain as the human gut, then a scaleable blockchain (clean gut) will ensure AI models (brain) stay precise, active, and reliable. Brain activity will be impaired if you have a clogged or dysfunctional gut. Therefore, if we want our global AI systems to be more reliable, blockchain technology helps us keep such systems transparent, honest, and clear of potentially harmful biases.

Blockchain technology will also help improve AI models through cost efficiency. Right now, it’s estimated that it costs ChatGPT $100,000 per day (or $3M per month) to run. ChatGPT could save significantly in running costs using blockchain[1][2].

For example, the average transaction fee on the BSV network is around US$0.00015. Amazon would be charged at a base rate of US$0.001 per transaction. The BSV blockchain also offers high transaction volumes, fast speed, predictable low fees, micropayment capabilities, and greater data capacity[3][4].

I predict new jobs will arise as a result of these AI developments, as I am already seeing new job titles such as “AI Prompt Crafters.”

Internet of Things (IoT) & IPv6

The IoT refers to the interconnected network of physical devices, such as smart thermostats and appliances, that are connected to the internet and can communicate with each other. In 2023, I expect to see more widespread adoption of IoT devices and an increase in the development of IoT-based solutions for various industries.

IPv6 is the most recent version of Internet Protocol (IP) developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to replace IPv4. It provides increased IP addressing and additional security to support the predicted growth of connected devices in IoT, manufacturing, and emerging areas like autonomous driving[5].

If you recall the earlier predictions of Baba Vanga, specifically around solar storms, IPv6 may be used to create more connected local networks. This way, people could still communicate even if disconnected from the internet[1][2]. And by combining blockchain technology with IPv6, we could see more resilient, secure, and transparent pathways for IoT and IPv6-based devices to thrive in the event of natural disasters.

Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR)

VR/AR/MR technologies allow users to experience digital content in a way that feels immersive and real, especially in the “metaverse.” In 2023, I expect to see continued growth in these markets, with more advanced hardware and software being developed and more applications being created for industries such as gaming, education, and healthcare.

Blockchain technology will aid these developments by improving decentralized identity (DIDs) efforts, digital asset management (DAM), verifiable data, and secure/efficient data sharing.

On the DID front, I expect blockchain to improve the ability for users to own more of their data related to VR/AR/MR usage - increasing personal safety, control, and security.

For DAM, blockchain would allow users to own and trade digital assets (aka “digital twins”) in a secure and transparent way. This relates directly to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which rose to prominence in 2021-2022.

If our climate worsens, as Baba Vanga and Nostradamus predicted, then digital twins and metaverse ecosystems will become insurance for nations at risk of extinction (e.g. Tuvalu).

Micro/Nano Payments

Micropayments are often used in online or digital contexts, where it is convenient to make small payments for digital goods or services. They are very small financial transactions (from tens of dollars to a few cents). Nano payments are even smaller than micropayments and may involve the exchange of amounts as low as a few hundredths of a cent.

Blockchain technology has the potential to enable micro and nano payments by providing a secure and efficient way to process and record these small transactions. For example, blockchain-based payment systems, such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), are supposed to be used to facilitate micropayments without the need for traditional intermediaries, such as banks or credit card companies. This would make it easier and more cost-effective to process very small transactions globally.

Unfortunately, BTC Core developers capped the Bitcoin system at 1MB, meaning Bitcoin (BTC) can only run at a max throughput of 7 transactions per second. This is like restricting plumbing pipes to 1cm in diameter when it can actually be resized dynamically to fit whatever size required. Ethereum, due to its design, has significant scaling issues. This is why something known as “gas fees” (transaction fees) rises astronomically whenever the network grows.

This means that most blockchain developers have been unable to explore true micro and nano-payment-based business models on-chain. So in 2023, I predict frustrated developers will naturally find their way back to blockchains that actually scale. Even returning to programming languages like Bitcoin Script and Fourth.

🪢 TYING IT ALL TOGETHER

In 2023, it is likely that climate change will remain a major concern, and efforts to address it will continue, while technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, IPv6, IoT, and AR/VR will continue to evolve and be adopted in various industries (e.g. Metaverse).

In summary, you can expect improvements in the following areas:

• Blockchain: Financial services, supply chain management, identity verification & micro/nano payments

• AI: Automation and optimization of business processes and tasks

• IPv6: Increased capacity to support growing number of connected devices

• IoT: Deeper integration into homes, cars and industrial processes

• AR/VR: Increase of “digital twins” and blurring the lines of reality

Since many of my readers are one-person businesses (OPBs), everything mentioned above will impact you in the following ways:

1. Blockchain will help you own and share more of your data, regardless of platform. This is because a scaleable blockchain is like one large, global, and transparent database. Where you can still remain private, but trust your data is uncompromisable. It will help you manage more of your digital assets like a boss.

2. AI will improve your content creation and idea-generation capabilities. From writing landing pages to creating viral content to improving your to-do list, you’ll want to learn how to use AI tools to complement your creativity and efficiency, instead of being worried about it replacing you.

3. IoT will improve efficiency and productivity, especially for those hungry to connect to the global marketplace. With more connected devices, I predict a lot more entrepreneurs emerging from Low & Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

4. AR/VR/MR will provide more immersive and interactive learning experiences. It will enable engaging marketing and sales experiences, facilitate enhanced collaboration and networking, and elevate the remote work experience.

5. Micro/nano-payments. Micro and nano payments will benefit micro-entrepreneurs by enabling them to sell products or services to a wider range of customers, reducing transaction costs + barriers to (market) entry, and increasing financial inclusion.

Predictions from the likes of Baba Vanga, Nostradamus, and even Edgar Cayce, can be treated as entertainment for most. But for those paying attention, it can help you explore future possibilities, while also taking note of patterns from the present. No one knows for sure what the future holds, but whether it's ancient mysticism or modern-day science, human beings are always looking for ways to predict the future and better prepare for it.

As author Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” And on that note, may your 2023 be filled with both advancement and magic!

Until next week, remember: through patience & persistence, it will come (in 2023).

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