Breaking the boundary between fantasy and reality, "Top Ten Future Technologies in Science Fiction Works" is officially released

Cheng Xin

On October 22, the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Conference released the "Top Ten Future Technologies in Science Fiction Works". The list is ranked as follows: space elevator, cyberspace (virtual world or metaverse), brain-computer interface, nanorobot, biological computer, human hibernation, mechanical exoskeleton (powered armor), Dyson sphere, quantum computer, brain bank. Among them, the space elevator, which made a stunning appearance in this year's hit movie "The Wandering Earth 2", took the lead in the public likes ranking and was named "the most anticipated future technology".

A 1930 science fiction novel, Heaven and Iron, predicted fully autonomous cars: on a mysterious island paradise, all cars, trucks, cranes, and ships drove themselves.

Neal Stephenson published the science fiction novel "Snow Crash" in 1992. The "metaverse" that we have gradually become familiar with originated from the two concepts of "Metaverse" and "Avatar" mentioned in the novel.

In his 1957 book Conversations, science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem described a small portable television set that resembled an early version of the modern smartphone…

Science fiction, which we once regarded as wild and unrealistic, has become a practical description of reality. The scenes and plots depicted in science fiction works often become the source of inspiration for scientific and technological inventions. Among the vast number of science fiction works, what other technological imaginations will become reality in the next era? Discovering and salvaging future technologies in science fiction works is to open up more imagination for future technologies.

At present, China's science fiction industry is entering a stage of rapid development. It has the world's largest group of science fiction enthusiasts, fans and enthusiasts. The output value of the science fiction industry is as high as 78 billion yuan and continues to grow, which has strongly driven economic growth and technological development.

Robert Sawyer, a famous Canadian science fiction writer and selection consultant, expressed his thoughts on the top ten technologies. He said that the various crises we are facing today, including biological and environmental crises, require the joint efforts of mankind.

The guests at the meeting expressed their hope that by selecting the "Top Ten Future Technologies in Science Fiction Works", they could further inspire the creative inspiration of science fiction writers with science fiction works, arouse the continued attention of science fiction fans, thereby helping to accelerate the development of the science fiction industry, and give science imaginative wings, further helping science turn science fiction ideas into reality, and incubate "future technologies" that will truly change the human world.

Liu Cixin: Humanity must focus on two technologies to create the future

When talking about the topic of "the most futuristic modern technology today", the famous science fiction writer Liu Cixin said that he is most concerned about aerospace and technology that changes human beings themselves.

Liu Cixin used a science fiction story as an example. He said that in this science fiction story, humans observed an alien spaceship traveling at superluminal speed towards the Earth at high speed, as if it was going to invade the Earth. Based on the superluminal speed, humans judged that the civilization and technology represented by this alien spaceship far exceeded that of humans. But after the spaceship arrived, people found that the weapons used by the alien troops were swords and spears, which were far less advanced than human weapons.

"This story illustrates the concept of the technology tree, explains the direction of technology development, and shows that the growth of the technology tree is not subject to human will. Some parts grow rapidly, while others grow slowly, and the final result may become very deformed." Liu Cixin said that looking forward to the future, technologies such as artificial intelligence and information technology may develop rapidly, but fields such as energy, materials, and aerospace may develop slowly. At present, the easy-to-pick fruits on the technology tree have been picked, and the remaining fruits are at a very high place. It is very difficult to pick them and achieve breakthroughs. "To reverse this situation, we can't use limited thinking in the future and hope that artificial intelligence will create a future for us."

Liu Cixin believes that to create a sustainable future, we must rely on technologies other than information technology. He focuses on two technologies.

The first is aerospace technology. Liu Cixin said that in the future, how to get rid of the earth's gravity and reduce the cost of getting rid of it will become the key. "The 'space elevator' can help solve this problem, which is why the 'space elevator' has become the 'most popular nomination by netizens'."

The second is to change human technology. In Liu Cixin's view, the development of science and technology has not changed much for human beings, and human beings are still following the steps of biology in evolution.

In the future, it may be possible to transform and improve humans through human-machine connections and molecular biology, but this may involve transforming human culture and civilization. "Some technological transformations, including brain-computer interfaces, may seem easy, but in fact they are difficult to break through, but I am very much looking forward to the surprises that the future will bring."