The trends already shaping humanity's next century

The Next Human Century looks beyond today's headlines to examine the forces already beginning to reshape human life over the decades ahead.

Artificial intelligence, accelerating technology, longer lives, changing work, concentrated wealth and power, new forms of education, abundant energy, environmental pressures, war, culture, and human enhancement are not isolated developments. Together they are creating changes that may alter how people live, work, govern, compete, and relate to one another.

Rather than predicting a single future, Charles Patton follows the direction of major trends and asks where they may lead if they continue. What happens when machines can perform much of today's human work? How will greater longevity affect families, careers, and retirement? What happens to wealth and political power as technology becomes more capable? And how might humanity itself change?

The Next Human Century is an exploration of possibilities, consequences, and the choices that may determine what kind of future today's generations leave to those who follow.