Dateline: January 1 2036
It’s 2036, and looking back at the last 10 years it’s astounding how much the world has changed. Mostly for the better, but not always.
Almost unnoticed by younger generations is the subtle yet significant shift from centralised power plants burning coal and oil to distributed electrical energy systems built on solar, geothermal and modular nuclear generators. Supported by natural gas, of course, which is still abundantly available. The new energy revolution has lowered costs and raised the standard of living for everyone, everywhere.
And who even drives a gas guzzler anymore? Electric cars are just so more efficient, affordable and convenient. In cities, anyway. With hundreds of millions of robotaxis available on demand, most of us have given up the idea of owning a car. If we do take a vehicle for a spin, it’s for the pleasure of driving, like riding a horse. And you don’t have to own your own horse just to ride one.
With electric air taxis, regional jets and hypersonic airliners, global mobility has shot through the roof, and most of it runs on electricity or hydrogen-derived fuel (HDF). Even cruise ships are nuclear-powered now, just like the navy.
But the most dramatic way the world has changed is the robotic revolution. The general availability of intelligent robots has transformed how we live and work. They do all the chores and dangerous, boring, repetitive work, giving us true agency and the power to decide for ourselves how we want to live and make a living — be that in the service of others or just living our own best life.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Any social and economic upheaval comes with downsides and pitfalls, like excessive greed and marginalised communities. But intelligent tech has changed the world, and we can never go back. Thank the stars.
/ First published on Mindbullets January 1 2026.
Robot population explosion
Dateline: April 24 2029
One of the fastest-growing technologies in human history is the extraordinary boom in humanoid robots.
In 2025, Tesla managed to produce more than 4,000 of its Optimus robots, while the top five robot makers in China barely managed 1,000 each of their flagship models. More advanced droids, such as Atlas from Boston Dynamics, were still undergoing development and AI training and were far from mass production.
But once robots, built by robots, became a standard product off assembly lines, production scaled exponentially. Just like more humans produce more humans (by having babies), more bots can be put to work to make even more bots. Which brings down the cost and increases demand. Rinse and repeat.
“The key was reimagining the electric vehicle assembly line and combining aspects of a smartphone production facility,” said Ricky Wang, Tesla’s head of Optimus production. “It’s a bit like making smart cars without wheels, or computers with arms and legs.”
While China’s robot factories are specialist facilities, Tesla’s gigafactories produce robotaxis and droids side-by-side on AI-optimised, automated platforms. Since Optimus is an expert at building more copies of itself as well as cybercabs, production has soared with little human involvement. And the robots are helping build the new factories too.
Just like computers, robots get better every year. In the first humanoid half-marathon, the winning robot was almost three times slower than the human. Now robots easily beat the best long-distance athletes.
This year global humanoid production is expected to exceed 10-million, and five or 10 times that number next year. It’s a veritable robot population explosion.
/ First published on Mindbullets April 24 2025.
- Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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