Reading: Into the Future (Advanced ESL

Lesson Plan)
I just went to the Singularity University summit and here are the key findings:
In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide.
Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they w
ent bankrupt.
What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years and most
people dont see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take
pictures on paper film again?
Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed
Moores law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time,
before it became way superior and w
ent mainstream in only a few short years. It will now
happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing,
agriculture and jobs. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Welcome to the Exponential Age. Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next
5-10 years.
Uber is just a software tool, they dont own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in
the world. Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world although they dont own any
properties.
Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This
year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world 10 years earlier than expected. In the US,
young lawyers already dont get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far
for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy
when done by humans. So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% less lawyers in
the future; only specialists will remain.
Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurate than human nurses.
Facebook now has pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. In
2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.
Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the
complete industry will start to be disrupted. You dont want to own a car anymore. You will call a
car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will
not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our
kids will never get a drivers licence and will never own a car. It will change the cities because
we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that. We can transform former parking space into parks. 1,2
million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every
100,000 km with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km. That will
save a million lives each year.
Most car companies might go bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach
and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary

approach and build a computer on wheels. I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and
Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.
Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you c ommute, people will move further
away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood. Insurance companies will have massive trouble
because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper. Their car insurance
business model will disappear.
Electric cars will become mainstream by 2020. Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run
on electricity. Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: solar production has been on
an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact. Last year, more solar
energy was installed worldwide than fossil. The price for solar will drop so much that all coal
companies will be out of business by 2025.
With cheap electricity comes cheap and a
bundant water. Desalination now only needs 2kWh
per cubic meter. We dont have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking
water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for
nearly no cost.
Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There will be companies who will
build a medical device (called the Tricorder from Star Trek) that works with you phone, which
takes your retina scan, you blood sample and you breath into it. It then analyses 54 biomarkers
that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet
will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.
3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10
years. In the same time, it became 100 times faster. All major shoe companies started 3D
printing shoes. Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station
now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have
in the past.
At the end of this year, new smartphones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D
scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home. In China, they already 3D printed a
complete 6-storey office building. By 2027, 10% of everything thats being produced will be 3D
printed.
Business opportunities: If you think of a n
iche you want to go in, ask yourself: in the future, do
you think we will have that? and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner? If
it doesnt work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th
century is doomed to fail in the 21st century.
Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is
not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.
Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in 3rd world countries
can then become managers of their field instead of working all days on their fields. Aeroponics
will need much less water. The first petri dish produced veal is now available and will be
cheaper than cow produced veal in 2018. Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for
cows. Imagine if we dont need that space anymore. There are several startups who will bring
insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat. It will be labeled as
alternative protein source (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

There is an app called moodies which can already tell in which mood you are. Until 2020 there
will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying. Imagine a political debate
where its being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.
Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.
Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year. Four years ago,
the life span used to be 79 years, now its 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by
2036, there will be more that one year increase per year. So we all might live for a long long
time, probably way more than 100.
Education: The cheapest smartphones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia. Until 2020, 70%
of all humans will own a smartphone. That means, everyone has the same access to world
class education. Every child can use the Khan Academy for everything a child learns at school
in First World countries. We have already released our software in Indonesia and will release it
in Arabic, Suaheli and Chinese this summer because I see an enormous potential. We will give
the English app for free, so that children in Africa can become fluent in English within half a
year

Idioms
Write down their definitions below.
To go bankrupt =
To go mainstream =
To run on something (e.g. electricity) =
To be doomed to fail =

Comprehension Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.

What happened to Kodak? Why?

What advice does he give about studying law? Do you believe him?
Paragraph 10 they are completely terrified of Tesla. Why are they terrified?
What might petri-dish produced meat be? (19)

Discussion questions
1. Whats your opinion of the authors predictions? Which do you believe? Which do you
not?
2. As the author states, software used on webpages such as Facebook can recognizes
your face in images. Is this amazing or worrying?
3. In 2030, computers will be more intelligent than humans. (paragraph 8) Do you
believe this statement?
4. What predictions does he make about the following
cars
law
insurance
energy
water

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

health
debates
the job market
our lifespans
Do you believe that insects might be a regular part of our diet in the future?
If these changes are going to happen, then how should we prepare? How can we profit
from it?
What is Bitcoin? Do you think it will be used everywhere in the future?
He mentions an app that will allow students to become fluent in English in half a year. Is
this possible?
If our lifespans increase as the author predicts, will this be a positive thing?
If all these changes occur, do you believe the world will be a better place?

1. After the results of the election were announced, hundreds of angry people took to the streets
and started a .... .
Jury riot fusion mass
2. Employees feared that their positions would become .... after the merger.
diagonal
immune redundant countless
3. Graham's monitor was too dark so he .... its brightness.
Innovated adjusted classified concealed
4. Alan .... one thing in his planning for his holiday in Peru: he forgot to renew his passport.
Fabricated overlooked postponed misled
5. Ryan was feeling .... , so he decided to stay home and go to bed early.
outgoing earnest rundown inhabitable
6. The menu was written in wild writing that was barely .... .

portable

legible

feasible

edible

7. Pauline's classmate invited her out for dinner after class, but she politely .... because she had
other plans.
expanded declined spared released
8. I heard a .... outside so I went to the window. I saw four men in the street arguing.
burial commotion ritual coincidence
9. As a schoolboy, Mike often beat up the weaker kids in his class. He was a(n) .... .
saint guide widow bully
10. The clothing store H&M has recently .... a new campaign targeted at teenage girls.
obstructed launched wrapped injected
11. The judge showed no .... to the 18-year old man. He sentenced him to life in prison.
diction resolve mercy torment
12. The judge was accused of accepting .... from a questionable Russian businessmen.
Bribes tokens rations qualms
13. There was a lot of .... at the meeting. At one point, I thought two managers were going to
start fighting .
Mood atmosphere tension
status
14. Grace prefers the peaceful life in the countryside to living in .... New York City.
rural
loyal
obsolete
hectic
15. Terry used to be a soldier. He lost a .... in war so now he uses a wheelchair.
quart tone
limb fossil
16. Jenny is a heavy smoker. After the 10-hour flight, she was really .... a cigarette.
scrambling
preserving
plunging
craving
17. After .... the woman's health, the doctor told her she was completely healthy.
Infecting maintaining assessing
alternating
18. We need to cheer Paul up. He's .... because his wife left him.
Stubborn
depressed worn out
flexible
19. After calling an ambulance, Carol told the injured man to .... . Help was on the way.
break down
hold tight
buckle up
freak out

20. Unable to control his .... , Jake threw a punch at Alan.

Rage incline
wit
tension
21. The Lebanese woman claimed that .... was making it hard to get a job in England. She said
no one wanted to hire her because she was a foreigner.
Prejudice
morality
justice
literacy
22. My wife has .... to divorce me if I don't start helping around the house.
threatened refused
attempted
proposed
23. My job is so .... . Every day, it's the same thing.
Loyal monotonous
immoral
conspicuous
24. The ninja .... before anyone could get a good look at him.
apologized
illustrated vanished
revealed
25. It's hard to .... Brad. He's very rude and he likes to argue.
catch up to
get along with
make up
take apart

English ESL Conversation Questions

How long have you been studying English?
Should everyone learn English?
Why are you studying English?
In your experience, what studying methods are most effective for you?
What accent do you find easiest to understand?
Are English movies in your country shown with subtitles or are they dubbed?
Should swear words be taught in English class?
If you could speak English perfectly, how would your life change?