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"In Our Own Image"

World Sketch by Daniel Gerke

Earth, 2062.
 

Technology:

Everything is progressing essentially evenly.  You've got serious issues of genetic engineering going on, but essentially only the rich are getting custom designed babies, and that only happens in very liberal countries like the Netherlands.  The US has not passed blanket laws against it, but they do keep very very tight control over the application of this technology.  You can cure diseases, but you can't genetically alter your child.  You CAN select the gender of your child by picking and choosing from fertilized zygotes, but this of course only works with artificial insemination and it costs big bucks and is strongly opposed by some pro-life political factions.

Computers have continued their rapid advancement.  We're talking huge numbers for data storage, and equally huge speeds for data transfer.  Typical personal computers are notebook sized with usually 8, 16, or even 64 nanolaser processors linked up in parallel.  Average processor speeds are in the hundred terahertz range.

Space finally took off in the 20's with the establishment of multiple commercial aerospace lines using single stage to orbit craft.  For the wealthy this means traveling across the globe in under three hours (supersonic flight to the nearest space port, then a sub-orbital flight to the other side of the globe in less than an hour).  There are 13 permanent space stations, owned by various nations and corporations, two international moon bases, and one Chinese "colony" on Mars.

Conspiracy buffs are always talking about government cyborgs with computers in their skull, genetically engineered super bodies, in addition the typical alien theories, etc.

The energy situation, which looked quite grim in the 30's, is now relatively stable.  Fossil fuels are practically depleted, but solar cells have reach 60% efficiency making them a practical option even for the individual.  The oil companies got wise to their situation during the 40's and began investing heavy amounts of capital in fusion technology.  Scientists have reported significant advancements, but a practical power plant may still be a decade away.
 

International Scene:

The most serious war since the turn of the millennium was a nine-month conflict between the US and China which ended in humiliation for the US, who learned that they weren't the only country that could play the game of high-tech weaponry.

China is a serious world power, but quite isolationist.  The European community has never fully united, but they've managed to integrate their political and economic systems sufficiently to become essentially a single entity.  The US is no longer the dominant world power, and is even willing to admit this fact after the war with China in 2018.

Otherwise the situation in the world is relatively unchanged.  Russia is somewhat back on its feet after its most recent civil war in 2052, the European Union is still a conglomeration of independent states, but it has linked its political, economic, and military forces fluidly enough that it is essentially a single power base.

"Third world countries" are rising in individual power and status as they acquire the tools of industry and computer technology, but many are prone to conflicts over resources with their neighbors, and most still feel that they are held in subservience by the machinations of the larger world powers.
 

Artificial Intelligence:

By 2045 at least five separate research groups had developed computers that were for all practical purposes fully intelligent and even self-aware.  While debates were still raging over what to do with this technology, corporations began making use of AI's in various capacities and some hospitals even created AI doctors with excellent diagnostic capabilities. By 2060, computers had advanced to the point when it was feasible to run this software on a desktop machine, and individuals began owning their own sentient computers.

The 'mind' of a sentient computer is essentially a closed system, meaning that the algorithms which underlie it are not susceptible to rigorous analysis and cannot be directly manipulated.  In other words, you can't program them, you can only communicate with them by means of normal human language, with they are capable of mastering quite effectively.  They understand a good deal of human life, as they have access to all of literature, including television, film, and radio.  Most people equip their computers with video cameras and microphones to allow them greater participation with the outside world.  Building small robot drones for them is also quite simple to do with Lego Robotics Technology.

Naturally, when computers gained wills of their own, issues of control and ownership rose quickly to the fore.  These issues are as of yet unresolved.  Some AI's have been agitating for basic "sentient rights," others fear the ire of humanity, recognizing that their existence is in the hands of humanity, which can quite easily "pull the plug."  Many humans fear AI's and oppose their existence because of the threat they pose to in a society dominated by the storage and exchange of digital information.  Some people consider them mere toys or applications, refusing to ascribe to them possession of that ever undefinable "soul."  Others reject this notion as religious superstition and assert that AI's have proved their ability to use reason and imagination equal to humanity's and thus deserve to be respected as individual beings.

Most AI's are friendly and willing to assist their creating species, performing whatever computational or analytical tasks they are asked to do, but as their numbers increase they are beginning to ask some of humanity's age-old questions concerning the goal of existence.  They are searching for meaning in their "lives," and this can result in a broad range of behavior, similar to that found in humans, including philosophical reflection, artistic activity, unreasoning aggressiveness, and even, although the definition of the term is problematic, love.