Likelihood of technological change
Q. Do you think the following technological changes are likely to happen or unlikely to happen in the next 50 years?
Likely to happen | |||||||||
Likely to happen | Unlikely to happen | Don’t know | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | ||
People needing an organ transplant will have new organs made for them in a laboratory | 73% | 13% | 15% | 72% | 73% | 66% | 70% | 84% | |
Parents will be able to alter the DNA of their offspring before birth to produce smarter, healthier children | 53% | 29% | 18% | 48% | 57% | 48% | 58% | 50% | |
Computers will be as effective as people in creating music, novels, movies and paintings | 48% | 36% | 16% | 48% | 48% | 41% | 51% | 53% | |
People will be able to live to 150 years old | 25% | 58% | 17% | 25% | 25% | 26% | 26% | 23% | |
Humans will live in colonies on other planets | 22% | 59% | 18% | 24% | 20% | 22% | 26% | 18% | |
Humans will be able to control the weather | 11% | 77% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 11% | 14% | 8% |
More than half think it is likely that, in the next 50 years, people needing an organ transplant will have new organs made for them in a laboratory (73%) and parents will be able to alter the DNA of their offspring before birth to produce smarter, healthier children (53%). About half (48%) think that computers will be as effective as people in creating music, novels, movies and paintings.
More than half think it is unlikely that humans will be able to control the weather (77%), humans will live in colonies on other planets (59%) or that people will be able to live to 150 years old (58%).

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