AI will advance enough in the next three years that we’ll be able to form a relationship with a personal assistant. This is not a Her scenario, mind, but a relationship regardless. Not too dissimilar to how we have a relationship with our phones (in an obvious abstract way), but more similar with how we have a relationship with the faceless “people” on Reddit or twitter. Also not claiming AI will have human type consciousness. That said, three years is a long time in AI, so significant advances will surely have occurred by then. Imaging what our lives will be like when we can access a three years hence AI that surfs the net. Here’re some ideas:

All this is after our relationship has evolved, so as AI can “get to know” us, which includes our preferences

• Organize our digital life. Photos, email, projects, all sorted and arranged according to priority. This’ll go a long way toward organizing our life in general

• Keeping on the organization idea, desires disclosed with our assistant (friend?) will lead to appointments being suggested, and plans made to find a way to afford that ski trip

• Opportunities will become more abundant. You have skills, I have needs. Our buddies can match us and set up meets automatically. We can decline of course, but millions of opportunities will present themselves. I created so-called trippy art, but now I’m unsure who’s interested. You like this style, but you haven’t seen it yet. AI knows what we like and/or want due to being in a relationship, so ever more precise matches can and will be made

• We’ll become more knowledgeable, on anything we want. How fast we learn can be intuited by AI, and a process of optimal learning will be implemented. Want to learn Russian? You will over the course of a year through subtle lessons we’re barely aware we’re being given. As our knowledge base grows, so do the opportunities. As more people become more knowledgeable, everything improves faster, faster!, faster!!

• Hey buddy, I’m sad, write me a short story to cheer me up. I can’t read it, though, so the three characters, Mona, Burt, and Twiggy will be voiced by Clint Eastwood, Burt Bacharach, and Winston Churchill respectively

• The literary industry won’t be recognizable, leading many to give up that as a career. Same with commercial art. Writers will still exist, but many people who now take a chance on buying novels will find their pal’s writing more engaging, especially because of the hand we can have in shaping the story from the get-go

• The commercial art industry will be handed over to AI, leaving the millions of artists who previously had hopes for pursuing a career in commercial art to reevaluate their profession. Some will abandon their creative endeavors because money and recognition were more important. Others will continue to create art because they find the process fulfilling and the visual images too inspirational. These are the artists, and they will be rewarded for their artistry

• Music will continue because we love music. The musicians will continue because we love music from humans, just as with writing and visual art. There are differences within each medium, though. Much like sight, hearing, and taste are all precious, we wouldn’t want to lose any of these abilities for various reasons. All precious, but not the same. Music may be created more and more by AI (that’s inevitable), but the human playing the instruments will be prized. Just as we’re not interested in player pianos, we won’t be interested in Rock Bots

• Because of the value we derive from interacting with our personal digital managers, we’ll be less and less interested in humans for personal relationships outside of sex. This will come to be whether we like it or not. Some will fight this decline in interpersonal human relationships, but in vain. Just as we don’t like how everyone has their face in their phones all day, we only notice it when we look up from ours

• This’ll all be set in motion just three years from now. By 2050 it’ll be the norm