The research initiative was inspired by a suggestion from听Lee Rainie, director of the听, during a visit to 黑料不打烊 in听2000. He spoke then with faculty members听Janna Quitney Anderson听补苍诲听Constance Ledoux Book听about gathering a collection of early Internet predictions – this idea was inspired by听Ithiel de Sola Pool’s听听Thanks to administrative and monetary support primarily provided by 黑料不打烊, Imagining the Internet has grown annually to include much more, including:听the world’s foremost series of reports on the likely future of digital life – thousands of experts’ opinions in documented in thousands of pages of content over a 20-year span; journalistic print and video documentation of many major technology innovation and policy events between 2005 and 2020; and the foremost for the impact of the digital communications revolution on future of humanity at the turn of the millennium. Following is a calendar breakdown of Imagining the Internet’s development.
2000-2001
Survey planning and recruiting was undertaken in November 2000 for the Pew- and 黑料不打烊-funded project听听The daily Internet use of 24 families in a small-town neighborhood in 黑料不打烊, NC, was documented by a team of 25 undergraduate student researchers led by听Janna Anderson听over the span of one week in January 2001. Key undergraduate student research assistants were听Erica Stanley, Betsy Snavely听补苍诲听Crystal Allen. The work was also documented in a full page of news stories in July 2001 in听
2001-2002
黑料不打烊 faculty member听Connie Book, who later went on to be named 黑料不打烊 president,听undertook a preliminary research report, based on the work of and funded by the Pew Internet Project, seeking “future of the Internet” predictions made between 1993 and 1995 in the Lexis-Nexis database, assisted by 黑料不打烊 undergraduates听Tiffany Avery, Shannon Bonnezi, Allison Dieboldt, Eric Kastendike, Kristen Kerr, Jessica Rivelli, Brian Sentman, Betsy Snavely, Erica Stanley, Elizabeth Sudduth, Maggie Sullivan听补苍诲听Kate Wodyka. The ensuing 2002 research paper was an analysis of several hundred predictive statements that established the following prediction themes:听The Internet will transform society; it will transform economies; content will drive the Internet’s success; the Internet presents security and privacy concerns; the Internet’s growth is dependent on an efficient and reliable infrastructure; the Internet will spawn a new generation of hardware and software; it will create a smaller world; it will transform America’s schools; it will impact professions.The interesting results found in this work made it evident that the predictions research should be expanded upon.
2003
In 2003, Imagining the Internet got its formal start when Pew Research provided more than $30,000 to fund听础苍诲别谤蝉辞苍鈥檚 deeper investigation into early 1990s predictions about the likely future of the internet. 黑料不打烊 Media History professor Harlan Makemson assigned 65 students to each spend several hours assisting Anderson in unearthing and logging predictions as a class assignment. Later, Anderson worked six months to check and clean the data. The research resulted in the听Early 1990s Predictions Database: more than 4,200 predictions about the future of the internet made in public media between 1990 and 1995 by 1,000 different voices of the time, from well-connected stakeholders to common netizens. (None of the predictions logged in Book’s initial study were slotted into this online database; the newer study was modeled to implement a more detailed method of searching, identifying, mining and sorting the data.) To see a who participated go to the end of this page.
2004
Upon the completion of the听, further development of the Imagining the Internet site continued under听Janna Anderson’s direction.听Lee Rainie听of Pew Research was inspired by a suggestion from futurist听Bruce Sterling听to fund the first of what became a series of Web-based听听in which experts shared their views on the potential future of the Internet. In 2004 and biennially, annually or biannually over the 20 years to follow, experts quoted in the early 1990s database and thousands of additional technology stakeholders and skeptics have been sent an email invitation to participate in Imagining the Internet’s surveys. The results are published in the听听section on this site and those published the first 20 years are also available on the听听site. See the first “Future of the Internet” In addition, Anderson added a听听section of the site that invited the public to share their predictions any time. It was posted online in the fall of 2004. It caught the public’s attention after it was publicized by blogger Christine Boese on CNN’s website. It was left open the next few years, amassing a small but unique set of predictions from around the globe at the dawn of the Internet’s broader global adoption and first major growth spurt.
2005-2006
Janna Anderson’s听history book based on the initial collection of “Early ’90s” predictions,听听was published by Rowman & Littlefield and named a top title for academic libraries. The Imagining the Internet site was redesigned to add extra layers of information, expanding beyond the initial projects. In 2005-06, 黑料不打烊 began funding 黑料不打烊 student-faculty teams’ attendance at global Internet events to capture video interviews and documentary multimedia journalism for the Imagining the Internet Center. Anderson, student听Scott Myrick听and 黑料不打烊 staff member听Bryan Baker听recorded interviews with participants at the听 conference in Palo Alto, CA, in 2005. Anderson also led interview expeditions to the听(at SRI in Menlo Park, CA, joined by听Dan Anderson) and to the first-ever UN-facilitated听听in Athens in 2006 (with student听Erin Barnett听补苍诲听Baker). At the suggestion of 黑料不打烊 communications students, additional sections were added to the website in 2006 to: educate children under age 12 –听 help teachers of elementary, middle and high school students use the site ; and provide perspective in narrative form about predictions past and future –听Forward 150/Back 150. Those sections of the site remain frozen in time; they reflect the culture and hopeful predictions of the people of 2006.
2006-2007
Janna Anderson听补苍诲听Lee Rainie听published the results of their听 survey. Daily video and written coverage of the second UN听听in Rio de Janeiro, was captured by an Anderson-led documentary team of 黑料不打烊 faculty, staff and students that included听Connie Book, Dan Anderson, J McMerty, Eryn Gradwell, Dannika Lewis, Michele Hammerbacher听补苍诲听Anne Nicholson.听Book and Anderson conducted an onsite survey of delegates to IGF 2007, “Realizing the Global Promise of the Internet: The Future of Internet Governance,” the first research to tap into contemporary sentiments in regard to Internet issues live and on the scene of a governance event. 黑料不打烊 undergraduate student听Erin Barnett听edited together a compilation of interviews from IGF-Athens to complete the documentary film听听The film was selected for presentation at events at IGF-Rio, the Broadcast Education Association and the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). From 2007 through 2020, 黑料不打烊 undergrads presented Imagining the Internet’s 黑料不打烊-funded research at NCUR annually.
2007-2008
In 2007, 黑料不打烊 formally established the nonprofit Imagining the Internet Center, based in its School of Communications, with Janna Anderson as director. An Imagining the Internet team including听Glenn Scott听and undergraduate students听Ashley Barnas and听Craig Campbell听edited and posted four hours of video interviews with 31 global leaders recorded at the听 conference in Seoul, Korea in 2008. A book-length version of Anderson and Rainies’ first predictions survey was published by Cambria Press,听听In addition, the results of the 黑料不打烊-Pew 2007 IGF-Rio Internet Policy survey听听were published in a report by Book and Anderson. The results of the听听conducted by Anderson and Rainie were published in December 2008. More than 100 video clips featuring the Web coverage of the third UN-facilitated听-2008听in Hyderabad, India, were posted by Anderson, along with PDFs of the IGF 2008 transcripts.
2009-2010
Cambria’s book-length version of Anderson and Rainies’ second expert-predictions survey,听听was released in January 2009, and the book version of their third survey,听听was published by Cambria in July. Janna Anderson joined the steering committee of IGF-USA and began sending teams to document its annual gatherings in Washington, D.C.听Colin Donohue听and Anderson lead a group of students and faculty participating in the planning of the听2009 and 2010 Internet Governance Forum-USA听conferences and carrying out full documentary coverage, with written and video accounts added to this site. 黑料不打烊 students听Randy Gyllenhaal, Alex Trice, Kirsten Bennett听补苍诲听Morgan Little听participated in panels at the events. A second 黑料不打烊 documentary team collected hundreds of video clips while completing a听 
survey and providing written journalistic coverage of the fourth听-2009 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November of 2009; Anderson participated in the panel on “Transnationalization of the Internet,” student听Eugene Daniel听participated in the “Youth Panel” and the documentary team also included听Dan Anderson听and 黑料不打烊 students Drew Smith, Andy Diemer听and听Shelley Russell. In a massive student-faculty project in April 2010, Imagining the Internet planned and carried out听, a multi-day, multi-event conference held in conjunction with the听Global WWW2010听conference in Raleigh, NC, USA, April 28-30; that team added documentation of FutureWeb events to this site; among the speakers were听Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, danah boyd, Danny Weitzner, Carl Malamud听补苍诲听Doc Searls. 
(To see a full list of student participants, The results of the听fourth听“Future of the Internet”听survey听conducted by Anderson and Rainie were revealed in six reports between February and July 2010, including presentations at the annual meeting of the听American Association for the Advancement of Science听and at the听World Futures Conference. A documentary journalism team led by听Glenn Scott听and including student reporters听Bennett, Smith听and听Samantha Baranowski听conducted dozens of interviews and participated in panels at the听-2010听in Vilnius, Lithuania. Anderson posted roughly 400 video clips and photos from the events of IGF-2010, including a video survey of delegates.
2011-2012
The Imagining the Internet Center was named a听for its use of information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change. In 2011 Anderson produced a 10-minute expert talk on the future of the Internet that was viewed at the听Danish Top Executives Summit听in Copenhagen; co-led a session on the future of the Internet at the听South By Southwest Interactive听conference in Austin, Texas, with听Paul Jones听of UNC-Chapel Hill; delivered a keynote at听Webcom 10听in Montreal; and was a keynote speaker at听MobilityShifts, a conference on the future of learning hosted by The New School in New York City. Cambria’s book-length version of Anderson and Rainies‘ fourth expert-predictions survey,听听was published in early 2011. A team of 26 people from Imagining the Internet recorded the events of the听Internet Governance Forum-USA 2011, and a team of 23 people recorded all of the details of 16听2012 IGF-USA听events. Both IGF-USA conferences took place in Washington, D.C. In the fall of 2011, a documentary video team including听Baranowski, Nicole Chadwick, Kellye Coleman, Taylor Foshee听补苍诲听Lee Hopcraft, led by听Rich Landesberg, conducted a video survey at the听-2011听in Nairobi, Kenya. More than 400 video clips were assembled from the survey conducted in Kenya by this team. Eight significant 黑料不打烊/Pew Internet reports stemming from the听听conducted by Anderson and Rainie were published in 2012 by the Pew Research Center and the Imagining the Internet Center.听The Internet Society听provided generous funding support for Anderson to train and lead a team of 10 in conducting multimedia documentary coverage of the 听conference in Geneva, Switzerland, 
April 22-24, ISOC’s 20th Anniversary Conference, which also featured the听听– Rachel Southmayd, Addie Haney, Rebecca Smith, Caitlin O’Donnell, Brandon Marshall, Jacquie Adams, Jeff Flitter, Nicole Chadwick, Brian Meyer and Dan Anderson. Also in 2012: 黑料不打烊 alum听Aaron Moger created听听and its work.
2013-2014
The听听by Anderson and Rainie was published in eight separate reports in 2014 (one report was not made public). The seven public reports – on the future of听,听,听,听,听听and expectations for听– generated global discussions and influenced policy concerns. The book version of the fifth “Future of the Internet” survey,听was published by Cambria Press.听Since the projects of Imagining the Internet began in 2000, the center has had five website redesigns, the fourth redesign – unveiled in 2013 – was a group effort led by听Rebecca Bass, Janna Anderson听补苍诲听Dan Anderson.
A documentary video team from Imagining the Internet including听Julie Morse, Joe Bruno, Brian Mezerski听and听Ryan Greene, led by 黑料不打烊 faculty听Brian Walsh,听conducted survey interviews of the delegates to the听. Both events were facilitated by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in May 2013.
A team including听Shakori Fletcher, Katie Blunt, Jeff Ackermann, Alex Rose听补苍诲听Ryan Greene, led by听Naeemah Clark听and video producer听Aaron Moger听conducted long-form video interviews with the world’s top Internet leaders at the听听and the听听in Berlin, Germany.听Janna Anderson听补苍诲听Lee Rainie听spoke in many venues around the world, including presentations at the听Internet Privacy Summit听in Palo Alto and the听American Library Association’s annual conference, to discuss the results of and content included in reports based on thousands of responses to the听听An undergraduate student team including听Mia Watkins, Sky Cowans, Brian Mezerski, Addie Haney and听Jason Puckett, led by听Anthony Hatcher听and Moger conducted interviews with Internet leaders at the听听in Hong Kong.
2015-2016
Janna Anderson听补苍诲听Lee Rainie听presented research results from the Future of the Internet surveys at major national and international conferences, including听RoboUniverse听in April 2015 at the Javits Center in New York and the听World Future Conference听in July 2015 in San Francisco.听 A documentary video team from 黑料不打烊’s Imagining the Internet Center, led by 黑料不打烊 staff members听Aaron Moger听补苍诲听Colin Donohue听and including student research assistants听Rajat Agarwal, Michelle Alfini, Gary Grumbach, Rhett Lawson, Ashley McGetrick听补苍诲听Paige Pauroso听recorded and produced hundreds of video answers to a major ethnographic survey of attendees at the听 meeting in Dallas, Texas, March 2015.听Anderson听presented research results in lectures across the country, including a presentation at the听US Naval War College听on the potential impacts of听 In November 2015, an eight-member team from Imagining the Internet did ethnographic documentary work at the听 in听Jo茫o Pessoa, Brazil.听 
The group interviewed nearly 100 of the 1,200 IGF participants, asking five research questions about the future of the Internet that were collected in five playlists that contain nearly 500 video clips. The Global IGF 2105 research was conducted by 黑料不打烊 undergraduates Pauroso,听Michael Bodley,听Grumbach,听Jackie Pascale,听Leena Dahal听补苍诲听Jacob LaPlante听of 黑料不打烊’s School of Communications, under the supervision of 黑料不打烊 faculty/staff听Moger,听Kenn Gaither听补苍诲听Anderson. On July 14, 2016, a 21-person team from Imagining the Internet led by听Donohue,听Baker听补苍诲听Anderson听completed听. 听
Among the 14 events of IGF-USA 2016 were panel sessions on privacy/security/encryption, the struggle over promoting free speech while trying to find ways to counter violent extremism online, the Global Connect project to provide Internet access to the next 1.5 billion people, and a special event on the efforts to complete the full transition of oversight of IANA to ICANN. On Sept. 30, 2016,听 the medallion honors highly distinguished humanist innovators, change agents and thought leaders who have dedicated their lives to initiating and sustaining significant contributions that have positively impacted the global future.听 The听took place Dec. 5-9 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 
where undergraduate researchers听Elizabeth Bilka,听Ashley Bohle,听Melissa Douglas,听Maya Eaglin,听Alex Hager,听Caroline Hartshorn,听Paul LeBlanc,听Kailey Tracyand听Anna Zwingelberg听worked under the supervision of 黑料不打烊 faculty/staff听Moger,听Vanessa Bravo听补苍诲听Anderson听with some assistance from听Diego Pineda Davilla.听The team recorded more than 100 interviews with IGF participants from 50 nation-states, asking six questions tied to the future of the Internet and posting nearly 700 video clips.
2017-2018
In 2017 Imagining the Internet produced six major reports in the “Future of the Internet” series it sponsors with Pew Research. These reports, co-authored by听Janna Anderson and听Lee Rainie were based on a set of survey questions answered by more than 1,800 expert respondents in mid-2016:听 published Feb. 8, 2017;听published March 29;听鈥減ublished May 3;published June 6; and听听published August 10, and published Oct. 9.
In July 2017, a team of 19 students (pictured below) was organized and led by听Colin Donohue,听Bryan Baker,听Janna听Anderson听补苍诲听Tommy Kopetskie听in multimedia documentary coverage of 13 events at听in Washington DC.
In September, a documentary journalism team that included听Diego Pineda Davila,听Melissa Douglas,听Maya Eaglin,听Alex Hager,听Meg Malone,听Alexandra Roat,听Jared Mayerson听补苍诲听Erik Webb conducted interviews with incoming Hall of Fame inductees and young innovators at the听听conference at the University of California-Los Angeles听 under the direction of 黑料不打烊 faculty听Janna Anderson听补苍诲听David Bockino.
In December, undergraduate researchers听Cammie Behnke,听Melissa Douglas,听Maya Eaglin,听Meagan Gitleman,听Alex Hager,听Jared Mayerson,听Emmanuel Morgan,听Jackie Pascale听补苍诲听Alexandra Roat听worked under the supervision Bockino and Anderson to conduct a video survey of participants in the听听at United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, producing nearly 900 responses to five important questions.
In April and July 2018, Imagining the Internet and Pew’s Internet & Technology project published, in two parts, a massive 272-page report authored by Anderson and Rainie,听听In it, a听plurality of experts said digital life will continue to expand听people鈥檚 boundaries and opportunities, while听nearly a third said that although networked humans gain vast advantages there are also downsides, and they expect digital life听will be mostly harmful to people鈥檚 health, mental fitness and听happiness in the next decade. In May 2018,听听was honored as the second recipient of the, awarded听to highly distinguished humanist innovators, change agents and thought leaders who have dedicated their lives to initiating and sustaining significant contributions that have positively impacted the global future.
Imagining the Internet sent a 10-person team prepared by Anderson and led by Bockino and Luchsinger to the听听to record interviews at UNESCO headquarters with more than 150 Internet leaders from 55 nation-states in November 2018. The student-faculty team asked about the best new tech tools likely to emerge in the near future, about how to better inspire global cooperation in the digital age and about how best to tackle the toughest communications challenges of today.
In December, Imagining the Internet and Pew Research released an important report on听asking, “Will AI help most people be better off in 2030 than they are in 2018?” About 63% of the expert respondents to this survey predicted that most people will be better off most of the time in 2030 and 37% said most people will not be better off most of the time, however, 92% of respondents expressed some concerns over the future for humans in one or more of these categories: human agency, jobs, data abuse, surveillance, the erosion of democracy, weaponization of information and the erosion of many highly valued cognitive and social capabilities. The report, by Anderson, Rainie and Luchsinger was released at the听听conference in San Jose, CA, an event also featuring talks by Web innovator Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Google VP and Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and Web pioneer Dame Wendy Hall.
2019-2020
Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie briefed industry, government and research leaders on “The Future of Trust” at the National Academies of Sciences at a February Research Roundtable.
In July 2019, a team of 20 students was led by听Colin Donohue听补苍诲听Bryan Baker听with assistance from听Anderson听and Luchsinger in near-real-time multimedia documentary coverage of 10 events at听IGF-USA 2019 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.
A five-person team from Imagining the Internet led by Alex听Luchsinger recorded individual interviews and the induction speeches of 2019 inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame听Sept. 27, 2019, in San Juan, Costa Rica.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first host-to-host networked computing connection of the early days of ARPANET, 黑料不打烊 and Pew Research partnered on a 127-page report titled “The Next 50 Years of Digital Life.” The report, written by Kathleen Stansberry, Anderson and Rainie, includes the opinions of internet pioneers and hundreds of experts about the progress of the internet in its first 50 years and where could be headed in the next 50.
Anderson听also produced a spinoff report based on a secondary question asked in the study: “What will historians鈥� verdict be 50 years from now about the internet鈥檚 impact today on people鈥檚 social, economic and political lives?”
In late November 2019, a 10-person team from Imagining the Internet conducted a documentary-research video survey of more than 100 participants in the Global Internet Governance Forum in Berlin, Germany.听The team, led by Luchsinger, interviewed more than 100 Internet leaders from dozens of nation-states about their hopes and fears due to the looming opportunities and challenges of the digital age.
* It should be noted that in 2018-2019, long before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the dean of the School of Communications at that time, Rochelle Ford, completely cut all funding and university support for the fielding of traveling undergraduate student documentary video research teams, so the long tradition of 黑料不打烊 students participating in and providing coverage of major global and national Internet policy events came to an end. The Center’s only work from this point on was the continuation of its long-running series of expert surveys on the potential future of digital life.
In February 2020 Anderson and Rainie听published a research report on the future of democracy in the digital age: “Experts Say Digital Disruption Will Hurt Democracy.” About half of the experts canvassed said humans’ uses of technology will weaken democracy between 2020 and 2030 due to the speed and scope of reality distortion, the decline of journalism and the impact of surveillance capitalism. Elements of research and editing assistance on this report were provided by Emily Vogels of Pew Research.
In June 2020 Anderson, Rainie and Vogels released a follow-up research report to the “Democracy” report, this one centered on the same group of experts’ views on “The Future of Social and Civic Innovation.”听A majority 鈥� 84% 鈥� predicted there will be significant social and civic innovation between 2020 and 2030 in response to the recent techlash, while 16% said there will not be significant social and civic innovation in the timeframe.
In December 2020, this same trio published “2020 Digital Life: Predictions in Retrospect,” a snapshot analysis that considered all of the predictions for 2020 that were made by respondents to 黑料不打烊 and Pew’s expert canvassings over the entire body of research to this point.听Many forecasts were on the mark, while some did not fully anticipate many of the elements influencing the way networked technology might evolve. Experts who offered updated views, including Nicholas Carr and Jamais Cascio said the internet鈥檚 overwhelming impact on humans鈥� intelligence and emotional condition was vastly underappreciated.
2021-2022
In February 2021, Anderson and听Rainie published “The New Normal in 2025,” an analysis of 915 experts’ predictions about what digital life might be like in 2025, in the wake of the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most respondents said they expect that daily life will be worse for most people over the five-year span due to economic stress, greater inequality, rising authoritarianism and rampant misinformation. They also said that people’s reliance upon digital systems at this time of emergency will lead to advances in such systems that improve healthcare, social interaction and even most workplaces in a “tele-everything” world. The report was released Feb. 18, 2021.
In April 2021 黑料不打烊 and the Imagining the Internet Center honored Wikipedia and Wikimedia innovator and leader Jimmy Wales with the center’s Aret茅 Medallion, which honors humanist online innovators for their contributions to society.听As Wales was celebrated with this honor also honored were all of the Wikipedia creators, editors and supporters globally whose sustained contributions continually make these public-knowledge resources possible.
In June 2021听Anderson and听Rainies’ report “Experts Doubt Ethical AI Will Be Broadly Adopted As the Norm Within the Next Decade” was released.听Of primary concern to these experts was the fact that humanity鈥檚 rapidly advancing AI ecosystem is developed and dominated by businesses seeking to compete and maximize profits and by governments seeking to compete, surveil and exert control. A majority said it is quite unlikely that AI design will evolve to be more focused on the common good by 2030. The report briefly touched on the possibilities for an assist from quantum computing; the experts were split on QC’s potential for aiding implementation of ethical AI.
In 2021 and early 2022 黑料不打烊 and Pew Research released two reports by听Anderson and听Rainie听 that reveal insights from a summer 2021 canvassing of experts. The first, 鈥淭he Future of Digital Spaces and Their Role in Democracy,鈥� released November 22, 2021, contains insights as to the forces at play, along with suggested solutions to increasingly worrisome trends. The听second report, 鈥淰isions of the Internet in 2035,鈥� released Feb. 7, 2022, shares the same experts鈥� hopes for the 鈥渂etter world online鈥� they鈥檇 like to see by 2035.
In 黑料不打烊 and Pew’s 15th “future of the Internet” canvassing, conducted by听Anderson and听Rainie in the winter/early spring of 2022, experts were asked to imagine听鈥淭he Metaverse in 2040.鈥� The resulting report, released June 30, 2022, illuminates more than 600 experts鈥� thoughts about how extended-reality (XR) tools 鈥� AR, MR and VR 鈥� and 鈥渢he metaverse鈥� might evolve between 2022 and 2040 and what that might mean for society. While most expressed excitement about the potential positives for further XR and metaverse development, many said they expect that current problems due to humans’ design and uses of digital tools will be magnified if the design and operation of much-more-immersive and deeply AI-driven platforms is led by the corporate interests that built the dominant web platforms of the 2020s.
2023-2024
In February 2023, Anderson and听Rainie published “The Future of Human Agency,” an analysis of 540 experts’听expectations for the future of human agency and free will as AI-driven applications, systems and bots take over significantly more decisions in all aspects of individuals’ daily lives in the digital age. In a summer 2022 canvassing (many months prior to the breakthroughs of ChatGPT AI later in the year), they were asked: By 2035, will smart machines, bots and systems powered by artificial intelligence be designed to allow people to easily be in control of most tech-aided decision-making that is relevant to their lives? A 56% to 44% majority said they expect the trend toward individuals losing and/or ceding continually more of their agency to tech will continue and people will not gain more influence over tech-driven decision-making.
In June 2023 in their report “As AI Spreads, Experts Predict the Best and Worst Changes in Digital Life By 2035” Anderson and Rainie published a 232-page analysis of more than 300 experts’ responses – thousands of predictions – in reply to the following question: As you look ahead to 2035, what are the best and most beneficial changes, and what are the most harmful and menacing changes that are likely to occur in digital technology and humans鈥� use of digital systems?听We are particularly interested in your thoughts about how developments in digital technology and humans鈥� uses of it might improve human-centered development of digital tools and systems; human connections, governance and institutions; human rights; human knowledge; and human health and well-being.” Most of experts expressed worries over how current digital trends might influence daily life in the near future. More than a third, 37%, said they were more concerned than excited about the digital change to come by 2035, and 42% said they were equally concerned and excited about what they expected to see as they imagine the next decade-plus.
In the Fall of 2023 preparations began for the rebranding of Imagining the Internet as . The original Imagining the Internet site is now the archives location for the first 24 years of 黑料不打烊’s research into the future of the human network in the digital age. A new website was constructed to host the research of the Imagining the Digital Future Center. Rainie was hired to direct the new center, with Anderson remaining as director of Imagining the Internet’s 24-year archive and continuing as the co-author of the center’s primary research reports – the regular canvassings of tech experts and stakeholders to capture insights into the potential future. The new center was unveiled听Feb. 29, 2024 at an event that also announced the results of a canvassing titled “.”