People will know the exact year and cause of their death

Is technology capable of answering one of the most crucial and mysterious questions of human life: when and how will I die? According to the Kaspersky survey, almost half (48%) of physicians believe that it is possible. Professionals do not preclude that medical technologies will become so advanced that they could accurately predict the year and cause of death in just 20 years.

This scenario is not far from reality. The more data – including information about the health and life expectancy of different people – that is collected around the world by various devices and services, the more accurate AI predictions based on this data probably will be. Of course, such forecasts will not be 100% accurate as a person's life expectancy does not only depend on the indicators that can be analyzed.

But does everyone want to know when and how their lives will end? The consequences of such a revelation could be unpredictable.

• Will it lead to mass depression, as people realize the transience of life, or will we, on the contrary, reconsider our approach to life and enjoy every moment of it?
• Will people become more health conscious to try and change the prediction, or ‘go all out’ knowing that they have lots of time?
• How secure and private will such information be and how can we ensure that it won’t be used for blackmail or speculation?