The very different future she’ll inherit

It’s tough to picture precisely what growing up in tomorrow’s New Zealand will be like for children born today — let alone the child of a prime minister.

But projections tell us one thing’s clear; it will be very different to the one we know now.

By the time Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford’s daughter begins her first day at school, global research agency Quantumrun predicts artificial intelligence (AI) will be transforming society, and Censuses will be using big data technology.

In 2023 when Earth’s population is approaching eight billion, the number in New Zealand would have risen from 4.7 million to between 4.9m and 5.3m, while the median age will be slightly older, at 37.5.

Her society will be even more diverse, with Mãori, Asian, and Pacific populations growing faster than Pãkehã because of a combination of younger ages, higher birthrates and migration.

By 2023, Asian people will probably make up 18 per cent of the population, overtaking Mãori’s share of our ethnic make-up.

Auckland’s already unaffordable housing — the median home value in her bustling suburb of Sandringham is currently around $1.1m — could become further out of reach, with a sector group predicting prices could double by the mid to late 2020s.

The first couple’s daughter will step into a school environment where virtual learning will be routine. Her school experience could include emerging technologies such as augmented and mixed reality, AI and big data, with lessons accessed through the cloud, and classrooms’ devices, lighting and heating all fed into a single “internet of things”.

By the time she is 7, the country could be well on its way to its goal of saving native birds from predators, having found a breakthrough taking at least one out of the picture.

But her days could be warmer. If the world’s greenhouse gas emissions continue at today’s rate, the hottest year on record globally in

2015 could be an average year by

2025.

Hopefully, New Zealand will be well on track to the goal of a carbonneutral 2050, having begun to expand forestry, phase out fossil fuelsourced heating and electricity, and electrify light vehicles.

By the time she’s celebrating her

21st birthday, AI-driven automation will have made many of today’s human jobs redundant.