US Patent No. 99,999,999

Just to demonstrate the limits of AI. A machine with absolutely no imagination and no ability to extrapolate outside of its learning set. I was thinking interstellar travel through wormholes or something like that. No, I got..

“US Patent No. 99,999,999 will probably be granted around 2295.

My guess is that it will not describe some astonishing new technology. It will more likely be a narrow incremental improvement to an established system, probably involving computation, sensing and control.

A plausible title would be:

“Systems and methods for adaptive control of distributed autonomous machines using machine-learned environmental models.”

In practice, that might mean software coordinating robots, vehicles, medical devices, industrial equipment or infrastructure. The claims would probably concern a particular way of collecting data, updating a model or allocating decisions across a network.

The technology may sound futuristic. The patent itself will probably concern something mundane, such as reducing routing conflicts, improving battery management or adjusting an automated biological process.

My best guess is therefore that US Patent No. 99,999,999 will cover an AI-mediated control system for physical machines, filed by a large company and substantially narrowed during prosecution.”