REPLICATOR MACHINES
Replicators are all-purpose, desktop machines that can reproduce a seemingly infinite variety of items. They’re similar to more advanced
versions of 3D printers seen in earlier decades. Replicators have been used for military, corporate, and medical applications for a couple of decades. Even some vehicles are built using replicators now. But now, replicators are mainstream products available to the public. They look like a hybrid of a washing machine and a microwave oven. Raw materials for them can be purchased separately, and loaded into these machines in solid, liquid, or powder form. An interior compartment is accessed with a small hatch, where objects are constructed atom-by-atom. The process takes a matter of minutes, and the assembled items can be used immediately. Blueprints for various types of items can be accessed from the web and programmed into these machines. Many of these blueprints are for items that were originally created in the
Metaverse and other virtual environments.
Over the next 150 years, it’s expected that replicators will create unprecedented levels of abundance and make work as we know it obsolete. Basic items such as food, energy, and clothing could become essentially free in most countries. Replicators could provide such an abundance of resources that they could eliminate famine, disease, and many historical justifications for war.