Welcome back to our "Life in 2050" series! In previous installments, we looked at how accelerating change and environmental issues will affect the future of warfare, economy, education, everyday living, and space exploration (in two installments). Today, we look at how people will get from A to B by mid-century, whether it's across town, from one city to the next, or one continent to the next. Transportation is another sector that is expected to undergo a major revolution in the coming decades. In several respects, this revolution is already underway thanks to the introduction of autonomous vehicles, the wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles, the growth of renewable energy, and the advent of commercial spaceflight. Between now and 2050, these technologies and trends will accelerate and lead to the creation of new transportation infrastructure, radically different from what we know today. Of course, the infrastructure of tomorrow will be built on existing transportation networks.

Although growing numbers of organisations are working with artificial intelligence (AI) software in some shape or form, very few are generating significant financial benefits when rolling it out in a serious way, according to new research. A study conducted by the MIT Sloan Management Review and management consulting firm the Boston Consulting Group revealed that as many as 57% of the 3,000 managers, executives and academics questioned were currently either piloting or deploying the technology. A further 59% had devised an AI strategy and 70% believed they understood how the software could generate business value. Despite this situation, the report, Expanding AI's impact with organizational learning, indicated that just one in 10 organisations were deriving significant financial value from the technology. When exploring the reasons why, researchers found that simply getting the basics right – that is, having an appropriate strategy with the right supporting data, technology and skills in place – was not enough.

The idea of hurtling down a vacuum tube in a levitating pod at speeds of over 670 miles an hour may sound like the plot of the latest science fiction blockbuster, but it could soon become a reality. Virgin Hyperloop is developing the futuristic technology, which it claims could transform the way we travel. At the end of last year, the company demonstrated the technology in action, transporting two brave participants for the first time. Now, the tech giant has shared a step-by-step video of the passenger experience on board its Hyperloop system, all the way from arriving at the portal, to taking off on board a hyperloop pod. 'Showing the passenger experience of Virgin Hyperloop is a glimpse of the future, following the success three months ago when people rode in a hyperloop pod for the first time,' said Sultan Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop and Group Chairman and CEO of DP World.