Funk believes that the slowing down of new technology can affect the economy as it relies on progress in science and vice versa.
“And that’s not to say that we’re not seeing lots of really great progress in both science and technology. I mean, we see all these incredible breakthroughs in AI with ChatGPT. And we see recent breakthroughs with mRNA vaccines, and detection of gravity waves, and so forth,” he adds.
However, the science that’s being conducted right now tends to confirm the existing theories and knowledge rather than take it in a new direction.
When asked if something could be changed, he highlights the funding process and how new projects are selected to be financed. Of course, the government wants to make sure that they are putting money into something that will have a tangible outcome that ends up pushing new products and supporting industries. And when a new project is submitted, it has to lay out its steps several years in advance. This might be a problem, as a lot of breakthroughs tend to be unexpected.
So now experts are thinking about funding things in different ways. Some are suggesting that maybe it’s better to finance the scientists personally and not the specific objects. This way, it supports investigators in pursuing what they feel is the most significant problem at the time.
