THIS AI Prediction For 2075 Is Upsetting A Lot Of Meat Eaters

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What happens when you mix recent study findings about veganism and hand them over to AI? That’s what the Daily Mail has recently done and the results are quite shocking.

What Study Did They Use?

The NPD Group, now rebranded to Circana, conducted the study they used for AI to base their prediction upon. Circana is a market research group focusing on new product development. In it, they found that vegetarian and vegan products are likely to keep rising in popularity because Gen Z and Millenials become a more prominent part of the population and raise more awareness for plant-based diets.

Darren Seifer, NPD food industry analyst and co-author of the study, said in a statement:

‘As consumers continue to prepare more meals in the home and younger generations cook more, plant-based foods and ingredients will be a part of their repertoire.

‘In addition to providing a variety of plant-based foods and ingredients, food manufacturers should also focus efforts on Millennials and Gen Zs since they will be driving the category’s growth. 

‘Their concerns for sustainability and animal welfare should also be taken into account when messaging them.’

Source

Currently, around 5% of the US population considers themselves to be vegetarian, whereas 4% consider themselves to be vegan depending on the study results (source). However, as you can see in the image below, younger generations are much more likely to be vegetarian or vegan.

This makes it logical to assume that veganism will grow in the upcoming decades as the younger generations become a more substantial part of the population and will raise vegetarian or vegan children of their own.

The Timeline Prediction

When these study results were given to ChatGPT, and artificial intelligence was then asked to come up with a timeline for the next 50 years, this is what it came up with:

2024-2030:

• Gen Z and Millennials continue to raise awareness about the environmental, ethical, and health issues related to animal agriculture.
• Plant-based food options become more widely available and affordable due to increased demand and investment in alternative protein technologies.
  Some countries and regions introduce policies and incentives to promote plant-based diets and reduce meat consumption.

2030-2040:

• The adoption of plant-based diets and the reduction of animal product consumption continue to grow steadily, particularly in urban areas and among younger generations.
• Lab-grown meat and other alternative protein sources become more accessible and are integrated into the mainstream food supply.
• Some regions see a decline in traditional animal farming.

2040-2055:

• The popularity of plant-based diets spreads to a broader cross-section of the population, with many people reducing their meat and dairy consumption.
• More governments implement policies to address the environmental impact of animal agriculture and support sustainable food systems.
• Traditional meat consumption decreases significantly, but veganism remains a minority diet in some regions.

2055-2075:

• Plant-based diets become the norm for a majority of the global population, with vegan and vegetarian diets widely accepted.
• Animal agriculture undergoes a significant transformation, with a focus on more sustainable and ethical practices.
• The food industry adapts to meet the growing demand for plant-based and lab-grown alternatives.
• Meat consumption becomes a rare and special occasion in some cultures.
• Traditional animal farming becomes a niche industry.

Is ChatGPT right?

When it provided these results, ChatGPT stressed that this is all purely speculative, as “it’s impossible to predict the future with certainty” and “the actual timeline may vary widely by region and culture”.

I think this is important to keep in mind since artificial intelligence in its current state isn’t capable of predicting the future better than any human could. On top of that, the accuracy of the prediction also relies heavily on the data you input (in this case, the accuracy of the NPD report).

Nevertheless, vegetarianism and veganism have rapidly grown in previous decades. With younger generations taking a more plant-based approach, and eventually raising children of their own, it’s more than likely that a larger share of the population will eat a vegan or partially plant-based diet.

Stefan K.

Stefan has been vegan since 2019 and has been regularly working on his strength since the beginning of 2023. He’s on a mission to help other vegans get stronger and have all of them achieve the quality of life they deserve.