AI Was the Prologue: How New Computing Will Transform Science, Power, and Human Life

Artificial intelligence is not the destination. It is the beginning.AI WAS THE PROLOGUE explores the technologies that may define the next era of computing, industry and civilization-from artificial intelligence and embodied robotics to advanced semiconductors, photonics, quantum computing, balanced ternary architectures, energy systems and the technologies that could eventually carry humanity beyond Earth.Rather than treating AI as an isolated revolution, the book examines how multiple technological frontiers are beginning to converge. What happens when increasingly capable AI systems interact with autonomous robots? What changes when electronic computing reaches physical and economic limits? Could photonic and quantum technologies reshape computation itself? And what kinds of architectures might emerge beyond today's binary assumptions?Written for curious readers, students, technologists and anyone interested in the future of computing, AI WAS THE PROLOGUE connects today's breakthroughs with the engineering challenges that will determine what comes next.Inside, the book explores: - Artificial intelligence and the evolution toward increasingly autonomous systems - Robotics and embodied intelligence - Semiconductor scaling and the future of computing hardware - Photonics and optical interconnects - Quantum computing, qubits and error correction - Balanced ternary and alternative computing architectures - Energy and infrastructure for future computation - Space technology and long-term technological development - India's evolving role in the global technology landscapeAI changed what machines can do.The more important question may be what comes after AI.