What if you woke up one day to realize you no longer had a grasp on time, that it was slipping through your fingers like a handful of loose beach sand?

Well, this was the reality faced by none other than Julius Caesar after he noticed that the 355-day Roman calendar no longer matched up with the seasons. Convinced of the superiority of the Egyptian solar calendar, Caesar adopted this 365-day year and proclaimed that every year divisible by four would warrant an extra day in February.

However, by the 16th century, the Romans were once again faced with a loss of time, and Caesars calendar proved to be 11 minutes too long, accumulating over the decades. The solution? Astronomers during the time of Pope Gregory XII concluded that a century year would only be a leap year if it was divisible by 400.

So, following suit, 2100 will not be a leap year which begs the question (or slightly hints at to provide a good segue), what else wont we have in 2100?

According to a study conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in March of 2018, we wont have San Francisco. While only portions of the city are predicted to disappear, rising sea levels coupled with sinking land spell nothing but trouble, especially for those resting on the engineered landfill along the coast.

The New York Times projected that, by 2100, San Francisco International Airport could lose half of its runways to flooding. In addition, anywhere from 48 to 166 square miles of land throughout the Bay Area could end up submerged.

Its important to note that the report cited in The New York Times article, More of the Bay Area Could Be Underwater in 2100 Than Previously Expected, compares the worst with the best-case scenario assuming countries follow the 2015 Paris agreement for emissions reduction. However, the United States pulled out of the accord in 2017; whether a lack of support from the president has had an impact on efforts to reduce climate change has yet to be determined.

So what else could see a partial demise in 80 years? Teachers.

It is common knowledge that, as we advance technologically, many workers are at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence, just as hand-labor was replaced by machinery during the industrial revolution. Yet, there is much debate on whether teachers are interchangeable with robots.

Though most arent as persistent about the rise of AI teachers as British education expert Anthony Seldon, who claims robots will replace teachers by 2027, companies have already begun to experiment with various types of bot-teachers.

A report published by the Australian Journal of Educational Technology examined the use of bot-teachers in hybrid massive open online courses (MOOCs) and concluded that the use of bot-teachers is very helpful in increasing interaction within a learning community and can be used as an assistant during the teaching/learning process.

While the bot-teachers were ultimately ineffective in providing other components of teaching presence such as direct instruction, design and organization, the report also noted that the technology is still in its infancy and that the potential of its adolescence and adulthood are unknown but promising.

Additionally, it is possible that AI teachers could help solve the worldwide education crisis.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization put forth the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, which highlighted an initiative to provide everyone equal access to quality education in an effort to decrease poverty rates worldwide.

The report claims that children do not attend school due to a lack of potable water or electricity and, among other things, a lack of properly trained teachers. Potentially, AI teachers could act as assistants or temporary replacements for the nearly 20.1 million positions that need to be filled to educate the worlds population of children.

While robots in classrooms may seem far-fetched at the moment, much of education is already automated, from SMART boards to online courses and test prep sites.

Besides big portions of coastal land and teachers unaided by AI, what else will we part with by 2100?

According to NBC News, 2100 could see the disappearance of coral reefs altogether which would produce a devastating impact on the ecosystems of the ocean; coral reefs are only one of many natural habitats on both land and in water that may be merely spoken of in the past tense by the turn of the century.

Despite this dire outlook, the ability to take action rests in our hands. While we cant yet predict whether 2100 brings immortality, the colonization of Mars, or (finally) flying cars, we can act now.

Though I plan to will myself to live past 100 years of age if for no other reason than to say I lived through two centuries I must admit that I dont know what life has in store for me. So, for those of us who wont break the 122-year record for the longest human life, we must consider whether we really want our children and grandchildren living in underwater dwellings in the lost city of San Francisco, swimming to an AI-integrated school to learn how to combat the problems we left behind.

Its up to us to pick up the pieces before they fall too far out of reach.

Veronica Roseborough is a senior at Carlmont High School in Belmont. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.

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What the future will bring, or won't - San Mateo Daily Journal