This kinda gives me chills because I can't help but think of Warhammer 40k.
Essentially our civilization progressed to the point where computers started to take more of a role in new discoveries much like in the real world. As computers got more powerfull and AI developed naturally scientific advancement sped up. But there came a point when the science and math became too advanced for humans to even comprehend, so computers did it. Then there came a point when things were so advanced that even scientists couldn't even ask the right questions so an AI intermediate would have to be used.
Then things get weird and you have the 40k universe.
Anyways I know I probably butchered it a little but that's the gist of it and I can totally see things progressing in the real world up to the point where things get weird in 40k.
Not to mention what do we do with old solar panels after they've lived their life. There's going to be a lot since a lot is needed to generate the amount of power needed. There's a good chance it will just get shoved onto some 3rd world country for them to deal with.
I remember how forums used to always have a few extremely knowledgeable individuals that would post and give insights but for the most part would be pretty nice and humble. Sometimes they even worked in the industy. And a lot of times they wouldn't even comment until another user called them out.
Then the psuedo experts started showing up. They either overestimate their experience or just spent some time on wikipedia and think that they're an expert, and they make a point to pick apart every post they can. And even less knowledgeable posters will back the pseudo expert because they are relentless and are able to sound smart.
Year Zero: A Novel by Rob Reid is one where the entire galaxy got hooked on listening to our pop music that's been transmitting this whole time and how Earth is now owed insane amounts of money due to copyright.
Big fan of older gen laptops. While I confess that for my personal pcs they have always been pretty expensive with high end parts I find that I prefer old cheap used laptops for work and other more serious things. They do everything you need and you don't need to be fussy with keeping it safe because it hardly cost anything.
I took one to class when I went back to college and younger students kept poking at the screen expecting it to be a touch screen.