A map of human technology from prehistory to October 2026. Time runs left to right · click a box to see what it builds on · right of the TODAY line: unsolved problems and what solving them unlocks.
Drag to pan · Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoomDrag to pan · pinch to zoom · Click shows the research path
The Human Tech Tree is a map of human knowledge and technology, from prehistory to October 2026. It shows what builds on what, which problems are still unsolved, what is missing, and what becomes possible once they are solved.
Time runs from left to right. Each box is a breakthrough, a line of current research or an open problem. A line between two boxes means that one builds on the other. To the right of the TODAY line the map reaches into what is not yet known.
Education
Understand how progress connects. Every point shows what it needed and what it made possible.
Visualisation
See the whole research landscape at a glance, from the oldest tools to the open questions of today.
Future progress
Make the open problems and their next steps visible, with an honest view of where AI can help and where it cannot.
For each open problem the tree gives a rough rating of how much AI could speed it up. The rating depends less on how capable the AI is than on what limits the work.
Where results can be checked quickly by a computer, as with proofs, simulations and code, AI can try many ideas fast. Where progress needs hardware, laboratories, supply chains, law or time, AI helps with parts of the work but cannot skip those limits.
The ratings are estimates, not predictions.
PlanNext and Later are plans, not promises. Neither exists yet.
The visual tree: eras, fields, unsolved problems and the open steps that lead to them.
Projects attached to open steps, so that a step shows who is working on it.
Researchers (left) and supporters (right) matched around the open steps.
The idea is to bring researchers and supporters together. Researchers would present projects. People and organisations could support them with funding or computing time.
This is planned as a non-profit. There is no decision on the legal form yet.
The content was compiled with AI research agents and then fact-checked. Every point carries its sources. The state of the map is October 2026.
Errors are possible. If you find one, please write to us.
There are no accounts and no tracking cookies. Visits are counted with privacy-friendly statistics only.
Details are in the privacy notice.
If you find this useful, you can support the project.