Images show how children in the 1960s imagine what life will be like in the year 2000

An old BBC clip from the 1960s in which schoolchildren speculate about the state of the world in 2000 has gone viral on Twitter – and the young people’s predictions have garnered many reactions.

The black and white clip originally aired on the world of tomorrow, which ran from 1965 to 2003 and featured a selection of British youth sharing their thoughts on what life would be like at the turn of the century.

The predictions were both thoroughly depressing and eerily accurate – you can see for yourself below:

One boy said of the milestone year, “I think people will be seen as statistics more than real people,” while another girl lamented, “I don’t think it’s going to be that much fun. Machines everywhere and everyone doing everything for you. You you’ll be totally bored and I don’t think it’ll be that much fun.’

Another pessimistic youth was equally suspicious of technological progress: “Computers are taking over now. In the year 2000 there just won’t be enough jobs and the only jobs will be for the high IQ. Other people just aren’t going to get jobs .”

The young people predicted a grim 21st century. Credit: BBC/Tomorrow’s World

Twitter users were impressed with the accuracy of the children’s predictions, complimenting them on being very “articulate.”

One user tweeted, “These kids are more empowered than today’s average adult,” but was reminded by another Twitter commenter, “They are today’s average adult.”

One person replied, “They’re right. It’s hard to find a job these days and even if one is available, they don’t get in touch after filling out the application.”

Another wrote, “These kids were insanely smart with their predictions. Computers that took over many jobs were pretty much 100 percent right when they said that.”

People think the kids’ predictions are eerily accurate. Credit: BBC/Tomorrow’s World

Technological advances and automation have been associated with significant job losses in recent years and are expected to replace even more in the coming years.

Another study by The Center For Cities found that cities in some parts of the UK could lose up to a quarter of their jobs by 2030.

Cities such as Mansfield, Sunderland and Dundee are expected to be hardest hit by the growth of artificial intelligence.