According to a new survey that involved scientists, business leaders, and technology developers Internet is actually making us smarter. 900 selected experts were interviewed for Pew Internet report The Future of the Internet IV that was presented last Friday. They were asked to share their opinion about the way Internet influence us now and how it will do in 10 years.

Most of the interviewed people consider that internet improves and will improve our writing, reading and our range of knowledge as a whole. Of course, there are some who completely reject this opinion. According to Janna Anderson, study co-author and director of the Imagining the Internet Center “three out of four experts claim that using Internet is increasing human intelligence, two out of three consider that Internet has improved our reading, writing and knowledge”. Nevertheless, Anderson doesn’t deny that still there are “lots of people who criticize the impact of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools".

In the summer of 2008, writer Nick Carr wrote a controversial article for the American magazine The Atlantic entitled "Is Google Making Us Stupid?". In its survey, Pew Internet asked the same question of its selected experts.

Most of them disagree with the claim that surfing in websites decrease our ability to concentrate. Moreover, they are convinced that Google makes us more informed and creative.

The report gives answers to some other key questions and issues such as whether Internet will enhance or drop our writing skills. Though 65 percent of respondents felt that such skills are improving thanks to the Net, some experts decried the quick, throwaway style of writing found on the Web, e-mails, and instant messages. “Spelling and grammar have gotten awful. People don't think things through or edit as much before publishing or sending as they once did," wrote Rebecca MacKinnon of the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy. "But on the other hand, the Internet has improved my Chinese reading and writing ability. The hyperlink enables me to communicate in non-linear ways that adds layers of meaning to my writing that could not exist on paper. The fact that I can mix visuals, sound, and text when making an argument or telling a story often enhances the effectiveness of my work."

The survey also asked whether most of the upcoming hot inventions have already been expected, or will come from "out of the blue?" Most of the experts felt that the gadgets and applications destined to capture our imaginations in the following 10 years will be unexpected even by today's futurist innovators. But again, many suggested their own answers and offered different ideas on what we might see by 2020. “The right answer is a combination of the two," wrote the professor David Clark. He adds that in the 'device' space we can see much of what will happen over the next few years: for example, the ubiquitous availability of sensors and actuators, the cyber-car, various sorts of implants and proto-cyborg elements. But the application space, according to the professor is harder to predict."

Will the Internet still be free and unfettered in 2020, or will there be more control of information? On this issue, 61 percent of the experts are convinced that the Internet's basic principles of free and open access of information will prevail. Some were more pessimistic and shared their fears that nations like China and Iran will continue to try to retain power by controlling Internet access, and that vendors and corporations will increasingly limit access to users.

Hal Varian, chief economist at Google said that to him it seemed inevitable that nation states would attempt to exert more control over the Internet, but also that these would be relatively small changes, so that the internet would remain relatively free.

Other important issue that was regarded in the report was users’ online anonymity. 55 % of the experts interviewed think that most online users will remain anonymous in online communication and surfing.