It does seem to be the future, but, at the moment, it's very unreliable. The worst thing is that it's all said with confidence and it would be very hard to know when things are wrong unless you already know.
For example: Q. How many people spoke French in pre-revolutionary France?
A. It is difficult to determine the exact number of people who spoke French in pre-revolutionary France. The population of France at the time was approximately 26 million, and the vast majority of people spoke French as their first language. <snip>
Wikipedia: It is estimated that at the time of the French Revolution in 1789, only half of the population of France could speak French, and as late as 1871 only a quarter spoke French as their native language.
Also, the population of France on the eve of the Revolution was about 28 million.
For example: Q. How many people spoke French in pre-revolutionary France?
A. It is difficult to determine the exact number of people who spoke French in pre-revolutionary France. The population of France at the time was approximately 26 million, and the vast majority of people spoke French as their first language. <snip>
Wikipedia: It is estimated that at the time of the French Revolution in 1789, only half of the population of France could speak French, and as late as 1871 only a quarter spoke French as their native language.
Also, the population of France on the eve of the Revolution was about 28 million.