The Future of Tech

The Future of Tech

We can never be certain about the future, we can just get an idea of what will happen in the future. We don't know if we'll find a cancer treatment, what the economic outlook will be, if we'll live in an algorithmic environment, or if our coworker will be replaced by a robot shortly.

While futurists can offer some fascinating and even terrifying predictions for the future of technology and science, no future facts exist.

What is the Role of Technology?

Technology is there in your life from the moment you get up to the moment you go to sleep. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the internet is used by about half of the world's population, resulting in over 3.5 billion daily Google searches and over 570 new websites generated every minute. What's even more perplexing? In the previous few years, more than 90% of the world's data has been created.

With data accumulating at a quicker rate than ever before, the future of technology will be even more fascinating than the present. We're only at the start of a revolution that will affect every industry and every person on the planet. By 2020, the cloud will handle at least a third of all data, and there will be more than 50 billion smart linked devices on the planet.

Keeping up with the digital revolution

Businesses of all sizes will be compelled to change how they function due to the rapid growth of data and our ability to analyse it. Businesses that digitally transition will be able to provide a smooth and frictionless experience to their customers, allowing them to claim a larger share of profit in their industries.

Consider the financial services business, particularly banking. Previously, most banking was done at a local branch, but current statistics suggest that 40% of Americans had not visited a bank or credit union in the last six months, owing to the rise of online and mobile banking.

What is the future of technology?

Planes powered by hydrogen

Carbon emissions from commercial aeroplanes are a huge concern, but there is a potential solution that has received a lot of funding. As part of a £15 million UK programme, plans for a hydrogen-powered plane have been revealed. The project is called Fly Zero, and it is led by the Aerospace Technology Institute in partnership with the UK government.

As part of the project, a proposal for a mid-size plane powered solely by liquid hydrogen has been developed. It would be capable of transporting 279 passengers without stopping halfway around the world.

Human-Computer Interfaces

Wearable gadgets and technologies with human-computer interfaces can improve human physical and mental performance, allowing us to live healthier and more happy lives.

Fitness tracker bands and smartwatches are two of the most popular types of wearables on the market today: small, easy-to-wear gadgets that monitor our activity and provide information that helps us live healthier, better, and more productive lives.

Wearable technology, on the other hand, does not always refer to something you strap to your wrist or another part of your body; it can also refer to smart clothing, such as running shoes that track your gait and performance, robotic prosthetics, and robotic wearable technology used in industrial settings.

Universes of virtual reality

After a massive rebranding, the company formerly known as Facebook changed its name to Meta. This is Zuckerberg's and his enormous team's first foray into the metaverse, which is an embodied internet accessed mostly through virtual and augmented reality. As part of this strategy, Meta will devote more time to technology that will allow them to enter this new reality, mostly through virtual reality.

Artificial eyes

Bionic eyes have been a mainstay of science fiction for decades, but real-world research is now catching up with novelists who are farsighted. Thanks to a spate of new technology, people with various sorts of vision impairment will soon be able to see again.

Gene Technology

Genomics is a part of biology that studies and manipulates the DNA and genomes of living organisms. Gene editing is a combination of technologies that allows living organisms' DNA and genetic structure to be genetically modified.

Biotechnology has advanced to the point that it is now possible to alter the DNA encoded within a cell, affecting the characteristics or attributes of the cell's offspring

In plants, this could alter the number of leaves or the color of the leaves, while in humans, it could affect height, eye color, or illness risk. This opens up an almost infinite number of possibilities, as it means that any living thing's inherited characteristics can theoretically be changed.

Extended Reality

The extended reality, abbreviated as XR, is the use of technology to create more immersive digital experiences. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality are all part of it.

In practice, XR is being utilised to promote brand engagement, allow customers to try before they buy, improve customer service, improve workplace learning effectiveness, and improve other organizational processes.

The blurry line between actual and virtual space

One thing the current pandemic has shown is how important technology is for sustaining and facilitating contact, not just for work, but for developing genuine emotional ties.

With AI technology meant to link humans on a human level and bring them closer together, even when they are physically separated, we may expect to see this breakthrough accelerate in the coming years. There will always be a blurry line between actual and virtual space.

Internet for everyone

Even though we can't seem to live without it, only around half of the world's population has access to the internet. There are numerous reasons for this, including economic and societal concerns, but for other people, the internet is simply unavailable owing to a lack of connectivity.

Google is steadily attempting to address the issue by using helium balloons to beam the internet to inaccessible regions, however, Facebook has abandoned plans to do the same using drones, implying that Hiber has beaten Google to the punch. They've tried a new approach, launching a network of shoebox-sized microsatellites into low-Earth orbit, where they wake up a modem connected to your computer or gadget and transfer your data when they fly by.

Stopping forest fire with sound

Drones that emit loud noises toward the trees below could be used to put out forest fires in the future. Sound can be used to distort the air around a fire, effectively cutting off the oxygen supply to the fuel.

As researchers from George Mason University in Virginia demonstrated recently with their sonic extinguisher, the fire just dies out at the correct frequency. The most effective frequencies tend to be bass frequencies.

A new normal in managing cancer

Technology is driven by data, knowledge is catalysed by data, and knowledge empowers individuals. In the future, cancer will be treated similarly to any other chronic health condition; we will be able to identify what we are up against and be equipped to defeat it.

In other words, a new standard of cancer care will emerge. We will see more early and proactive screening with improved diagnostics innovation, such as better genome sequencing technology or liquid biopsy, which offers greater ease of testing, greater accuracy, and preferably at a reasonable cost.

In common cancer forms, early detection and intervention will save lives while also minimising the financial and emotional costs of late detection.

Artificial Intelligence

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are terms that refer to a machine's ability to learn and act intelligently, which implies it can make decisions, accomplish tasks, and even predict future outcomes based on data.

There are serious dangers to society and human life as we know it, especially because certain countries are racing to develop AI-assisted autonomous weaponry. AI and machine learning are the foundations of many other technologies. We wouldn't have made great advances in the Internet of Things, virtual reality, chatbots, facial recognition, robotics, automation, or self-driving cars without AI, to name a few.

Human jobs will also be transformed by AI. AI-enabled automation will have a particularly large impact, potentially displacing a large number of employees. But, rather than believing in a gloomy future in which all human jobs are replaced by robots. Some believe AI will improve our working life. Human work will be enhanced by AI, and new employees will be created to replace those that are lost.

In terms of how we think about labour, leisure, and social benefit delivery, sophisticated civilizations are at a crossroads. If these economies require fewer workers to fulfil necessary activities, and benefits are mostly provided through full-time employment, many people may have difficulty accessing health care, pensions, and the income maintenance they require to live. This is especially concerning at a time when income inequality is high and economic distributions are severely skewed.

The difference between our previous era of scarcity and the impending era of prosperity brought on by new technology necessitates that we pay attention to the social contract.

1. Process automation and virtualization

Around half of all existing work activities could be automated in the next few decades, as next-level process automation and virtualization become more commonplace.

“By 2025, more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),” McKinsey predicts. Robots, automation, 3D-printing, and more will generate around 79.4 zettabytes of data per year.

2. The future of connectivity

Faster digital connections, powered by 5G and the IoT, have the potential to unlock economic activity. So much so that implementing faster connections in “mobility, healthcare, manufacturing and retail could increase global GDP by $1.2 trillion to $2 trillion by 2030.” 5G and IoT will be one of the most-watched tech trends for the next decade.

“Far-greater network availability and capability will drive broad shifts in the business landscape, from the digitization of manufacturing (through wireless control of mobile tools, machines and robots) to decentralized energy delivery and remote patient monitoring.”

3. Distributed infrastructure

By 2022, 70% of companies will be using hybrid-cloud or multi-cloud platforms as part of a distributed IT infrastructure. It will mean data and processing can be handled in the cloud but made accessible to devices faster.

“This tech trend will help companies boost their speed and agility, reduce complexity, save costs and strengthen their cybersecurity defenses,” McKinsey says.

1. Next-generation computing Next-generation computing will, McKinsey believes, “help find answers to problems that have bedeviled science and society for years, unlocking unprecedented capabilities for businesses”.

It includes a host of far-reaching developments, from quantum AI to fully autonomous vehicles, and as such won’t be an immediate concern for all organizations. “Preparing for next-generation computing requires identifying whether you’re in a first-wave industry (such as finance, travel, logistics, global energy and materials, and advanced industries),” McKinsey says, or “whether your business depends on trade secrets and other data that must be safeguarded during the shift from current to quantum cryptography.”

1. Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI is one of the biggest tech trends. We are still only in the early days of the development of AI. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, it will be applied to further develop tech-based tools, such as training machines to recognize patterns, then act upon what it has detected.

By 2024, AI-generated speech will be behind more than 50% of people’s interactions with computers. Companies are still searching for ways to use AI effectively though, the consultancy says: “While any company can get good value from AI if it’s applied effectively and in a repeatable way, less than one-quarter of respondents report significant bottom-line impact.”

1. Future of programming Get ready for Software 2.0, where neural networks and machine learning write code and create new software. “This tech trend makes possible the rapid scaling and diffusion of new data-rich, AI-driven applications,” according to McKinsey.

In part, it could see the creation of software applications far more powerful and capable than anything available today. But it will also make it possible for existing software and coding processes to be standardized and automated.

1. Trust architecture In 2019, more than 8.5 billion data records were compromised. Despite advances in cybersecurity, criminals continue to redouble their efforts. Being a growing tech trend, trust architectures will help in the fight against cybercrime.

One approach to building a trust architecture is the use of distributed ledgers, such as blockchain. “In addition to lowering the risk of breaches, trust architectures reduce the cost of complying with security regulations, lower the operating and capital expenditures associated with cybersecurity, and enable more cost-efficient transactions, for instance, between buyers and sellers,” McKinsey notes.

Main Article from `https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/technology-trends-top-10-mckinsey/

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