The technologies that promise to change our world are both abundant and revolutionary.
With a watchful eye we can begin to prepare for the years ahead and expect the changes that are likely to take place do to the introduction of new technologies.
Greetings technology fans. I've managed to find another worthy topic to write about and that means its time for a new report. There's no doubting the fact that we live in an age that promises to bring rapid technological change. If you think that tech is getting crazy today, just wait and see what is coming! The future promises continued advancements of artificial intelligence, massive improvements in cloud-based computing, new developments in the internet of things, conversational platforms and more.
Now I'd like to discuss some of the big moves coming in 2019 which promise to change the field of consumer tech permanently.
Firstly, blockchain-based identity and privacy systems are predicted to massively disrupt centralized traditional based methods going forward.
With the growing prevalence of data breaches and the massively interconnected world we live in, new ways to verify identity and protect privacy will be game changers. Blockchain is a natural for this role because the whole point of it is to provide robust, incorruptible — yet encrypted — recordkeeping that anyone can easily verify. Companies like Evernym are already starting to do it.
A few applications in which blockchain can be used include increased security when shopping. Evidence of this fact can be found in Shopin, a startup that has developed a "universal shopper profile" that is undergirded by blockchain.
Unlike Google which scrutinizes purchase histories, stores them and shares the data with other big names in tech, Shopin restricts its information collection and shares it only with those entities that you (the consumer) grant it to share.
Image Source: Steven Van Bellengham
In a new era of Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (and other similar online data privacy legislation on the way), blockchain is poised to take its place at center stage in today's economy. It’s likely that this change will be top-down: People won't be demanding blockchain, so businesses will have to lead the charge in transitioning to this system.
Bottom line, get ready for blockchain disruption in 2019!
Beyond blockchain developments, general data handling is predicted to become even more relevant going forward. From chatting to friends in a messaging app or buying a coffee, or streaming music, today almost everything we do leaves a trail of data breadcrumbs.
And this increasing datafication of our world has led to an unprecedented explosion in data. Here's an interesting fact. Just in the average minute, Facebook receives 900,000 logins, more than 450,000 Tweets are posted, and 156 million emails and 15 million texts are sent.With numbers like that, it’s no wonder humanity is in a constant state of doubling the amount of data created in the world roughly every two years.
This brings me to the next predicted trend in data which will most certainly disrupt everything in 2019 and beyond.
Another interesting tech which may propel the field of AI forward is the use of 'dueling AIs' which will battle it out in the pursuit of knowledge.
It's a simple idea: Want to make your AI smarter? Have it battle it out with another AI. In this case, the arena is digital images: One AI attempts to create a realistic image, and another AI attempts to decide whether the image is real or artificial.
Of course, this is just one domain in which AIs can "duel." Any domain can be modeled by computers: voices, video or whatever you might want to work with. The concept is called "generative adversarial networks" (GANs).
Imagine how that will advance online verification, such as today's CAPTCHA technology, which requires real people to identify objects in grainy photos. With enough dueling, systems can sharpen their wits enough to easily break that sort of gatekeeper software. That will mean a new reality for secure browsing online (another reason why blockchain may be necessary).
It is predicted that rapid and independent "self-improvement" of AIs through dueling may lead to breakthroughs in medicine, technology, transportation or other important areas of life. Proof of this new method lies in the fact that tech giants like Amazon and Alibaba are already diving into research in this area.
Now that I've covered a few topics like blockchain, big data and AI another worthy topic worth mentioning is the Internet of Things or IoT for short.
For those that don't know what I'm talking about it is basically a category that encompasses smart, connected products like smart phones and smart watches –is a major contributing factor in this exponential increase in data.
That’s because all these smart devices are constantly gathering data, connecting to other devices and sharing that data – all without human intervention (your Fitbit synching data to your phone, for instance).
Pretty much anything can be made smart these days. Our cars are becoming increasingly connected; by 2020, a quarter of a billion cars will be hooked up to the Internet. For our homes, there are obvious smart products like TVs, and less obvious ones, like yoga mats that track your Downward Dog pose!
And lets not forget our voice-enabled personal assistants like Alexa, another example of an IoT device.
The fact of the matter is that the future is going to be an interesting place and we should be prepared for unimaginable changes going forward!
Let me know what you think about these new technologies.
Thanks for reading.
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In-text citations sources:
Three Breakthroughs That Will Disrupt The Tech World In 2019 - Forbes
