There are eight essential developing technologies of the future: Artificial Intelligence (AI); Augmented Reality (AR); Blockchain; Drones; Internet of Things (IoT); Robotics; VIrtual Reality (VR) and 3-D printing. Important in there own right, the merging of many or all of these technologies will increasingly play a role in our long-term future. The report, How Eight Essential Developing Technologies Are Merging, reviews these revolutionary changes and its ideas are briefly discussed below.
Embodied AI: will incorporate AI and the IoT to allow greater productivity. For example, it will enable drones to follow fleets of trucks to better evaluate business flow. It will also allow operators wearing AR glasses to overlay data around machinery they are working on as well as communicate directly with the machinery or other agents.
Intelligent Automation: will develop platforms that help optimise what work best suits people and machines, streamlining the production system and improving human interaction.
Automating Trust: Blockchain development incorporating AI and IoT will automate trust among users within a network. For example, a pallet of food would not only be tracked from farm to warehouse and store, but sensors will record the conditions of transport such as climate (too hot or cold), enabling comprehensive trust in the delivery, ensuring authenticity of the product.
Conversational Interface: will better link office technologies with factories in the field, using technologies such as finance bots, AI predictive analytics, smart sensors and factory robots.
Extended Reality (XR): will enable technicians to repair complicated machinery with full and detailed schematics that overlay real-world objects. It will also allow trainers to use real-world simulation (eg. training of pilots).
My novel, Sentient, is set in the year 2120. Earth's population consists of an equal mix of humans (using only external technologies) and post-humans (humans using technology implants). Biots (humanoid robots) have also been developed to serve humans/post-humans they are assigned to. Technologically enhanced humans and robots are popular subjects in speculative fiction. Emerging technologies, such as those described above, are rapidly turning science fiction into science fact, with many of these developments moving ever more seamlessly into the mainstream.