So, what can we expect in the next 12 months. Singularity University Australia Ambassador Kaila Colbin is working in the forefront of exponential technologies. This is what she predicts for 2018.
Driverless cars. NSW, South Australia and Western Australia have already started trials and the pundits believe that by 2030, 95% of auto miles in the US will be travelled by autonomous, on-demand electric vehicles. Perth is one of three cities in the world chosen to trial on-demand driverless cars capable of picking up passengers, with testing expected to start in the new year. Every car brand is heavily investing in research to win the race and gain market share. Tesla is aiming to have its driverless technology ready to go next year and BMW is aiming to introduce self-driving cars in China in 2021. Uber and Volvo have agreed to a $300m alliance to develop driverless cars and Toyota wants to be ready for 2020. While we might not see driverless cars zipping around the city streets in the next 12 months, we will see more and more trials being conducted and we will start using these vehicles as shuttles in precincts such as Sydney Olympic Park.
The Internet of Things. Every month, offices and houses are being transformed by more and more technologies to make life easier. In 2017, Google Home and Amazon Echo made their presence felt and in 2018, expect them to do much more. Other similar devices will appear on the market and by year’s end, much of our information will be delivered via Siri or some other discombobulated voice as we issue commands to turn on the lights, change the television and tell us what we are doing for the day. A novelty? It won’t be any longer; just another member of the family.
Fridges. While they may not disappear in 2018, drone deliveries will start becoming the norm in and around our suburbs. If you can get fresh fruit and chilled beer arriving on your doorstep on demand, what use would you really have for a fridge?
Artificial intelligence and robotics have already made inroads into most industry sectors. In the next 12 months, expect to see a greater number of medical procedures being performed by robots and technology rather than humans. The novelty factor of robots will increase with smart operators using them to attract customers in retail environments such as bars and restaurants.
In your workplace, employee tracking will become more prevalent. A recent Australian study revealed that 36% of workers were already being tracked by GPS, with 10% being followed 24/7.
In the UK, the data gathered from employee tracking has resulted in an increase in sales as analysts figured out the optimal team size, environment and meeting time to achieve better sales.
A company in Wisconsin offered voluntary microchipping for staff and around half the employees took them up on it. It’s coming, so companies need to deal with the privacy issue now rather than play catch-up when it arrives.
Data security is paramount, and the number, length and impact of cyber-attacks are on the increase. This is a matter that affects everyone – governments, corporates and individuals. Technology advances are struggling to keep up with the threats and a “keep your fingers crossed, it won’t happen to me” attitude is not the answer.
As Singularity University Australia Summit guest speaker and author of Future Crimes Marc Goodman says: “If you are connected, you are vulnerable”.
The Singularity University Australia Summit will be held in Sydney from February 19-21 2018.
Visit: www.su.org
