Tag: 2021

2021 TRENDS YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF [overall listing]

Christmas guarantee presents, rights? Well only if you behaved, which often ruined my chances. Still, small piece of child, deep down there, still hopes to unbox some surprises. However, as we get older, one needs to be frank with her/himself on if you actually have dopamine surge in scavenging surprises for others or you rather indulge yourself in untying ribbons and tearing the gift papers.

When you get yet one more rank mature, you build rituals also for days after the gifts Hunger games. For more than 5 years in row I have a secret, trump (hopefully, now this word finally cleared off the side meanings) card up my sleeve. Time window between Boxing day and New year’s dawn I devote to reading spectacular compilation of WIRED magazine trends. Submerging into this immensely eye-opening compilation of “things-you-didn’t-expect-to-come-yet” is not only fun to read (and savior from all cookies gobbling), but an inspiration well for up-skilling or new year’s resolutions.

I was surprised how little of spontaneous awareness this masterpiece has, though you can order it publicly (or buy in international press newsstands). Let me be this year once more your fast track through trends you REALLY ought to be aware of. This year in a bit different blog format (which is aftermath of one of the very trends):

 

AI will enhance REMOTE LEARNING [2021 trends]

 

 

MACHINE LEARNING goes physical [2021 trends]

 

 

 

 

QUANTUM gets networked [2021 trends]

 

 

Does your insurance cover HITTING A SATELLITE? [2021 trends]

 

 

REMOTE WORK goes from bare minimum to … [2021 trends]

 

 

 

Yet ANOTHER SENSE we surrender to computers [2021 trends]

 

 

 

AI will DETECT DECEASES at their earliest stages [2021 trends]

 

 

 

CITIES rebrand, STATES reposition [2021 trends]

 

 

 

 

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES finally find their market [2021 trends]

 

 

 

LIFESTYLE morphs towards communities [2021 trends]

 

 

 

VIRTUAL-FIRST will take its opening shots [2021 trends]

 

 

 

RECRUITMENT will disconnect from your location [2021 trends]

 

 

 

We agree to PAY to be FREE OF ADVERTS [2021 trends]

 

 

STORY-telling moves to PHONES [2021 trends]

 

 

 

 

 

CONSPIRACIES take refuge into ALT-TECH [2021 trends]

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AI will enhance REMOTE LEARNING [2021 trends]

Attempts on distance learning have been popping here and there for some years. After all Udemy, Coursera (and vast DYI YouTube flood) have been here for years. Still, few months back, remote learning turned into billion students’ issue over the night. Along with somewhat rude shock (to parents) on how rudimentary (or non-existing) the contemporary education-over-distance in reality is.

This all has been happening with AI training its edu-tech muscle in background, mostly unnoticed. It’s a bit ironic it took pandemic to reveal that the gap between human- and machine-teacher is not that big after all (not to the machine’s blame). With parents seeing teachers to struggle with establishing zoom call first place (or even sending and collecting the hard copy assignments via post), it only takes some courage on edu-tech side to tip the avalanche down the valley. And examples there are …

Chinese online education company named VIPkid has launched project with 700 000 students that received online courses with embedded AI elements (like fun characters “assisting” the actual human teachers in videos). AI’s is always cooking the extra content uniquely (and specifically) to progress of the individual student. More strikingly, VIPkid also did A/B test of some classes taking human-only content and other exposed to enhanced, AI-supported content along the very same teacher. The results speak for themselves: in AI-supported classes the correct answers on final examination went from 50% to 80% and passing the course went from 80-tish to 90-tish percentage points.

Well, it makes all of the sense, after all. Each individual student accumulates “learning gaps” in different topics of the curriculum. Human teacher, however skilled or eager to help, can stop to re-explain only that many concepts per given learning hour. Thus, having the general, common content, supported with individual support on what you specifically didn’t get, must inevitably lead to better overall class result.

There is one important caveat to notice here, though. From the essence of the thing, this AI supported content will primarily come in major world languages (first). This might breed inequality in education standards for communities where none of the most widely used languages is spoken (or even taught). So if you can read between the lines, … , yes English, Chinese or Spanish would be good.

What this means for teachers? That will be follow in one of my 2021 soon-to-come blogs. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

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MACHINE LEARNING goes physical [2021 trends]

We all got used to (not necessarily appreciative of) machine learning recommending products, sorting our social media feeds or matching us with potential dating partners. However, the common factor of all this AI use-cases has been that it tries to influence our lives through software interface. Experts believe 2021 will change this, with machine learning entering also our physical lives. Not convinced? Read on.

Most of the autonomous machines have been developed for close environments of the factories, warehouses or other sites that are insulated from real human humming. The reason why machines were not allowed “out among humans” is that constrained environments set the sensing and intelligence need bar just low enough for machines to actually exceed it. However, recent development in reinforcement learning, NLP, computer vision and auto-ML areas have opened room for constructing intelligent machines that manage to operate also in open society.

The main point of change is that above mentioned cocktail of AI approaches gives machines chance to learn beyond their original scope of responsibilities (may the need be and opportunity be granted by its creators). As result, we will meet robots moving along to fulfill their duties. The interesting part of this change is that it all will happen without the consent of individuals passing by. (Can you object to street sweeping machine, it if does not hurt anybody and does not destroy anything of the value?) One should also admit that highest goal of first ML moving objects “out in wild”, most likely, will be to avoid humans first place. So, machine learning will not only get physical, but also (somewhat) ignorant.

 

 

 

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QUANTUM gets networked [2021 trends]

Quantum computing (QC) is not a new-kid-on-the-block. If you still seek easy way to wrap you head around quantum computer, here is short take on it from one of my previous posts. However, for QC to cross the line from cool to useful, it still needs to accumulate more QuBITs (basic operating capacity units) to arrive at (range of) thousands; where even the best quantum computers are still below 100 of them for now. Until they get there, quantum computer remains fancy, too costly brag-item of the lab or company annual report.

On the positive note, human kind seems to take lessons from ordinary computer’s history. The real burst in (commercial) heavy computing launched when companies had stopped trying to build their own gym-size server rooms and honed the power of networked, cloud orchestra of “ordinary” PCs. Same way out of the trouble, Quantum computing will in 2021 enter era of networked clusters. Because, as complicated it is to amass large Qubit units in single system, our internet infrastructure makes it possible (if not down right easy) to gear distant smaller QC’s into powerful assemblies.

This “let’s connect” trend will also incentivize teams already daring to build smaller Qubit instances but failing to catch-up with IBM-like behemoths race for record QuBITs in single machine. Before they had no “commercial value” behind building small QC.  Now they can rent their QC computational power in small chunks and on demand. Ok, but who cares?

Ongoing rise of QC clusters will certainly raise eyebrow of the cryptographic community. As cloud quantum computers will make it easier to crack through some recent all-mighty cypher standards. Teams striving for complex simulations will meddle their hands, too. Ultimately, networked QC’s might accelerate also quantum computing shift towards mainstream.

 

 

 

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Does your insurance cover HITTING A SATELLITE? [2021 trends]

Hey, watch your way! You nearly hit the other vehicle! No, this is not replica from driving school scene. These words will echo more and more often out of the space mission control centers. The sky is getting extremely crowded and you should correct your image of Earth-surrounding space: From vast hollow room to something more like morning commute traffic jam.

Sole Musk’s Space-X satellite program emits more than 12 000 (!) individual satellite units, not even counting all the military, weather and navigation ones. Orbits for possible launches will get scarce, the same way that FM spectrum frequencies were limited for radio stations in 1990s.

Besides the fact that mutual coordination (and interference prevention) becomes more and more complex, this satellite extravaganza will be taking its toll on other, serious aspects of science, too. Professional astronomers will have to live through vast light smog. As most of the launched satellites encompass solar panels to “fuel” the operation and its communication units. And those trying to sent something upwards, will have to count too many trajectories to smuggle through orbiting traffic.

Luckily, companies are not just waiting idle for this issue to be addressed. Some proactively mount light shades on satellites, while still others try to launch into orbits less detrimental for astrophysics observation. But low latency, global internet coverage (being recently the main urge behind the satellite launch programs) will be too much of the temptation. So watch out any time you want to send somebody to Mars. They might get seriously hurt in crash accident.

 

 

 

 

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Yet ANOTHER SENSE we surrender to computers [2021 trends]

Ready to give away another human sense to computers? Well, it’s been more than 100 years since we digitalized our former senses, namely eyes (through photos and then videos) and ears (through gramophone and all following sounds systems). In the meantime, with computer vision, speech recognition and (Alexa-like) voice assistants, machines mastered these senses (almost) at par with our systems. Now the machines got already pro in sound and sight, they are ready to digitize another item of the holy 5 senses (Ok, Ladies, I correct: 6 senses). The smell will become another sense acquiring digital encoding. The pathway will , most likely, resemble previous senses digitalization. First, machines will learn to reproduce (smells), then to detect them and later to act on specific smell patterns. Don’t get mistaken, digital scent is no sci-fi anymore. Companies like Olorama or Aromyx are already developing smell simulators. Also, with vast records of online fragrance purchases, your smell preferences might already lay encoded in data vaults of Amazon and alike.

You might not realize, but the whole digital smell initiative is not a pointless, AI self-indulgence. Unlike other animals, humans severely underuse the olfactory “muscle”. So, as scents become another (software) interface, maybe we seize our final chance to close the olfactory gap to other species.

But this wont’ be just a nice, aromatic experience. As with sound and visual look, also the smell can be unique (human) identifier. Legal rule books, thus, will need to adapt to protect individual (smell) privacy as well as somebody lock-patenting basic natural smells (like rose). And your pedometer might as well be replaced one time with under-arm smell sensor. Well, I smell some action ahead …

 

 

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