Gartner has released
its technology predictions for the year.
By 2018, twenty percent of all business content, one in five of the
documents you read, will be authored by a machine. "Robowriters" are
already producing budget reports, sports, and business reports, and
this trend is sneaking in without notice.
By 2018, six billion connected things will be requesting support.
These non-human “things” are customers requesting services and data,
and other methods of support.
By 2020, autonomous software agents outside of human control will
participate in 5% of all economic transactions. Smart algorithms are
already beginning to perform transactions without human help.
By 2018, more than three million workers globally will be supervised
by a roboboss. "The problem with this is that robot bosses don't
have human reactions," it said. "The reality is we have to see if
robots can get human mannerisms right."
By 2018, twenty percent of smart buildings will have experienced
digital vandalism. As buildings, both commercial and residential,
get smarter and more connected, there is greater potential that
these buildings can be attacked. We need to develop a way to detect
and correct these intrusions.
By 2018, fifty percent of the fastest-growing companies will have
less smart employees and more smart machines. Smart systems will be
analyzing how a factory is being run, or deciding whether people are
completing a task at an appropriate speed.
By 2018, digital assistants will recognize individuals by face and
voice. Passwords are unworkable and good ones are hard to memorize.
Biometrics have been around for a long time, but will get stronger.
By 2018, two million employees will be required to wear health and
fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment. One benefit
is that insurance costs may be lower for those companies with
healthy employees. The use of such devices also raises significant
issues about whether an employee keeps a job based on fitness level.
By 2020, smart agents will facilitate forty percent of mobile
interactions. This is based on the belief that the world is moving
to a post-app era, where assistants such as Cortana, Siri, and
Google Now act as a type of universal interface.