Article Contents
Introduction
(Top Technology Trends) 2017 had its share of important technological breakthroughs that changed how we live, work, and play. Virtual reality made a big comeback in 2017 and is sure to get even hotter this year. Virtual assistants moved out of our cell phones and into our homes, and smart home technologies may have finally broken through to the mainstream.
Newer technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and automation, 3D printing, mixed reality that combines virtual reality and augmented reality, and blockchain are not only disrupting and transforming business models and the lives of individuals, but also ushering in the so-called gig economy which envisages an environment in which temporary positions are common and organizations engage independent workers on short-term contracts.
Top Technology Trends
Artificial Intelligence
New advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) research made by tech giants and academia have quickly made their way into businesses and business models, while even more companies are introducing established AI solutions like chatbots and virtual assistants.
Closer home, Microsoft and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics are using an AI-based sowing app that is expected to help about 4,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka during the kharif season. HDFC Bank’s AI chatbot Eva, built by Senseforth AI Research, now works with the Google Assistant in Indian English. It has already answered more than five million user queries with more than 85% accuracy, according to the bank.
Blockchain
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, may have risen around 20-fold since the start of 2017—from $1,000 to almost $20,000 on some exchanges—before taking a dip, making it a very volatile investment. In contrast, the adoption of blockchain, the underlying technology that powers bitcoin, has been a stable exercise by industries across the world. Banks and financial institutions have clearly been the first movers.
The blockchain is an undeniably ingenious invention – the brainchild of a person or group of people known by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. But since then, it has evolved into something greater, and the main question every single person is asking is: What is Blockchain?
By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain technology created the backbone of a new type of internet. Originally devised for the digital currency, Bitcoin, the tech community is now finding other potential uses for the technology.
Bitcoin has been called “digital gold,” and for a good reason. To date, the total value of the currency is close to $9 billion US. And blockchains can make other types of digital value. Like the internet (or your car), you don’t need to know how the blockchain works to use it. However, having a basic knowledge of this new technology shows why it’s considered revolutionary. So, we hope you enjoy this, what is Blockchain guide.(Top Technology Trends)
Robotics and automation
Robots already deliver pizzas and packages; they serve in warehouses; there are assistive robots taking care of the elderly; there are robots making hamburgers and others, like the Roomba robots, that mop floors; and there are software bots writing articles and movie scripts.
3D printing
3D printing, which has been around for over 30 years, is now used not only to make jewellery and toothbrushes, but also football boots, racing-car parts, food products, guns, human organs, houses and aircraft parts.
3D printing belongs to a class of techniques known as additive manufacturing, or building objects layer by layer. The most common household 3D-printing process involves a “print head”, which allows for any material to be extruded or squirted through a nozzle. To be sure, there’s also the concept of 4D printing, which allows materials to “self-assemble” into 3D structures, and which was initially proposed by Skylar Tibbits of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in April 2013.(Top Technology Trends)
DATA : The New Oil
With the large adoption of technology and education into our day-to-day life, we are consuming data every minute. Right from using the messaging app to buying coffee in the shop, consumers leave the trail of data. The increased datafication has led to a large explosion in the records of data. According to the stats, Facebook has 900,000 active users every minute, Twitter gets 450,000 tweets per minute and 156 million users exchange emails per minute. The volume of data is already high, with the growing usage of internet services, it is supposed to double up every two years.(Top Technology Trends)
