Technology creating trends in society, shaping future

The hundreds of small changes in technology are having a big impact on our lives. Image recognition, voice recognition and driverless technologies are all around us. These shifts are developing on the fringes of science and society until one day there is a social change in human behaviour.

That moment of ‘eureka’ reveals that a trend exists and it is the result of a series of little changes that are emerging and moving constantly from the fringes to the mainstream. Trend is what helps us forecast the future — until it evolves again. It is identifying changes in the present to what’s coming in the future.

Unfortunately, education is not keeping pace with technology development. We are maintaining and cultivating methodologies in which the schools and teachers are the gatekeepers of knowledge, even though the Internet is there to answer questions.

Nonetheless, technology is shaping our future. The 2017 Tech Trend Report published by Future Today Institute in the United States, forecast emerging technology trends that will roots as far back as Greek antiquity and the term “artificial intelligence” entered popular awareness in the mid1950s, after Alan Turing, the British mathematician, and WWII codebreaker came up with the idea of machines that think.

Another tech trend Future Today Institute predicts is Artificial Intelligence in Hiring! Researchers are finding that the usual data sources — test scores, GPAs and the like — aren’t reliable indicators of talent; therefore, Artificial Intelligence is being used to assess personal attributes like empathy, thoughtfulness, engagement, motivation and drive.

Coupled with social media screening — looking at an applicant’s previous posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs and elsewhere online — emerging systems consider both personality and behaviour when evaluating possible new hires. Scary, hum? It has always been said: ‘careful with what you post online’.

Marketers will soon have access to algorithms that can evaluate your personality and predict your specific needs and desires. Meanwhile, some life insurance underwriters are attempting to assess your personality and your health via your website subscriptions (and visits), the photos you post on the social media in order to determine how risky an investment you are. You can’t deceive a computer that can read algorithms.

So yet, AI is not there to catch you, only. Feeling lonely? Not anymore. You can have a robot buddy. The first generation of robot companion is being built in Japan. Kirobo Mini companion is coming soon, while RoboHon has already debuted. Robots will help with everything from elder care to medical assistance, to everyday companionship. Recent advancements in robotics are proving that soon, humans may no longer be required to do certain manufacturing jobs. Meaning that the automation of some tasks can have an impact on how millions of people earn their livelihoods.

On a high note, though robotic journalism is already a reality, this article was written by a cheerful human being.