Some ideas to think about – whether it’s on technology, finance, society, or culture
TECHNOLOGY Surgical robots
The current technology for surgical robots has proven to be more successful than traditional methods. However, the cost of producing a robot is exorbitant and can come up to $2 million or more. To bring down these costs, widespread adoption would be necessary especially at the lower levels of surgical functions so that the cost of production per unit goes down. An AI-empowered surgical environment could well mean the lesser need for a surgeon to perform the operation. This might just shake things up a little in that highly lucrative sector.
FINANCE The Elusive Alpha
The Alpha is a term both loved and hated. Loved when you’re on the winning streak when placing financial bets on the stock market and hated when it seems to be nowhere in sight. In a global economy that is challenged in breaking through a 3 per cent growth rate, it is inevitable that alphas will be elusive. This is also an environment where AI thrives in finding alphas quickly enough to be exploited. This only happens if it is well designed and programed, though. How would your investment look like if you had a winning AI that finds the top-rate alphas on your side?
PROPERTY Smart homes, empowered care-givers
Social research labs are now working towards caring for the elderly in a very different manner, by installing non-intrusive sensors, the elderly and even children can be monitored within the homes by care-givers who are not at home. Falls, faints, medication consumption can all be tracked and followed up on in real-time. Will we see a decline in fatalities from at-home accidents as a result?
NEW IDEAS Investing in communities of power
Human society has been successful in many ways in using a democratically led system. This places power in an elected few to make major decisions on behalf of the rest. Yet through the centuries, a lot of democracies are showing up with greater inherent flaws and a missing gap in ensuring equity and fairness throughout the system. Perhaps by investing in communities of power, decentralization might just be a better way forward into a shared future.
CULTURE Virtual conferences
Conferences held in silos are now a past tense as organizers seek to increase economies of scope by allowing participants to leverage on combined conferences within single location venues to interact, collaborate and shape new futures collectively. A paradigm shift is on the way with the Internet of Things providing for the possibility of conferences to be held in several locations across the world within the same time zone. Think AR/VR.
SOCIETY Hearing-thought aids
Yes, MIT has created a device that tracks brain signals to read the thoughts of an individual. And it has been quite accurate on lower end tasks thus far. The positive implications for those who are deaf or dumb are huge. Now, how will this revolutionize its application for military personnel in their communications with each other on the battlefield during silent tactical missions?