When it comes to predicting the future, IBM does it boldly and also rightly. Recently, IBM announced five predictions about how life is going to be like in 2022 and how they think will our lives change over the next years.
These predictions are based on the research and development that’s been done in the field of technology today, and we cannot pinpoint how the course of next five years will change.
1. Speech will be a window into our mental health because of AI development
There is a lot your voice and the way you talk can tell you about your state of mind, whether you’re bored, angry, distracted or even miserable.
We use cues such as voice modulation when we try to understand someone else’s state of mind. Today, rapid developments in the field of speech analysis have taken place and that brings us more insights.
“What we say and write will be used as indicators of our mental health and physical well-being,” writes IBM. For instance, diseases such as Parkinson’s can be diagnosed sooner just with a mobile app that’s connected to the cloud and where AI calculations take place. One might not be able to link speech cues to disease symptoms. However, experimental systems as such are already implemented in the field of health and science. Only last year, a team of scientists from the University of Southern California built a program that identified signs of depression through analysis of variations in normal speech patterns.
2. Superhero vision will be possible with AI and powerful new devices
According to IBM, small cameras coupled with fast processing smarts of AI will lead us to see more than before. The visible lights have always been detected. But with the modern technological development, you will be able to see the microwave, millimeter wave, and infrared images through devices that can fit into your pocket. You might have seen the waves in security scanners at airports. But after this development, you will be able to see it through devices that are the size of your phones.
The implications might be as large as self-driving cars with the capacity to see through fogs and rains to as small as whether your food is safe to eat. Also, these sorts of devices are already appearing in the niche in the form of EnChroma and that helps color blind people see colors for the first time. But they’re expensive at the moment, but by 2022, they will be a common thing to own.
3. ‘Macroscopes’ will help us understand Earth’s complexity in infinite detail
Google Earth was just the beginning for using satellite imagery. IBM thinks that “Macroscope” systems are going to “combine all of Earth’s complex data together,” so that we can gain new perspectives. It will provide us with more data from satellites, smart sensors and weather stations while offering much better ways to organize and sort through. Devices across the globe that are connected to the cloud will get smarter, from remote-controlled light bulbs to ‘smart’ speakers.
4. ‘Labs on a chip’ will revolutionize medicine
While the impact of technology is getting larger and larger by the day, the physical devices are getting smaller and smaller, and more powerful. There are huge benefits in the field of medicine. IBM predicts that “New medical labs on a chip will serve as nanotechnology health detectives, tracing invisible clues in our bodily fluids and letting us know immediately if we have reason to see a doctor.”
In simple words, you will have a full biochemistry lab in the palm of your hand. From detecting diseases to using sleep tracker and fitness band to improve your health, you won’t have to run to doctors directly for everything. You can also remotely alert your doctor to any warning signs of some disease that you might have.
5. Smart sensors will detect environmental pollution faster than ever
The mix of smart hardware and AI analysis is said to detect environmental pollution almost instantly, according to IBM. They are going to use the smart tracker to spot the pollutants and emissions in real-time without having the trouble of sending samples to the lab for analysis. Methane leaks are one such example. They are invisible to our naked eyes but are estimated to be the second-largest contributor to global warming after CO2. With the use of smart sensors around pipelines and storage facilities, the leaks can be tapped quicker than before, and alarms can be raised. IBM states, “such leaks could be found in a matter of minutes instead of weeks, reducing pollution and waste and the likelihood of catastrophic events.”
These are major things that IBM predicts will happen by 2022. They are already in advanced stages of development. Let’s see in 2022 how much does IBM’s predictions come true, or even better if we can top these too.