The Future of Technology

The future of technology will reshape the manner in which things are done. A few years back, things such as virtual reality (VR), self-driving cars and hologram were just figments of imaginations. Currently, technology has grown at a breathtaking pace, and as a result, the next phase of innovations in business and personal lives will be significantly influenced by technology (Susskind & Susskind, 2015). Some of the future technologies that have been predicted to affect the future by IT professions include advanced 3D printing, robotic workforce, AR/VR/MR, self-driving cars, fully developed IOT systems, artificial intelligence and wearable and everything computing.

Impact on Business Operations

Advanced 3D printing has been termed as the third wave of industrial revolution. This technology will allow people to produce anything. In healthcare, for instance, organs are rarely available for transplant and with advancement in 3D printing, organs printing could be made a reality.

The use of robotic workforce will allow low cost and higher operational efficiency in industries. By 2020, the human workforce will dwindle in number with robots even being in fast food chains and restaurants. Currently, more factories are opting for robotic workforces instead of human workers.

There will be a fully developed IOT (Internet of Things) system, in the near future, in which humanity will experience an invasion of smart everything such as smart offices and homes, smart power grids, smart cars, and smart cities (Frey & Osborne, 2017). A homeowner will be able to control everything in his house from temperature up to lighting using a single device.

Self-driving cars have emerged in the automobile industries with companies such as Tesla, Daimler, Google and General Motors conducting experiments. These cars will have a fully integrated robotic driver and will be able to move anywhere using GPS.

The rise of AR/VR/MR will have world-changing implications. For instance, design, whether for engineers or architects, will be made simpler and much realistic. Learning will be significantly enhanced, as students will be able to attend virtual classes or explore virtual bodies.

Impact on Human Socialization

Currently, technological advancements have tremendously changed how people interact with each other on a daily basis. These innovations have significantly reduced the need for human-to-human exchange that has favored time and cost-efficient, non-human alternations. For instance, a person residing in an urbanized area could meet all his basic needs with little to no human contact (Susskind & Susskind, 2015). As a result, the near future society will likely get into a cusp of a social revolution, during which there will be a necessity to redefine socially appropriate and acceptable behavior (especially in virtual interaction). Similarly, artificial intelligence will promote human-machine interaction in which people will mostly communicate with machines more often. For instance, in smart cars and IOT.

Impact on Community and Business

The virtual world will govern many fields such as education, healthcare, personal relationships, and mobility. For instance, doctors will be able to simulate a surgery before actually performing it in reality. Other challenges such as climate change will be easily reproduced in VR to control real-life experience as well as overcome them. Robotics will combine with artificial intelligence, which will assist humanity in manufacturing, transportation, military and space exploration. These technologies will spur the development of infrastructure and new business models. Smart factories with sophisticated machines and intelligent robots will allow the production of cheap and quality commodities. The tech industries will start to provide health care services, in which there will be algorithms for any health condition.

References

Frey, C. B., & Osborne, M. A. (2017). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114, 254-280.

Susskind, R. E., & Susskind, D. (2015). The future of the professions: How technology will transform the work of human experts. Oxford University Press, USA.