Top 10 AI Predictions for 2021
AI is present in numerous products, including smartphones (Siri) and game consoles (XBOX Kinect), but also in less obvious places like software used by doctors (to analyze medical images or recommend treatment plans). But AI has not only infiltrated our daily lives; it will continue to do so in a variety of ways – artificial intelligence is here to stay!
If you want to know more about AI, see an overview of the history and future of AI. Elsewhere on this blog, you can find other articles on AI, written by several top scientists in the field: “All About Artificial Intelligence.” In that article I discuss the definition, the history of AI, machine learning, robotics and much more. Below you can find information on top AI predictions for 2021 – read on to learn more!
The following are my predictions for what lies ahead in 2021:
1. Big corporations like Google, Facebook etc. will continue their rapid expansion into developing markets by launching free internet services: India just recently welcomed Facebook Free Basics program which provides people
2. Drones are becoming more affordable and more widespread – they enable us to do tasks we never thought possible. They were initially used by military personnel for reconnaissance but now, they are being used across sectors for areas like transportation (think of the drones that deliver your parcels), law enforcement, farming, real estate etc. This technology has endless applications – just take a look at this crazy video from Atlas Dynamics!
3. 3D Printing is becoming more popular and accessible today than ever before. There are tons of potential use cases from medicine to robotics/manufacturing and even food! Again, it’s not just about printers but also materials: what do you actually print? Metal, plastic or concrete? The raw materials themselves will be a commodity worth investing one day too…
4. Autonomous cars will reach a turning point – driverless cars have been in the works for a long time now and there is no doubt that they will one day become widespread. However, I do think that we’re going to see a big step change in 2021. Likely in early 2021 though, many companies will begin testing their self-driving cars on public roads in cities across the US before expanding to Europe. This technology has tremendous potential – just imagine being able to read or browse while your car drives you from A to B!
5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has improved tremendously over the last decade or so but it’s still far behind humans when it comes to cognitive tasks like reading comprehension, language translation etc.. AI is becoming more complicated than ever before – what was once handled by rules (if such and such happens, then do this) is now handled by deep neural networks which makes decisions based on patterns that humans can’t detect. AI will play an increasingly important role in our lives moving forward:
We’re going to see the rise of the chatbots (think Siri/Cortana): Facebook Messenger has already enabled 1 billion users to message businesses; Google’s Allo app will integrate a virtual assistant; Microsoft’s Cortana is available across platforms etc. They will help us with all sorts of tasks like organizing events, looking up information online etc.; Virtual assistants like Alexa (from Amazon), Viv (from Viv Labs) and Watson (IBM) are going to become more common – they’re great for automating processes at home, they can control your smart devices etc.; Chatbots are also being tested in the retail space – eBay’s Sell on Messenger feature, Tesco’s virtual grocery stores etc. They have many potential applications from curating content to organising your schedule so they will definitely become more widespread over time;
AI is becoming increasingly important too in the business world: it has already been used across industries for tasks like malware detection, financial analysis, ad placement etc.. It can help businesses make better decisions with big data by classifying data points into categories which humans cannot achieve. AI will give them actionable insights that they can use to optimize their business strategies moving forward;
6. IoT is where AI comes into play very nicely because of two reasons: firstly, there is a ton of data generated by IoT devices and secondly, AI enables us to analyze that data for insights.
There are many more applications of Artificial Intelligence across different sectors but I think these will play the biggest roles in the near future;
7. SaaS (software as a service) companies like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform etc. will continue to grow exponentially: they offer businesses super inexpensive scalable computing power and storage over the cloud which makes it really easy for them to build and run apps without having physical infrastructure themselves. These platforms help businesses focus on their core competencies without worrying too much about IT infrastructure and software/application development: it’s all taken care of by Amazon//Microsoft etc.;
8. We will see more mergers and acquisitions in the tech world: we’ve seen some big transactions in 2020 (like Dell purchasing EMC) and I think that trend is going to continue. We’ll likely see many more companies like IBM etc. scaling down their workforce as they focus on their most profitable divisions;
9. There will be a growing interest in Virtual Reality (VR): VR has been all over the news for a while now and it’s still not particularly mainstream but I do predict that it will start getting much more attention in 2021 – especially around Q3/Q4; people are trying out VR products at stores, offices etc.; if you haven’t yet, try Google Cardboard – it’s pretty cool! 🙂
10. The 4th industrial revolution will begin to take shape in 2021 after being talked about for a while now: it has to do with automation of several jobs through the use of robots etc.; I think that this is going to be one of the biggest areas that companies will focus on moving forward. For example, Elon Musk recently unveiled Tesla’s Model 3 car – it has autopilot feature which can steer, change lanes and park itself so it won’t be long before we have cars without drivers!
