Technology 2019: Prospects and pitfalls

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As far as technology is concerned in 2019, will 5G cellphone internet, smart transportation and artificial intelligence start to change our lives.

Will artificial intelligence (AI) dominate the world one day?

Dejan Milojicic, the distinguished technologist at Hewlett Packard Labs, dispels our concerns about the impact of technology by referring to fears that machines would replace human jobs at the time of first and second industrial revolutions. Machines did take over certain jobs but those were jobs that people didn't really want to do.

Today, AI is helping people in areas such as video recognition in an era of mass data amid growing ethical concerns. Clearly, a lot of regulatory and compliance work still has to be done as safeguards are needed to prevent technology abuse.

What is AI capable of? Ray Wang, the principal analyst and founder of Constellation Research, explains that three layers of human jobs exist – human-led initiations, augmented jobs and full automation jobs.

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If we separate what humans are good at and what machines are good at, we may find that augmented humanity will be the primary trend in the next five to 15 years. Humans are good at creative works while machines can do repetitive tasks more effectively.

On the other hand, an ethical framework is vital to ensure that the codes are transparent, so that other scientists can make modifications and at the same time, AI technology has to be trainable and coachable and make sure the process starts and ends with humans.

5G technology will significantly reduce internet latency in mobile and wireless communication. As Milojicic notes, cell phones can facilitate many other things such as remote surgery in the medical field and real-time explanations. 5G will also boost the gaming industry in controlling automation.

The technology is only a part of the information advancement in the coming years, and the whole infrastructure building will be the crucial point. For example, autonomous assisted autopilot relies on smart and connected vehicles, which require a local high-speed and low latency network based on infrastructure.

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The Internet of Body is another contentious field. Ray suggests that a plant-in device in the body can monitor the health of people. Specialists can learn patterns from cardio rhythms, record sleeping levels and diagnose and make early warnings for diseases. The 5G generation will enable service providers to incorporate all these services at the same time.

In 2019, we expect artificial intelligence and 5G to have major advancement from technology to industry.

The autonomous vehicle can be an industrial hub for these two technologies, but Milojicic believes it is too soon to see full adoption of the autonomous vehicle on the road. Much infrastructure building needs to be completed, and there will undoubtedly be more extensive road tests for autonomous cars.

The Heat with Anand Naidoo is a 30-minute political talk show on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 7:00 a.m. BJT and 7:00 p.m. Eastern in the United States.

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