Mike Bechtel, the global futurist at Deloitte, is challenged to speak out about the kind of inventions that may emerge in the next decade, and believes that “we will see the rise of affective artificial intelligence (AI)”, i.e. ” machines capable of and imitating emotional intelligence, machines with personality”.
Speaking to Dinheiro Vivo as part of the launch of the consultancy’s annual study on technology macro trends, Mike Bechtel admits that over the next decade we can expect “environmental experiences moderated by digital assistants who monitor us to anticipate and proactively comply with our requests. Later, neural interfaces will enable a direct link between our thoughts and a digital response. AI can now make decisions based on real-time data and generate poetry, essays, art, music, and videos.”
The futurist also believes that “computing is moving towards abundance: better, faster, cheaper and stronger”.
On the other hand, he believes that “in the next decade decentralized networks, edge computing and advanced connectivity will power the spatial web, where digital content will be seamlessly integrated with physical spaces.”
As humans who fear being replaced by machines, can we trust AI?
Mike Bechtel argues that the best we can do is use machines: “Use them to write emailsresearch a topic, post on social networks, build one place or whatever your job requires. When you start using these tools, you will see that they are not as capable as a human being. In fact, they never intended to be. They often form the basis of a project and speed up work at an early stage. Using AI can really make you more productive and irreplaceable. We hear this a lot these days: you won’t be replaced by AI, but you can be replaced by a human using AI.”
For that reason, it advises companies to be aware of new developments in the field of AI. “Large language models may be hot right now, but AI could fundamentally change when affective AI enables machines to understand emotional intelligence.”
AI revolution
And the AI ”revolution” is precisely one of six trends identified in the Deloitte study, due to the need to increase human confidence in this tool. For this, the study points to the importance of making algorithms more transparent – how decisions are made, what data they are based on and what objectives they will have, the authors underline, fundamental questions.
From physical to digital
The separation between the virtual and the physical, tangible reality disappeared. The metaverse encourages “creating new business models” that build on the evolution of technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. The consultant points to the need for companies to develop a strategy to embrace this new market, either with new products and services or with process optimization.
“The business simulation is something that will happen,” anticipates consultant Bruno Silva Batista. The digital construction of fully functional factories to test equipment, organize production processes, assess environmental impacts and anticipate problems is already a reality today. However, the near-term future reserves new forms of interaction that promise transformative. “Sensory thinking or thought-based control are areas that will develop over the next two to three years,” he believes.
challenge of multicloud
The growth in the use of cloud led to 85% of companies relying on at least two or more platforms, while 25% used five or more. “This leads to duplication of services, both in cost and configuration,” explains Bruno Silva Batista, referring to the emergence of solutions that allow organizations to manage all platforms in one place. This allows you to shrink teams, save resources and increase efficiency.
Talent and modernization
The last three trends from Deloitte Tech Trends 2023 relate to business organization. The growing flexibility employees demand from companies is essential to create and retain talent in a skills shortage scenario – without adapting, managers will not be able to maintain teams. On the other hand, the study looks at the decentralization and monetization of digital assets as something organizations should be aware of, especially with the increase in the potential of the block chain and the transition to Web3.
The modernization of core systems is something that, with AI and machine learning, becomes possible, enabling them to integrate with emerging technologies. This strategy enables a faster, cheaper and more effective digital transformation process.
Deep down, the adoption of technologies is “critical”. “If you don’t follow these trends, you risk being left behind,” concludes Gonçalo Santos, partner from Deloitte.
Source: DN
