What the future holds: predictions of IBM about technologies after 2022. Part 1

It is not the first time that the technological giant IBM has made statements about our technological future. We should note that the percentage of correct predictions is always higher than incorrect.

This time the company has provided the list of five innovative technologies, methods, and discoveries which will influence our lives the most in five years. According to these predictions, in just a few years we will face a serious growth in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), super-powerful telescopes, smart sensors, and medical devices. Under these circumstances, the profit from these innovations will be noticeable in many fields, from the healthcare system and environment protection to our understanding of the Earth and the entire surrounding universe as a whole. Of course, we should mention that the following predictions are based on technologies and innovations that we are familiar with; that is why we should understand that other discoveries might occur during the time interval mentioned in these predictions.

We propose to have a look on what could be waiting for us in the nearest future. Grab your notes to return to this article in 2022 to check whether these predictions came true or not.

We will be able to diagnose a person’s psychological health by the aid of AI

Even now, you can tell a lot about a person by just keeping an eye on the way he talks. Fatigue, excitement, confusion, inattention, or sadness are clearly audible in the voice. In the process of evolution people have learned to understand the signs indicating these features, however the current boom in the development of computer calculations can lead to the fact that the technologies of speech analysis become more insightful than humans are. IBM predicts, “The way we talk and write will be used as indicators of our psychological and physical health.” How would this happen?

For example, psychological breakdown and diseases such as Parkinson disease will be detected with the help of mobile application, which will synchronize with AI cloud system. Due to earlier detection of disease symptoms, we will have more time to find the appropriate treatment. At first sight, the connection between the features of speech and symptoms of disease looks very blurred, but experimental systems that are capable of accomplishing such functions already exist. For instance, last year, a team of scientists from the University of South Carolina has invented a program that could determine the variability of normal speech and compare it with signs of a depressed state.

People can get a “super vision” due to new technologies and AI

Our eyes are beautiful examples of wonderful nature and biology potential. According to IBM, with the help of powerful, but tiny cameras working in tandem with ultrafast systems based on AI algorithms, people in 2022 will have the opportunity to see literally more than is usually available to the human eye. Along with visible light, people will see microwaves, millimeter waves, and even images obtained in the infrared spectrum range. All of this will be possible because of a fairly compact device, which is able to fit in a jeans’ pocket. Actually we will receive personal introscope (device that is used in airport to scan luggage), but in the size of a phone. By using such a device we will, for example, be able to
accurately identify whether this or that food is safe for us; self-controlled cars equipped with such a system will become more effective “looking through” fog or heavy rain. This is a small part of possible examples.

Some such devices are already appearing. For example, the glasses EnChroma will paint the surrounding world in color for people suffering from color blindness and achromatopsia. For now, such technologies are  experimental, but in 2022 any person will be able to afford them.

Read more predictions about technologies that will make our lives a lot easier in just five years in our next post.