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Today, more than 100 billion sensors are going to be connected to the net by 2020. And most industries will use these connections to create smarter systems. Convenience apps will give people information when they need it. Automobiles will reduce accidents and improve performance. Medical devices will allow for earlier detection of disease and improved treatment. As these technologies become increasingly interconnected, what is known as the Internet of Things promises to change our lives.
But this promise comes with concerns like privacy issues and potential disasters. Security will have to be tight to prevent hackers from breaking into computers that connect to the IoT. Experts also worry about the potential cost in terms of decreased productivity due to unnecessary data entry and analysis tasks.
Some see the IoT as an exciting innovation that will redound to the benefit of humans and society at large. Others aren’t so sure. Although the technology has many benefits, it also carries numerous risks which require careful consideration.
Consider how IoT could affect your job. More likely than not, you’re already using some type of smart device. IoT offers companies the opportunity to innovate and solve problems while maintaining control over their brand.
We are already surrounded by robots. They drive cars, help in the medical field, keep us secure at night. What many people don’t realize is that we will also have robotic pets soon. This concept comes with an amazing array of possibilities, but it also brings with it several challenges.
What if the robot went insane? How would you react if the robot decided to harm humans? Would you be able to predict how the robot would respond to human input? These are all questions that need answering before this kind of technology can go mainstream.
Of course, the cost for these products is still fairly high. But over time they become cheaper and more efficient. What was once unavailable or impractical is now possible because of innovations like these.
Some believe that robotics is one area that stands to gain most from future advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Why? Because AIs underlie much of the design choices made today. As AI becomes increasingly capable, it will naturally expand into new areas.
Consider the case of self driving cars. Our autonomous car uses sensors, radar, and cameras to perceive and interpret its surroundings. And what about the systems behind them? Many of those contain layers and stacks of individual AIs.
These AIs work together so that the system as a whole is better at interpreting and responding to sensory data than any single component itself.
In short, we are already seeing the beginnings of AI-based technologies.
The advent of self driving cars has been in the works for decades, but it’s highly probable that we won’t all be buying them at this year’s model update. For one, cost is a significant concern. But as technology becomes more prevalent, costs will come down.
Driverless cars are still expensive to build (the Tesla Model 3 was recently reported to cost $5000), but companies like Google have already invested large amounts of time and money into building automated systems.
What's even better is that autonomous vehicles may actually reduce traffic congestion by allowing people to use their own schedules instead of sticking to an arbitrary timetable used by many other drivers.
Furthermore, sensors and electronics needed to detect objects around car could also provide information about potential risks such as pedestrians or cyclists. Such automation can help prevent injuries and deaths due to human error so long as the software guiding the vehicle isn't configured to avoid obstacles.
Technology has come a long way since the days of mobile phones being expensive devices that required perusing manuals to set up. Software has become much more user-friendly, which has made these smartphones extra powerful.
But with all this power comes responsibility. Cyber criminals are constantly searching for vulnerable electronic systems and when they find them, they exploit them. According to the FBI, hackers steal millions of dollars from businesses every year by accessing accounts and information stored online.
Many people rely heavily on their cell phones; whether it is checking business emails during lunch or booking flights through an app, the phone becomes an extension of one’s self. Therefore, protecting yourself and your data is very important.
While there are many ways to protect oneself, here are three simple steps you can take to secure your smartphone and limit access to your personal data :
Step 1 – Take a hard look at your subscriptions. Are there any apps that you don’t need? Has anything suddenly gotten too popular (like sexting) and does it really need to be connected to your account? Read over privacy policies and terms of use and make sure nothing gets overlooked.
Step 2 – Check passwords. If you have something important like your password, then try not to forget it but also don’t stick it in your pocket either. Remember how excited kids were to learn about characters and numbers and now imagine what “passwords” feel like!
The emergence of smart phones has changed the way people create, share, and consume content.
More than ever before, humans need to collaborate in sharing information across distances.
Apps play a large role in our ability to communicate easily and efficiently. But some experts believe that apps may become self-aware and cause us pain at some point.
If this happens, we could be putting ourselves at risk for severe physical distress. Luckily, there are steps you can take to prevent this from happening.
The first step is to remove apps from your smartphone if they’re not serving a purpose by making yourself more efficient or creating an advantage for yourself.
You can also delete apps that you no longer use. This helps reduce space taken up by those apps and gives you less chance of experiencing app crashes.
It also prevents any new apps from taking too much storage.
Finally, you can change your privacy settings so anyone who tries to install a app will have it rejected. You should also do this if someone else shares their password with you.
As we become more dependent on technology, our children are becoming increasingly unfamiliar with real-life conversations and friendships. People often rely on their devices for entertainment, making it hard for them to spend time socializing or interacting in person.
It’s also easier to make contact through social media than it is to call someone now days. With apps like Whatsapp, you can send messages directly to a friend’s device without having to speak to that friend first.
More importantly, all too many people feel as though they have no control over their personal information online. The best way to keep yourself safe is by being very aware of what happens when you allow companies to use your data.
By limiting access to your account, you will be helping prevent corporations from accessing your private information. In fact, some services have built-in settings that limit who can access your content or accounts.
Even if you don’t use email yourself, chances are that you receive them often. And regardless of how much time you spend monitoring your inbox, there’s probably one or more messages you could do without.
The trick to avoiding these is- well, no tricks really– managing expectations. By knowing where they’re coming from and what they’re about, you can avoid being caught off guard.
In addition to keeping tabs on your own behavior, try to understand why others have that information and think before you send an automatic message.
Of course, not everyone who uses automation tools likes it, but rather than trying to convince people natural language processing is better, learn to be aware of their views and preferences and accommodate them in your interaction. After all, isn’t that what anyone doing customer service should do?
This may sound crazy, but I think it’s important that we learn how to cope with the impact of AI.
We live in a very data driven society. Everything is tracked, analyzed, and processed. All human interaction is digitized. More than five billion mobile phone records are stored every month.
Artificial intelligence is going to be able to analyze more information faster than ever before. It will also be able to process this information and come up with conclusions and predictions.
If you don’t allow for these changes by learning ways to manage your emotions and spend time thinking about what matters to you, then the power could easily shift from you to the machines.
You wouldn’t let something like this sit untreated for too long or you might accidentally trigger a nuclear meltdown or lose your mind. So why would you do that when it comes to digital technology?
Practicing self-care is not some crazy idea! You deserve it!
It only takes a few minutes each day to put all of this stuff together.
