 | The decade that's knocking on our doors now — the 2020s — is likely to be a time when science fiction manifests itself in our homes and roads and skies as viable, everyday technologies. Cars that can drive themselves. Meat that is derived from plants. Robots that can be fantastic companions — both in bed and outside. |  |  | By 2030, 700 million people could be displaced because of intense water shortage, according to the UN. | |  | In India, the 5G launch might happen in 2021-22, with 5G auctions likely to be held next year. | |  | Hypersonics are as much about advancements in technology as about the military might of nations. | |  | In India, despite the demonetisation scheme in 2016, cash continues to account for over 90% of transactions. | |  | Today's robots are largely remote-controlled with little onboard intelligence. But the inflection point is near where artificial intelligence and deep learning will help future robots assess situations and make on-the-spot decisions to respond without any human intervention. | |  | SoftBank founder Masayoshi, the Japanese tech investor, thinks singularity will hit humankind by 2047, while futurist Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, is betting on machines matching human intelligence by 2029 and singularity happening by 2045. | |  | With finance ministry's Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) giving in-principal approval to the proposal on December 19, the path has been cleared for the railways to roll out its reform in engaging private operators, ending its long monopoly in running passenger trains. | |  | Harmony by RealDoll is among the most evolved sexbot today. It can blink, move its head, have conversations and comes with self-learning software that remembers earlier encounters and conversations to offer better companionships. AI-powered sexbots are customisable and offer a choice of personality types. In future, expect them to become more evolved and human-like. | |  | AI is widely misunderstood and still too rudimentary for us to be worrying. But it's not too soon to contemplate the ethical implications of intelligent machines and systems. An AI system is only as good as the data it receives. It is able to interpret them only within the narrow confines of the supplied context. It can't distinguish causation from correlation. | |  | As the internet has helped create virtual worlds and made the life easier, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ruling in the higher income households with self-driven cars, toys, translators among others. 2020 is likely to be a time when science fiction manifests itself in our homes and roads and skies as viable, everyday technologies. | |  | It's not enough for countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. They have to pursue ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon Engineering, a Canadian company founded in 2009, is building a machine in the US that can capture 1 million tonnes of carbon every year, which can then be stored underground or used in oil recovery. | |  | AI-enabled technologies are changing the one-size-fits-all model of classrooms. The world's top technology billionaires are betting their philanthropic dollars on personalised learning. Smart education and learning market is in high demand globally and is forecasted to reach $423 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research. | |  | 3-D manufacturing will grow in size and scale as everything — from shoes to hearts — becomes 'printable'. Known as additive manufacturing, a 3-D printer assembles an object layer by layer using plastic, resin or metal. While manufacturing products is the easier part, the challenge is to scale the effort to make it truly useful for industries. | |  | India has an important role to play as space exploration rises in importance in the human scheme of things. It will be imperative for India to take the rightful place in this emerging global setting. Space systems will be a prime enabler in achieving the sustainable development goals and they are also becoming essential ingredients of national security. | |  | Technology is beneficial in all sorts of ways but it's also tearing us apart in ways we are only gradually comprehending. Generationally, we have had the luxury of learning by mistake and course-correcting. However, when mistakes happen at a huge scale, the cost of learning by mistake is enormous on everyone— also futile because the pace of change is so rapid. | | |
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