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IBM reveals its “5 in 5” tech innovations

It’s fun to speculate on science fiction-style visions of the distant future, but IBM is looking a little closer. This week, the tech giant announced its “5 in 5” predictions of technological innovations that it says will have a real impact on the world within the next five years.

AI microscopes to clean the oceans
Oceanic pollution is a growing concern. IBM’s partial solution is the deployment of tiny autonomous AI-powered microscopes that can track plankton movements in 3D. This won’t remove plastic bottles, but it will allow scientists to model aquatic health patterns. Plankton is great for this, apparently, and in turn this can help shape responses to polluting events such as oil spills and land-based sources of pollutions.

Quantum computing
Quantum computing is not a new development, but IBM is predicting that it will move out of the hands of researchers, where it currently resides, and into the mainstream within the next five years. This doesn’t mean that we’ll all be accessing social media on quantum laptops, but the company thinks that developers and other professionals will be using quantum to “solve problems once considered unsolvable.” It also believes that quantum computing will be common in universities and will even filter down to school level.

Unbiased AI
IBM said: “AI systems are only as good as the data we put into them. Bad data can contain implicit racial, gender, or ideological biases.”

The company thinks that it will find counters for the increasing numbers of biased AI systems and algorithms currently in play. Not only that, but unbiased AIs could also teach humanity a thing or two.

“As AI systems find, understand, and point out human inconsistencies in decision making, they could also reveal ways in which we are partial, parochial, and cognitively biased, leading us to adopt more impartial or egalitarian views,” IBM said.

Lattice cryptography
There’s a constant arms race between hackers on one side and cyber-security experts on the other. The aforementioned quantum computers will be powerful tools in the hands of cyber-criminals, and IBM envisages them being able to overcome all current security protocols. The company said that it has come up with a post-quantum security technology called lattice cryptography. IBM claims that “No computer can crack it, not even future quantum computers.”

It sounds impressive, but then no one ever can crack the best security technology – until they do.

Cryptographic anchors
Also working in the realms of security but in a more physical sense are cryptographic anchors that can be embedded in everyday products and devices. These could take the form of ink dots, or they could be unique and fully identifiable computers that are smaller than a grain of salt. These identifiers can be used in conjunction with blockchain technology to ensure an item’s authenticity, striking a blow against counterfeiters and potentially having an application in areas such as food safety.

“This year’s 5 in 5 is far more than a showcase of ground-breaking innovation,” IBM said. “It is a reaffirmation of technology’s role as a force for good in a world that desperately needs it.”

uk.tdsynnex.com

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