2021 Tech Trends Report Is De- It, Produced Two Factions: Those Signed to Help You Confront Deep Who Wanted to Reverse Time and Uncertainty, Adapt and Thrive
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Volume 1 of 12 14th Annual Edition 2021 Tech Trends Report Artificial Strategic trends that will influence business, Intelligence government, education, media and society in the coming year. 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Artificial Intelligence 03 Overview 19 Algorithm Marketplaces 32 Machine Image Completion 43 Nation-based Guardrails 04 Macro Forces and Emerging Trends 19 100-Year Software 32 Predictive Models Using and Regulations 06 Summary 20 Scenario: Rage Against the Machine Single Images 43 Regulating Deepfakes 08 Artificial Intelligence 22 Health, Medicine, and Science 33 Model-free Approaches to RL 43 Making AI Explain Itself 09 An Executive’s Guide to AI 22 AI Speeds Scientific Discovery 33 Real-time Machine Learning 43 New Strategic Technical Alliances 09 Machine Learning 22 AI-First Drug Discovery 33 Automated Machine Learning 43 The New Mil-Tech (AutoML) Industrial Complex 09 Deep Learning 23 AI Improves Patient Outcomes 33 Hybrid Human-Computer Vision 44 Algorithmic Warfighting 10 Weak and Strong AI 23 Deep Learning Applied to 33 Neuro-Symbolic AI 12 Enterprise Medical Imaging 33 General Reinforcement 12 The Rise of MLOps 23 NLP Algorithms Detect Virus Mutations Learning Algorithms 12 Low-Code or No-Code 23 Diagnostics Without Tests 34 Continuous Learning Machine Learning 45 China’s AI Rules 34 Proliferation of 12 Web-Scale Content Analysis 23 Protein Folding Franken-Algorithms 48 Society 12 Simulating Empathy and Emotion 23 Dream Communication 34 Proprietary, Homegrown 48 Ethics Clash 24 Thought Detection 13 Artificial Emotional Intelligence AI Languages 48 Ambient Surveillance 25 Scenario: Deep Twins in the OR 13 Serverless Computing 36 Talent 48 Marketplace Consolidation 27 Consumer 14 Expert Insight: Emotion AI Will 36 AI Brain Drain 48 Fragmentation Power the Empathy Economy, 27 Zero UIs 36 AI Universities 49 Expert Insight: AI reveals but AI Still Needs to Work 27 Consumer-grade AI Applications 37 Demand for AI Talent Growing our real-world biases 17 AI in the Cloud 27 Ubiquitous Digital Assistants 37 Corporate AI Labs 50 AI Still Has a Bias Problem 17 AI at the Edge 28 Deepfakes for Fun 37 AI for Interviews 50 Problematic Training Data 17 Advanced AI Chipsets 28 Personal Digital Twins 39 Creative 50 AI to Catch Cheaters 17 Digital Twins 30 Research 39 Assisted Creativity 50 Algorithms Targeting 17 Spotting Fakes 30 Closed-Source Code Vulnerable Populations 39 Generative Algorithms for 18 Natural Language Processing 30 Framework Consolidation Content Production 51 AI Intentionally Hiding Data for ESGs 30 Cost of Training Models 39 Generating Virtual Environments 51 Undocumented AI Accidents 18 Intelligent Optical Character 31 NLP Benchmarks from Short Videos 51 Digital Dividends Recognition 31 Machine Reading Comprehension 40 Automated Versioning 51 Prioritizing Trust 18 Robotic Process Automation 31 AI Summarizing Itself 40 Automatic Voice Cloning 52 Scenario: Bully Bots 18 Massive Translation Systems 31 No Retraining Required and Dubbing 53 Application 19 Predicting Systems and 40 Automatic Ambient Noise Dubbing Site Failures 31 Graph Neural Networks 54 Key Questions 42 Geopolitics and Defense 19 Liability Insurance for AI 31 Federated Learning 55 Sources 42 AI Nationalism 19 Manipulating AI Systems for 31 GP Models 56 Authors Competitive Advantage 31 GPT-3’s Influence 42 National AI Strategies 19 Global Rush to Fund AI 32 Vokenization 42 AI as Critical Infrastructure 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Artificial Intelligence Overview The 1920s began in chaos. Cata- It’s difficult not to see striking ed trends. In total, we’ve analyzed clysmic disruption resulting from parallels to our modern world. A nearly 500 technology and science the first world war and the Spanish tumultuous U.S. election, extreme trends across multiple industry flu shuttered businesses and pro- weather events and Covid-19 sectors. In each volume, we discuss voked xenophobia. Technological continue to test our resolve and the disruptive forces, opportunities marvels like the radio, refrigerator, our resilience. Exponential tech- and strategies that will drive your vacuum cleaner, moving assembly nologies—artificial intelligence, organization in the near future. line and electronic power trans- synthetic biology, exascale com- Now, more than ever, your organi- mission generated new growth, puting, autonomous robots, and zation should examine the poten- even as the wealth gap widened. off-planet missions to space—are tial near and long-term impact of More than two-thirds of Ameri- challenging our assumptions about tech trends. You must factor the cans survived on wages too low to human potential. Under lockdown, trends in this report into your stra- sustain everyday living. The pace we’ve learned how to work from tegic thinking for the coming year, of scientific innovation—the dis- our kitchen tables, lead from our and adjust your planning, opera- covery of insulin, the first modern spare rooms, and support each tions and business models accord- antibiotics, and insights into theo- other from afar. But this disruption ingly. But we hope you will make retical physics and the structure of has only just begun. time for creative exploration. From atoms—forced people to reconsid- With the benefit of both hindsight chaos, a new world will come. er their cherished beliefs. and strategic foresight, we can The sheer scale of change, and the choose a path of reinvention. Our great uncertainty that came with 2021 Tech Trends Report is de- it, produced two factions: those signed to help you confront deep who wanted to reverse time and uncertainty, adapt and thrive. For Amy Webb return the world to normal, and this year’s edition, the magnitude Founder those who embraced the chaos, of new signals required us to cre- The Future Today Institute faced forward, and got busy build- ate 12 separate volumes, and each ing the future. report focuses on a cluster of relat- 03 © 2021 Future Today Institute 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 6 1 Macro Forces and Emerging Trends 2 3 4 5 For nearly two decades, the Future Today Institute has meticulously re- searched macro forces of change and the emerging trends that result. Our focus: understanding how these forces and trends will shape our futures. Our 14th annual Tech Trends Report identifies new opportunities for growth and potential collaborations in and adjacent to your business. We also highlight emerging or atypical threats across most industries, including all levels of government. For those in creative fields, you will find a wealth of new ideas that will spark your imagination. Our framework organizes nearly 500 trends into 12 clear categories. Within those categories are specific use cases and recommendations for key roles in many organizations: strategy, innovation, R&D, and risk. Each trend offers six important insights. 1. Years on the List 2. Key Insight 4. Disruptive Impact 6. Action Scale Informs Strategy We track longitudinal tech and Concise description of this trend The implications of this trend on FTI’s analysis of what action your Strong evidence and data. Longer- science trends. This measurement that can be easily understood and your business, government, or organization should take. Fields term uncertainties remain. Use it to indicates how long we have repeated to others. society. include: inform your strategic planning. followed the trend and its progression. 3. Examples 5. Emerging Players Watch Closely Act Now Real-world use cases, some of Individuals, research teams, Mounting evidence and data, but Ample evidence and data. This which should be familiar to you. startups, and other organizations more maturity is needed. Use it to trend is already mature and emerging in this space. inform your vision, planning, and requires action. research. 04 © 2021 Future Today Institute 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Artificial Intelligence Macro Forces and Emerging Trends Scenarios Describe Plausible Outcomes You will find scenarios imagining future worlds as trends evolve and converge. Scenarios offer a fresh perspective on trends and often chal- lenge your deeply held beliefs. They prompt you to consider high-impact, high-uncertainty situations using signals available today. 1 1. Headline 2 A short description offering you a glimpse into future changes. 2. Temporal and Emotive Tags 3 A label explaining both when in the future this scenario is set and whether it is optimistic, neutral, pessimistic, or catastrophic. 3. Narrative The descriptive elements of our imagined world, including the developments leading us to this point in our future history. Scenario sources: The Future Today Institute uses a wide array of quali- tative and quantitative data to create our scenarios. Some of our typical sources include patent filings, academic preprint servers, archival re- search, policy briefings, conference papers, data sets, structured inter- views with experts, conversations with kids, critical design, and specula- tive fiction. 05 © 2021 Future Today Institute 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Artificial Intelligence + Natural language processing is + Natural language processing an area experiencing high inter- algorithms— typically used for est, investment, and growth. text, words, and sentences—are being used to interpret genetic + No-code or low-code systems changes in viruses. are unlocking new use cases for businesses. + COVID-19 accelerated the use of AI in drug discovery last year. The + Amazon Web Services, Azure, first trial of an AI-discovered drug and Google Cloud’s low-code is underway in Japan. and no-code offerings will trickle down to everyday people, al- + AI plays key roles in synthetic Artificial lowing them to create their own biology, genetics, and medical artificial intelligence applica- imaging; predicting the spread of tions and deploy them as easily disease; and improving patient as they could a website.