IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization committed to advancing technology for humanity, today concluded its virtual roundtable focused on ‘The Next Big Thing in Technology’, the top technologies that will have a massive impact in 2022 and beyond. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic where digitization and technology have become increasingly powerful drivers for innovation, IEEE curated this roundtable to discuss how AI, ML, and advanced security mechanisms are fuelling industries to drastically increase productivity, automate systems to achieve better accuracy, and help workforces outperform while minimizing tedious repetitive tasks. AI-driven learning systems are generating more opportunities for intertwining technology trends which will only continue in 2022.
Speaking in the roundtable about The Impact of Technology in 2022, Sukanya Mandal, IEEE Member, and Founder and Data Science Professional explained, “AI and ML are creating strides for technological advancements and will be extremely vital for our future to increase output, bring specialization into job roles, and increase the importance of “human skills” such as problem-solving, quantitative skills, and creativity. I strongly believe the future will consist of people and machines working together to improve and adapt to a modern way of working. AI will also play a critical role in all aspects of e-commerce, from customer experiences and marketing to fulfillment and distribution.”
Recently published research on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work conducted by MIT Work of The Future, highlights that AI continues to push large-scale innovation, create more jobs, advance labor processes, and holds the immense potential to impact various sectors. Furthermore, a Gartner report predicts that half of data centers around the world will deploy advanced robotics with AI and ML capabilities by 2025, which is estimated to lead to 30% higher operating efficiencies.
“Industry 4.0 is all about interconnecting machines, processes, and systems for maximum process optimization. Along the same lines, Industry 5.0 will be focused on the interaction between humans and machines. It is all about recognizing human expertise and creatively interconnecting with machine intelligence for process optimization. It is true to say that we are not far away from the 5th industrial revolution. Over this decade and the next, we will witness applications of IoT and smart systems adhering to the principles of the 5th industrial revolution across various sectors.”, she further added.
The roundtable also focused on Redefining the Future of Biometric Security Technology. AI-Machine Learning-based systems, in collaboration with the latest technologies such as IoT, Cloud Computing, and Data Science, have successfully advanced Biometrics. Biometric systems generate huge volumes of data that can be managed with Machine Learning techniques for better handling and space management. Deep learning can also play a vital role in analyzing data to build automated systems that achieve better accuracy. A report by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated that 75 countries, representing 43 percent of a total of 176 countries, are actively leveraging AI capabilities for biometric purposes, including facial recognition systems, smart cities, and others.
Commenting on this, Sambit Bakshi, Senior IEEE Member, said, “During the pandemic, we all saw the increased use of technology in public places such as airports, train stations, etc., not only to monitor body temperatures but also to help maintain COVID protocols. Biometric technologies are rapidly becoming a part of the daily lives of people around the world.”
Biometric authentication is likely to expand in the coming years. Multimodal authentication exercises a combination of similar biometric technologies to authenticate someone. Cues from different platforms can be integrated through cloud computing and IoT-based architecture to verify someone’s identity. These can include gait features or anthropometric signatures. The future of biometric security lies in simplicity. Improving modern techniques is the simplest way to offer a high level of protection.
