Many babies born today will be alive to celebrate on New Year's Eve 2099, the turn of the next century. As we embark on 2024, we thought it would be interesting to examine what life might look like when today’s babies are the senior citizens of the future. How will technology change the way people live in 70 years? Well, to put the future in perspective, let’s take a look back at the 1950’s AT&T TV ads which taught us how to use a dial-up telephone. As archaic as that now sounds, it was only 70 years ago! Technology will continue to advance rapidly as developments facilitate the pace of greater innovation. Read on to see some of the futuristic technologies that will soon be part of everyday living and some that seem futuristic but are already being deployed today…
From Internet of Things to Internet of Autonomous Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly growing technology trend where more and more physical devices are connecting to the internet. We are already seeing medical implants, virtual reality systems, automobile sensors, navigators and watches among the 14 billion connected devices currently sharing data over the internet. The convergence of this technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing and Big Data is now giving rise to the Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT).
Using the IoAT, groups of sensors can communicate with each other to perform a series of complicated tasks that may previously have required human intervention. Some examples include looking beyond repetitive manufacturing processes to automate Quality Control, which is typically more nuanced and requires human decision making. Farm technology and traffic regulation are also areas where Autonomous Things may make a huge impact, as well as the automation of home energy usage and construction processes. These technologies will free up human workers for more esoteric endeavours, such as creating and improving other new technologies.
Machine Learning and Autonomous Spaceplanes
If there was an app that could tell you when you will die, would you want to know? According to a CNN article, Danish researchers are using machine-learning technology to predict certain aspects of people’s lives, including when people might die. The study, published in the Nature Computational Science journal, describes an AI machine-learning model called life2vec that can predict the outcome of a person’s life when presented with highly specific data. Although currently a prototype in the very early stages of development, the model predicted the outcome with 78% accuracy across the 6 million people included in the data set. This is subject to the caveats that the group was not randomised and resided in a stable country with a strong healthcare infrastructure and stable socioeconomic system. Nevertheless, the combination of big data and the predictive capabilities of AI models will have a major impact on our lives in the years ahead.
The Boeing X-37B autonomous spaceplane is another example of futuristic technology that is already in operation today. It looks like a miniature space shuttle and is launched into orbit by a rocket. The X-37B flies unmanned at altitudes of 150 to 500 miles above earth at speeds of Mach 25; that is 19,181.7 miles or 30,869.9 kilometers per hour. After a mission, which can be as long as two years, it returns to earth and lands on a runway like an airplane. Its highly secretive missions are varied and present an excellent example of how futuristic technology is already being deployed.
Innovative visibility technology that can grow with your network - PacketProTM intelligent packet processor
Another technology that sounds futuristic but is available now is the PacketPro by Network Critical. A major challenge network managers face is how to acquire accurate traffic readings without overloading the capacity of monitoring tools or running afoul of data privacy regulations. Sending complete packets to monitoring tools may not be optimal if the tool is only reporting on a subset of the packet such as header information.
PacketPro is a self-configuring module that can process and modify packets being passed to a monitoring tool. Designed to be used with the SmartNA-XLTM Hybrid Ethernet TAP and Packet Broker, the PacketPro module provides powerful packet slicing, header stripping for advanced filtering and payload masking for compliant analysis. Going beyond packet slicing, the PacketPro can perform complete data packet manipulation including the masking of payload information. This allows accurate packet information to be sent to tools while complying with GDPR and other data privacy regulations.
The future cannot be known with certainty. However, looking at various technological advances in their infancy today can help identify trends that will show us glimpses of what may become our future. From AI and Autonomous Things emerging on the horizon, to harder-to-imagine mind reading and animal communication technology, one thing is certain; dramatic technological change is inevitable. For more information on current and future network visibility technology click the button below or click here.
Happy New Year from all of us at Network Critical!
