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earth2050 robot, Illustration of intelligent robot protesting for robots' rights

What will the future of work be like by 2050?

  • min read
    • The world of work in 2050. If you're unlucky enough not to have retired by then, the working world will be a very different place to how it is today. The vision of the future for workers tends to scale from a nilistic view of the robots taking our jobs (leaving us permanently trapped indoors, living entirely from Amazon Prime supplies), through to the utopia of the eradication of repetitive tasks using artifical intelligence. This will leave humans free to think, create and act (while never needing to leave their home…thanks to improved remote work options and those highly convenient Amazon delivery drones). But what do the experts think it will really be like? Robots have rights too Predicted by: Ian Pearson. Ian has been a full-time futurologist for over 25 years, tracking and predicting developments across a wide range of technology, business, society, politics and the environment. We see a picket line of robots in the city center. Their placards are plastered with slogans written in binary code. The widespread development of robots and artificial intelligence have necessitated the creation of a legal framework to protect them to regulate the rights of intelligent robots. Subsequently, this code is constantly updated and improved so robots have improving rights in our society. Personal assistants for life Predicted by: Alexey Malanov Personal assistants (PAs) have rapidly developed throughout the 21st century. To begin with, they could only answer primitive questions: in 2019, voice assistants were as dumb as a box of rocks. But by 2025, they'd mastered the art of recognizing and transcribing speech (with punctuation marks too); they could understand the meaning of a text and recite it so realistically that it was almost indistinguishable from a human. This led to half of all office activities being automated: PAs began to take minutes, write post-meeting reports, summarize lengthy documents, and consciously digest and recapitulate the contents of messages. They also plan your day, schedule meetings and even order lunch. Thanks to machine learning, PAs are fully adapted to their owners' personalities, increasingly penetrating every aspect of their lives. It all began with assisting with office work, and by the mid-2040s, PAs had become an integral part of everyday life by monitoring their owners' diets, planning trips abroad, buying gifts for friends and family, and more. But it's not as rosy as it seems: the human-PA relationship has spawned a plethora of psychological issues and communication difficulties between real people. However, a specially trained AI psychologist is on hand to help us cope. Paradoxically, it's just another voice assistant. The power is in your hands Predicted by: Mersey Shelley is a pseudonym of Alexey Andreyev, writer and futurologist, who works for Kaspersky. This prediction is from his cyberpunk novel '2048' published in 2004. In decades past, palms and fingers were scanned for identification. Now, hands with implanted sensors become the scanners themselves. These implants come in different models with two main variations: first, a simple scanner for daily use. It helps to read different tags and product codes, and to exchange digital business cards via the handshake ritual (you can use face recognition to identify a stranger but this is considered indecent; besides, many people use protection to prevent recognition. Hats with special veils are popular). Second, sophisticated scanners for technicians and other professionals. For example, a doctor's hand includes various medical sensors for diagnostics – even a portable endoscope with a direct video stream to the doctor's visual cortex. A flexible workforce Predicted by Jacob Morgan is a best-selling author, speaker, futurist and founder of Future of Work University. In the year 2050, technology will dominate the workplace with artificial intelligence and smart assistants being commonplace, while the use of augmented and virtual reality continues to increase. Everything will be 'smart' – connected and data-driven. The vast majority of us will continue working the same way we are today, but the jobs on offer will be ones that haven't yet been invented. Emotional intelligence and 'human' skills such as perpetual learning will be crucial for leaders to possess, as well as fluency with the latest technologies. Work will increasingly become more fluid as some employees will be virtual, some will be full-time, some will be bots, and we will all be working non-fixed hours. As with any kind of change, there will be pros and cons. Those who work in routine jobs are likely to struggle to make sure they can stay relevant in the new world of work. The advantage is that this will give us more time to focus on the human aspects of work such as building relationships, being creative, deep thinking, and practicing skills like empathy and self-awareness. Technology will help us make organizations more personable. This also means that we need to get more comfortable with using technology such as bots and AI in our work, a cause of tension and fear for some. And what about working hours? It depends if you're a knowledge worker or working in industries like retail. Flexible work arrangements are already being implemented at organizations around the world. The advantages are far-ranging, from improving employee satisfaction, productivity and tenure, to being able to attract and retain top talent. The potential disadvantages here are making sure that employees can stay accountable for delivering high-quality work while feeling like they're a part of the team, dealing with isolation, and ensuring effective communication and collaboration. I think the pros outstrip the cons: when managed effectively, flexible work arrangements can be a huge benefit to the organization and its people. Focus on the user experience Predicted by: Edney Souza, digital culture and business and technology teacher, speaker and entrepreneur, Brazil. For sure, work will become more fun and those repetitive activities in our day-to-day life will be done by robots and artificial intelligence. Knowing programming logic will be as important as English and mathematics. User experience design (UX) will be more important than other technical components of a project to ensure its success with customers. Skills in solving problems and serving customers will continue to be competitive advantages for the work of the future. Read more predictions about our technological future from scientists, futurologists and cybersecurity experts at Earth 2050 by Kaspersky.
Professionally dressed man and woman standing in a field surrounded by greenery, solar panels and bees

Can tech help fight climate change? Five innovations making a difference today

  • min read
    • As we say goodbye to the last decade, we usher in a new and crucial one for our planet. According to research, Earth has warmed around 1c since the industrial revolution, which is wreaking havoc on the planet we call home. This is just the start, according to this fun, but terrifying sliding scale. Since the 2016 Paris Agreement – which aims to keep global temperature increases under 2c – climate change has become a critical conversation for all nations and industries. But, as the research of agricultural economist Ester Boserup shows, humankind has the potential to adapt using technology to overcome its problems. These five technologies are designed to help us combat the number one issue we face as a species: global warming. Vacuuming gas from the atmosphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63S0t4k_Glw Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere have risen 48 percent since the start of the industrial revolution. We need to start reducing it, with the help of direct air capture (DAC) technology. But what is it? Giant vacuum cleaners remove CO2 from the atmosphere, sequestering it underground and, in some cases, supplying it back to specific industries, like fertilizer for farmers or bubbles for drinks companies to carbonate their products. One of the companies already using Direct Air Capture tech is Climeworks. They're removing and sequestering thousands of tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year. The CO2 fighting resilient crop Arborea has developed the world's first BioSolar Leaf – which puts a whole new spin on natural photosynthesis. Using unique, photovoltaic-like panels, coined 'bionic leaves,' BioSolar Leaf uses sunlight to grow microscopic plants which can grow in high concentrations within arid and infertile ground. These tiny plants, in turn, produce healthy food ingredients while generating oxygen and sequestering high amounts of CO2. Bees glorious bees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6HLWS86-Y8&feature=emb_title Bees. You'd be hard pushed to find someone who doesn't appreciate them. But you'd have an equally tricky time sitting down for a coffee with one (the bee, not the person). They are vital to a healthy environment, but unfortunately, their numbers are declining globally. It's time to save these winged wanderers. The World Bee Project and Oracle have teamed up to do just that. Their Hive Network uses cloud technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart sensors to collect information about honey bee decline to protect them better. The Hive Network allows researchers to 'listen' in on honey bee enclosures, analyzing data like wing movement, temperature and honey yield. By monitoring bee colonies at this level, conservationists and beekeepers can detect patterns and predict bee behaviors, giving them vital information to keep our (real-world) honeypots alive. Lab-grown cuisine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iv0857U3UE Not a new technology by any stretch, but a new way of looking at a traditional industry. Meat has a much higher energy footprint than any other food type. It takes 75 times more energy to produce than corn and an area seven times the size of the European Union (EU) to produce enough food for the region's cattle and livestock to eat. In an attempt to curb our carnivorous habits and save our planet from total annihilation, start-ups like Impossible Foods are rearing fake meat – in labs. They've discovered that both animals and plants share a common protein – heme. In plants, this is leghemoglobin, whereas in animals, like cows, this would be hemoglobin. By taking heme from leghemoglobin and growing it in a lab, the product can be colored, shaped and even cooked like a piece of meat because they share the same properties. But there's more. Solar Foods are now turning water into different foods by taking bacteria from soil and multiplying it using hydrogen extracted from water – the result (in this case): flour. Although the flour isn't licensed for sale currently, it's been used to make an edible pancake. Not a bad start. Eventually, the flour will be used to replace fillers in thousands of food products. It can be modified to mimic milk and eggs, and can even be manipulated to create lab-grown fish with all those healthy omega-3 acids. The power of energy storage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmrwdTGZxGk&feature=emb_title Many countries around the world have committed to a 100 percent carbon-free future, but how exactly will it happen? With renewables, in the first instance. But we also need to manage better the energy we produce to power the right tech to help us, like electric cars. The stage is set for interconnectors. These power lines not only move energy across long distances between regional power grids but also store excess energy for later use using lithium-ion batteries – those used in mobile phones and electric cars. The use of these interconnectors is expected to grow tenfold by 2024. They help to store energy for longer to transport it to places where there's less produced – a win-win. Right now, current storage tech can handle four hours of storage. But, technology firms aim to improve that drastically like Energy Vault, a Swiss start-up. They use windy days and automated cranes to stack bricks, recapturing the kinetic energy generated when the bricks fall back to the ground. Watch the video to see it in action. Smart cities are the next port of call The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that climate change could increase deaths by air pollution by hundreds of thousands between 2030 and 2050. One of the big problems: congested cities. Now with advances in artificial intelligence, internet of things (IoT) and smart sensors, smart cities are being designed to help keep earth-defiling emissions down and citizens' lungs healthy. Hamburg is a case in point. A prominent port city in Germany, it's bustling with shipping containers, cruise ships and other sea vessels – but struggling to manage increasing air and noise pollution. Air pollution is due to ships burning marine fuels for on-board equipment while they're docked in the harbor. After Hamburg Port Authority teamed up with Siemens and adopted the Siharbour technology (a mobile-operated generator), Hamburg's ports can now hook incoming ships onto the mainland power supply, stopping them from burning unnecessary fuel and keeping emissions down. What happens next? The teams behind these innovations (and countless others) are working around the clock for a better chance of saving our planet. Which ones do you think will help make a difference? And what innovations could your business develop now that could help protect our world?
russian technology inventions, Musician in tailcoat plays theramin

Inventions you never guessed were from Russia

  • min read
    • What do you think when you hear the word 'Russia'? Vodka? Dolls? Grizzly bears? All of the above? You'd be right. But did you know that it also gave the world some of our greatest innovations to date? Here are some technologies you may not have known originated from the Russian state. From electric trains to TV, electricity in the home and more, innovations throughout history have come to define us and how we live and work. So who do we have to thank for that? Well, lots of people, really. Including Russia. But apart from Kaspersky's award-winning cybersecurity solutions, what other innovations has this nation given the world? Electric railway – 1881 Russian visionary Fyodor Pirotsky was obsessed with transmitting electricity over long distances. He developed a two-rail design (what we would call a 'railway' in today's world), in which one rail was a direct conductor of electricity, and the other a reverse conductor. But it wasn't until 1881 that his design started making headway; the world's first electric tram, made of a two-decker horse tramway, went into service in Saint Petersburg, Russia, carrying 40 people. The result? A safe way of transporting people and cargo over long distances, without relying on coal. It was this sort of bulletproof innovation that led to Berlin, Germany, adopting the technology later that year, followed by Brighton in the UK. Cue the industrial revolution. Periodic table of the elements – 1896 During the 19th century, some chemists started to notice that some of Earth's elements had similar properties. But their attempts at articulating their thoughts were futile. That was until Russian Dimitri Mendeleev made an altogether normal train trip in 1896. As a chemist, he'd been studying elements for a while and had created cards for each of them showing their properties. One of Mendeleev's favorite pastimes during his rail journeys was playing solitaire or patience. In a stroke of genius, or boredom, he assembled his cards of the elements as he would a game of solitaire. There you have it: elements connected to each other in vertical and horizontal lines based on similar properties. Or the periodic table, to you and me. Linear Homeoscope – 1817 The linear homeoscope may not mean anything to most people today, but back in the early 19th century, it was a godsend. Inspired by the statistics department of the Police Ministry in Saint Petersburg, Semyon Korsakov wanted to enhance natural intelligence, a similar mission to Google or modern AI programs. His journey began: by constructing the linear homeoscope for the comparison and navigation of information. The homeoscope was a wooden block with a table (to record information in columns) and a selection of pins on another wooden block (which you move over the original block to find the information you're looking for). For example, columns would list different medical treatments, and the rows would list the different symptoms. By setting your search criteria using the pins, you could map the right treatment for the right disease in the flash of an eye. His invention was essentially an early steampunk version of Google for the 1800s, by classifying information and making it quicker to find. Albeit on a smaller scale than today – we now make nearly six billion search engine queries every day. Transformer – 1876 Transformers, historically named 'the distribution of light,' are key components of today's power grids, regulating the amount of electricity that goes into everything from steel factories to your microwave. Surprise, surprise, we have two Russians to thank for that: Pavel Yablochkov and Ivan Usagin. During the mid-1870s, the pair created an electrical device that could convert alternating current from one voltage to another – allowing electricity suppliers to increase or decrease currents to adapt to different electrical systems, converting electricity from power plants to safely use in your office or home. Radio – 1885 Washing the dishes, passing time on a gridlocked highway or even trying to drown out the sounds of your co-workers, wherever you live in the world, chances are you've listened to the radio. But you may not know who created it. Russian physics professor Alexander Popov announced a system for wireless communications in a lecture at St. Petersburg university in 1885, displaying the world's first radio set. Some arguments still remain about who created this first. Italian Guglielmo Marconi conducted similar experiments at the time, although his articles were published 12 years later. Marconi eventually patented the radio and is now credited with its invention. Sorry, Alexander. Helicopter – 1939 The rotor-driven aviation device. The central component that has come to define helicopters in the modern age. Also, the claim to fame for Russian inventor Igor Sikorsky. After designing it in the early 20th century, he used it to create the first hydroplane and multiple-engine aircraft. Then things got turbulent. Fleeing the Russian revolution, he set up shop in America, where some say Sigorsky realized his full potential. After taking a timely financial contribution from Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, he started Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company. His first venture? The world's first helicopter takeoff in 1939. Theremin – 1920 Ethereal, pure sounds, like an electronic echo of the voice, controlled exclusively by your hands in thin air. A vivid dream? Perhaps. One of the most unique inventions in the musical world? Without a doubt. Invented in Moscow by Russian Lev Termen (Léon Theremin, as he's more widely known), the theremin is quite the innovation. Put simply: it's complicated. You wave your hands in front of its two antennas, thus creating an electromagnetic field and, in turn, sound. The pitch depends on the proximity of your hand to a rod-like vertical antenna. The first commercially available electronic musical instrument, it heralded the sonic revolution of electronic music. But even more extraordinary than the theremin's musical legacy is the ensuing endeavors for Léon Theremin. After leaving Russia to pursue a life in America, it's believed he was extradited back to the Soviet Union in the 1930s, where he reportedly worked for the KGB on its cutting-edge Cold War technology. Not the kind of gig you can say no to. He used similar technology to that of the theremin to create the 'bug' – a covert surveillance device – and even claimed to have invented the world's first television behind the iron curtain. An amazing pioneer of technology. And a busy, busy man.
Small man wearing clothes associated with crime climbs into a trapdoor in another man's head

What does the rise of deepfakes mean for the future of cybersecurity?

  • min read
    • Imagine you're holding a video conference with a colleague or business partner in another city. You're discussing sensitive matters, like the launch of a new product or the latest unpublished financial reports. Everything seems to be going well, and you know who you're talking to. Maybe you've even met them before. Their appearance and voice are as you expected, and they seem to be pretty familiar with their jobs and your business. It might sound like a routine business call, but what if the person you thought you were talking to is actually someone else? They might seem genuine, but behind the familiar imagery and audio is a social engineering scammer fully intent on duping you into surrendering sensitive corporate information. In a nutshell, this is the disturbing world of deepfakes, where artificial intelligence is the new weapon of choice in the scammer's arsenal. What exactly are deepfakes? Among the newest words on the technology block, 'deepfake' is a portmanteau of 'deep learning' and 'fake.' The term has been around for two years, when it first appeared on a Reddit community of the same name. The technology uses artificial intelligence to superimpose and combine both real and AI-generated images, videos and audio to make them look almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The apparent authenticity of the results is rapidly reaching disturbing levels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ54GDm1eL0 One of the most famous deepfakes of all was created by actor and comedian Jordan Peele, who made this video of Obama delivering a PSA about fake news. While this one was made for the sake of humor and to raise awareness to this rapidly emerging trend, deepfake technology has, unsurprisingly, been misappropriated since the very beginning. Its implications for credibility and authenticity have placed it squarely in the spotlight. The worrying consequences of deepfakes Wherever there's technology innovation, there's nearly always pornography, so it's little surprise that the first deepfakes to make waves on Reddit were videos which had been manipulated to replace the original actresses' faces with somebody else's – typically a well-known celebrity. Reddit, along with many other networks, has since banned the practice. However, as actress Scarlett Johansson said of deepfake pornography, while celebrities are largely protected by their fame, the trend poses a grave threat to people of lesser prominence. In other words, those who don't take steps to protect their identities could potentially end up facing a reputational meltdown. That brings me to the political consequences of deepfakes. So far, attempts to masquerade as well-known politicians have been carried out largely in the name of research or comedy. But the time is coming when deepfakes could become realistic enough to cause widespread social unrest. No longer will we be able to rely on our eyes and ears for a firsthand account of events. Imagine, for example, seeing a realistic video of a world leader discussing plans to carry out assassinations in rival states. In a world primed for violence, the implications of deepfake technology could have devastating consequences. Purveyors of fake news seeking to make a political impact are just one side of the story. The other is the form of social engineering that business leaders are all too familiar with. As the video conference example illustrates, deepfakes are a new weapon for cybercriminals. The world's first deepfake-based attack against a corporation was reported in August 2019, when a UK energy firm was duped by a person masquerading as the boss of its German parent company. The scammer allegedly used AI to impersonate the accent and voice patterns of the latter's CEO, someone the victim was familiar with, over a phone call. The victim suspected nothing and was duped out of $243,000. These uses of deepfake technology might seem far-fetched, but it's important to remember that social engineering scammers have been impersonating people since long before the rise of digital technologies. Criminals no longer have to go to such lengths as studying targets in great depth and even hiring makeup artists to disguise themselves; they now have emerging technologies on their side, as businesses do for legitimate purposes. Previously, successfully impersonating a VIP was much more difficult. Now, the ability to create deepfake puppets of real people using publicly available photos, video and audio recordings is within everyone's grasp. Can you protect your business from deepfakes? The common misassumption, that synthetic impersonation can never be nearly as convincing as the real thing, is the biggest danger of all. We live in a world where it's getting harder to tell fact from fiction. From the hundreds of millions of fake social media profiles to the worrying spread of fake news and the constant rise of phishing attacks – it's never been more important to think twice about what you see. Perhaps, after all, there is a case for a return of face-to-face meetings behind closed doors when discussing important business matters. Fortunately, there are other ways you can prepare your business for the inevitable rise of deepfakes without placing huge barriers in the way of innovation. To start with, 'seeing is believing' is a concept you'll increasingly want to avoid when it comes to viewing video or listening to audio, including live broadcasts. To untrained eyes, deepfakes are getting harder to tell apart from the real thing, but there are, and likely always will be, some signs due to the fundamental way AI algorithms work. When a deepfake algorithm generates new faces, they are geometrically transformed with rotation, resizing and other distortions. It's a process that inevitably leaves behind some graphical artifacts. While these artifacts will become harder to identify by sight alone, AI itself can also be used as a force for good – it can detect whether a video or stream is authentic or not. The science of defending against deepfakes is a battle of wills: as deepfakes increase in believability, cybersecurity professionals need to invest more in seeking the truth. A team of researchers in China recently published a method for using AI itself to expose deep fakes in real time. Another paper published by the same team figured out a way to proactively protect digital photos and videos from being misappropriated by deepfake algorithms by adding digital noise, invisible to the human eye. As the threat of deepfakes edges ever nearer, we can hopefully expect more countermeasures to follow suit. This article represents the personal opinion of the author.
social robots

Can social robots help us live better lives?

  • min read
    • C3PO, the Iron Giant… even The Terminator. We've been watching robots interact with humans in movies for years, but for many of us, that's all it's been: a futuristic dream. Now, after years of promises, prototypes and teasers, the era of social robots is finally here. But what are they? And how do they differ from the robots of today? Social robots are bred for interaction Robots are nothing new. They help in factories and warehouses, typically in highly structured environments with limited interactions with humans. And we're grateful for that. Social robots, however, are designed to interact with us and show social behaviors. I'll let SoftBank's Pepper introduce itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqlyxg1-gE0&feature=emb_title Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) mean robotics designers and manufacturers now have the power to translate psychological and neurological insights into algorithms. These allow robots to recognize voices, faces and emotions, as well as speak, make eye contact and a host of other things that humans do with each other. There you have it: a social robot. They're a step up from droids and warehouse robots whose sole functions are task-based, and they're going to revolutionize how we live our lives. There are already 15,000 Pepper robots worldwide that are helping to check people into hotels and take customer orders at restaurants (amongst other things). But with the addition of Temi and Loomo – next-generation personal assistants, think Amazon Echo with legs – our social spheres might soon contain a bot or two. Social robots can benefit society We're already seen the impact of robotics in industries like manufacturing, government and retail. But these machines don't have the social capacity that this new wave of robots do. Here are a few of the latter's uses in business and society. Efficient eateries Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district + tech giant SoftBank = a restaurant staffed entirely by Pepper robots. Yep, it's the Pepper Parlor Café, where a group of social robots greet customers, chat with them and serve them. And there are plans for expansion. SoftBank is developing Nao and Whiz: the former will be on table dancing duties; the latter will clean the place until it's spotless. But how practical is it? You decide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U3Dhw5QiU4 Hotels for the human-phobic Keen to have as little human contact as possible? The Henn-na is the place for you – you won't find a human in the gaff. Owner Hideo Sawada said the hotel, which is part of an amusement park in the Nagasaki prefecture, was built to highlight innovation. It's staffed entirely by robots, who check customers in, take luggage to their rooms and make the beds. It's 'manned' by an English-speaking dinosaur and a Japanese-speaking female bot. Take a look for yourself. Social robots against loneliness Perhaps one of the most poignant uses in today's world. For many elderly and not so elderly, loneliness is a growing problem. In the UK, around 10 percent of Brits feel isolated, with London appointing a Minister for Loneliness in 2018. Social robots have particular appeal for assisting the world's growing elderly population. The PARO Therapeutic Robot, developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, which looks like a cuddly seal, is meant to reduce stress for patients in care facilities. Take a look for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9wj5v22KsA Then you have Mabu (Catalia Health). This social robot is more of a wellness aide, reminding the elderly to take walks and medication and to call family members. Robotic companions won't replace human interaction, but for many, these friendly jumbles of metal, plastic and synthetic fur could be extremely helpful. Social robots in space Space, I would imagine, is a lonely and potentially stressful place for an astronaut, which is why the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion (CIMON) was invented. In 2018, it flew to an international space station alongside a lucky bunch of astronauts. In the process, it became the first-ever autonomous free-floating robot at the station and the first-ever smart astronaut assistant. But what does it do? Developed by IBM, the German Aerospace Center and Airbus, CIMON serves several functions, from helping to find information and keeping track of tasks astronauts are doing on board to potentially assisting the teams in bonding. Now, CIMON-2 has burst onto the scene, promising to be the next step for social robots. According to its manufacturers, it has better hardware and software, notably the introduction of the IBM Watson Tone Analyzer. This means CIMON-2 can understand and analyze the conversations of astronauts to see how they're feeling – if they're feeling joyful, or if something makes them angry, and so on. Here it is in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE0LQ2y_-Pk But as with any new technology, the risks are fresh and need addressing before social robots reach peak uptake. As Dmitry Galov believes: Risks of social robots As with all AI-powered technologies, cybersecurity is a considerable risk; recent research by the University of Ghent and Kaspersky found no different. Although the specifics of their findings may surprise some, first things first, let's tuck into this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i58ZPRIzKsk&feature=emb_title The researchers found a new and unexpected dimension of risk associated with robotics: social impact. The research focused on the effects of a specific social robot designed to interact with humans, which they placed in two different scenarios. Robots in not-so-safe spaces In the first part of the study, the robot was placed near a secure entrance of a building in the center of Ghent. It asked staff if it could follow them through the door. (For context, usually, this area could only be accessed by certain personnel.) Not all staff complied with the robot's request, but 40 percent did unlock the door and keep it open for the robot to waltz in. Hhhmmm. Worse so, when they positioned the robot as a pizza delivery person, staff were less inclined to question why it needed access to the secure area. Interrogation bots The second part of the study focused on how easily the robot could get sensitive information typically used to reset passwords (like your dog's name). Alarmingly, with all but one participant, the robot managed to rack up personal data at the rate of one item per minute. Which goes to show, as your mother said, you shouldn't share secrets with strange robots you don't know. Well, there you have it: social robots. Whether their impact will be positive or negative remains to be seen, but we do know that they're numbers are set to grow. Worldwide sales of consumer robots are expected to grow to $19bn by the end of 2025 (from an estimated $5.6bn in 2018). If you're working in retail, healthcare or even space travel, social robots could help your business to innovate and reach the next level. But as with all new technologies, it's essential to invest heavily in making them secure and safe for public consumption. The real question is, could you see yourself living with one? (Who could say no to this face?)
Circular Economy and IT

Reducing waste and cutting costs: How digital tech is powering up the circular economy

  • min read
    • We're facing unprecedented change; once stable industries are being transformed beyond measure. One thing is known: digital solutions will play a major role in the sustainability of our world. And the principles of the circular economy could help us to become more sustainable. Since the industrial revolution, businesses have traditionally exploited resources linearly by extracting raw materials, assembling goods and then leaving their customers to dispose of them. With non-renewable resources only getting rarer and populations getting larger and more demanding, it's time for a new approach. The circular economy principle reduces the environmental impact of industry by designing systems that reduce waste and pollution, investing in renewable resources and keeping materials in use for longer – be it forest wood or computer hardware. Adopting the principles of a circular economy is vital, not only for sustainability but also for reducing business risk and increasing profitability. And it's the right thing to do. Start-ups supporting the cause Many of today's fast-moving startups are already building sustainable business models to address some of the most pervasive concerns of our time. Climate Edge uses data to help farmers in developing nations solve crucial agricultural issues. Rubicon leverages the power of big data to enable higher diversion rates from landfill sites and find creative ways to reuse waste materials. Even established companies are getting on board: Apple has salvaged 61 million pounds of reusable raw materials from discarded iPhones using cutting-edge robotics. Also, Nest, an Alphabet company, makes smart thermostats to measure and reduce energy consumption. The list goes on. From harm to help: how digital technology helps the transition Technology is often hailed as the solution to all our woes but, depending on how it's used, it can either help or hinder when it comes to sustainability. We're already generating around 50 million tons of e-waste every year, and the figure is rising all the time. Only 15 to 20 percent of that waste is currently being recycled. On top of that, the enormous energy consumption required to keep all those data centers, computers and mobile devices running. Some computing workloads are having a particularly negative impact on the environment without giving anything back. Bitcoin mining alone consumes as much electricity as the entire Czech Republic, a country of nearly 11 million people. Additionally, a large portion comes from illegitimate cryptojacking malware. In legitimate business, things are changing fast. According to HPE Financial Services, almost half of companies are legally obliged to report on their environmental impact. Sustainability has also become a value proposition in its own right as consumers become more concerned with their environmental footprint. And there are also clear business benefits of adopting the circular economy model, such as reduced costs and greater value creation. These needs and benefits combined have prompted over two-thirds of organizations to incorporate environmental sustainability into their IT strategies. What technologies are enabling the circular economy? It mostly comes down to the rise of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) combined to enhance efficiency by doing away with cumbersome manual processes. For example, smart sensors can tag and track assets to reveal potential issues and, in doing so, prolong their lifecycles. In construction, manufacturing and logistics, geospatial information lets businesses track the flow of materials. In every industry, more efficient, AI-enabled management of big data can identify performance bottlenecks and predict energy consumption patterns to boost efficiency. We live in a sharing economy driven by new business models that are powered by new technologies. For example, cloud computing uses virtualization technology in major data centers to make maximum use out of available hardware resources which are shared between multiple users. That's a lot more efficient than overprovisioning an in-house server room or having one high-end workstation for every end-user when all they need to do is run a few simple office apps. The convergence of sustainability and the internet of things In a constantly connected environment, keeping track of supply chains and asset ownership might seem like an impossible task. As the number of short lifespan devices increases, it often feels like our technology infrastructure is outpacing our ability to manage it. At the same time, innovations that enable a better exchange of information can help us control and improve the tech we use. For example, internet-connected sensors can track the location, condition and availability of assets in a supply chain. Direct exchange of information via secure, decentralized channels like blockchain can keep these communications secure. Together, these innovations can optimize resources, extend lifecycles and help regenerate natural resources. Making sense of big data to drive sustainable decision making Technology, in all its forms, plays a pivotal role in reducing our impact on the environment and reducing business overheads. The shift towards more sustainable business models is driven by smarter decision-making, empowered by the ability to make sense out of big data. Data can itself help fuel awareness and education, and breakdown the information silos that still plague many businesses. With the amount of data in the world now measured in zettabytes (270 bytes), we have countless opportunities to improve efficiency across many systems and processes – from critical infrastructure to online retail. But, given the size of today's data sets, those opportunities can only be realized by using artificial intelligence. Moving towards a service-driven economy Underutilization of computing resources is one of the most common reasons why businesses spend more than they need to on IT. But things are changing fast as we shift towards a more service-orientated economy. With cloud providers offering access rather than ownership, businesses get to pay for performance only, instead of constantly reinventing the wheel by investing in and maintaining their own hardware infrastructures. Technology also helps support dematerialization by reducing our reliance on physical resources – e.g. retailers selling e-books directly to consumers or digital video and audio being delivered online rather than through physical media. The circular economy and your IT infrastructure Want even better news?  If you're purchasing IT equipment for your organization, the circular economy model can save you cash. By planning the end-to-end lifecycle of hardware using asset lifecycle planning, and avoiding the temptation of always buy more tech when a new project comes along, you can feel virtuous about saving the environment while saving dollars. Depending on your arrangements with your supplier, you may be able to trade-in and trade-up hardware. Or otherwise work with a trusted and reliable recycling partner who can dispose of hardware to meet regulations, particularly to remove data from devices. The convergence of digital transformation with the circular economy provides many business benefits, both financial and environmental. With almost half of companies now being legally obliged to report their environmental impact, it's an important compliance issue too. In a time when the environment is a major concern to many, the circular economy can add value, again and again. Article reflects the opinions of the author. Published in 2019.
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