Technologies for the near future – Hi-Tech – Kommersant

Blockchain, self-driving cars and quantum computing – we have been constantly hearing about all this over the past years. What technological trends, according to analysts, should become key in 2023 – in the material “Kommersant”.

Metaverses

A year ago, almost no one was talking about the metaverses. But in 2022 this word became second in the list of contenders for the title of “word of the year” according to the Oxford Dictionary, and in 2023 the metaverse promises to become almost the main technological trend, analysts at the Info-Tech Research Group say.

So far, none of these companies have managed to create a successful mass product based on the Metaverse. First of all, this is due to the high cost of the technologies necessary to implement the concept of the digital universe. But the cost of AR and VR devices is gradually decreasing, and more and more large companies, such as McDonald’s, Lego, Walmart and Victoria’s Secret, are declaring their desire to be represented in the metaverse. According to a YouGov survey, almost half of respondents (44%) would like to work in the metaverse and believe that it can increase their productivity.

According to analysts, it is 2023 that can be decisive in how the metauniverse industry will develop in the next decade. But in whatever direction this development goes, the metaverses themselves, according to experts, are able to add $5 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

Adaptive and Generative AI

According to a study by the same Info-Tech, in 2023, artificial intelligence (AI) will become the most popular investment direction. In the survey, 35% of company representatives said they had already invested in AI, and 44% of respondents plan to invest in this technology next year. Analysts identify two types of AI that its developers and organizations that decide to invest in technology in 2023 will pay attention to. The trend of the new year, according to experts and analysts, should be adaptive and generative AI.

Generative AI learns from large amounts of data using neural networks, and then creates its own original content based on what has been learned.

It can be images, videos, music, and more, which, for example, can be used in the entertainment industry.

Adaptive AI, as the name implies, is able to independently adapt to changing conditions and tasks. It uses large amounts of data for continuous self-learning and is able to solve problems that were not originally prescribed by a person in algorithms. This type of AI can greatly improve the efficiency of organizations that need to quickly respond to external changes.

Transition from cloud computing to edge

Cloud computing has already established itself as a reliable tool for digital transformation. Thanks to cloud providers, businesses get rid of the need to purchase server hardware, maintain it on their own and think about protecting servers. In addition, cloud solutions add flexibility to companies in doing business – if necessary, you can easily both increase capacity and get rid of unnecessary ones.

However, cloud technologies also have their drawbacks. In some cases, data processing speed is critical – in cloud gaming, for smart car control systems, when creating “smart cities” with a developed network infrastructure. The data centers of cloud providers can be very far from the end nodes that transmit information to each other. That is why organizations began to think about the use of peripheral computing (Edge computing).

This paradigm provides for the processing of information by servers that are as close as possible to the end devices exchanging information. This reduces network response time and improves network throughput. According to ReportLinker, the edge computing market will grow rapidly over the coming years. The average annual growth will be 21.6% from 2022 to 2028. And Precedence Research estimates the volume of this market at the end of 2023 at $51.2 billion.

genetically modified nature

At the end of 2020, Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their creation of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic modification technology, known as “Genetic Scissors”. With its help, in theory, you can edit human DNA and get rid of mutations and diseases. In reality, this is still far away: scientists from all over the world have come to the conclusion that while this technology is not perfect enough, and during human trials, unplanned changes in the genome can easily be made. The consequences of such a mistake can be catastrophic. But scientists can experiment with non-living organisms without problems.

Futurist Bernard Marr believes that genetic engineering will become one of the main technological trends in 2023.

And the use of nanotechnology will help a person to change the nature of not only plants, but also materials, “adding completely new characteristics to them, such as water resistance or the ability to self-heal.”

super apps

Super apps combine the features of a mobile app, a platform, and an entire ecosystem. BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis defined a super app back in 2010 as “a closed ecosystem of multiple apps.”

Superapplications are created only by large IT corporations. The most striking examples are Chinese WeChat, which combines thousands of different applications for literally all occasions, its compatriot AliPay, Malaysian Grab and, of course, American Facebook and Uber. In Russia, such ecosystems were created by Yandex, Tinkoff and Sberbank.

Similar products have been on the market for several years. But Gartner analysts included them in the top 10 major technology trends in 2023. According to the forecasts of the analytical company, by 2027 more than half of the world’s inhabitants will become active users of at least one of the super apps.

Kirill Sarkhanyants