Artificial Intelligence, Future, Opinion
These Are the 3 Reasons Why I Believe That 2021 Will Be a Great Year for AI
I am analyzing three relevant trends that make me feel very optimistic regarding Artificial Intelligence in 2021.
2020 brought to light a reality that many organizations ignored: no company survives without innovation and innovation speed.
Just look at how many of them have started rethinking their unforeseen business speed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The new coronavirus pandemic has changed behaviors — and we’re not just talking about consumers.
Now, we are in 2021 and, keeping an eye on technological trends is more important than ever to devise strategies that will take you to the next level.
But I also know that the web is already full of articles about the top trends for the new year, etc.. so I will not go in that direction, don’t worry.
I will share my analysis of the most relevant technological marvels and milestones that I will follow very closely this year. I believe YOU should follow to have an advantage in your business or your professional skills.
I will save you time, sharing my analysis, based on my observations on many of the predictions from tech companies and market researchers (Thanks Gartner), that as you will see, includes some exciting developments in transportation, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine learning, Healthcare, and sustainability, to start!
Artificial Intelligence in 2021 will be invisible, and it will be everywhere!
Artificial intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, 5G, and the internet of things (IoT) will be the leading technologies of 2021, as a vast majority of technology trends can confirm.
For example, recently, I had the opportunity to read the results of a global survey conducted by the IEEE — Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, that interviewed 350 executives worldwide. That survey pointed to AI and Machine Learning as one of the key trends of 2021.
And according to that survey, invisibility will be one of the critical attributes of AI having a particular increase from 2021 and beyond, stimulating the adoption of many applications. It will also provide a much-needed understanding of privacy and data autonomy.
A fresh press report by the McKinsey State of AI in 2020 reveals that an increasing number of companies are using AI as a tool to generate value.
More and more, this value is being generated in the form of increased revenues.
According to the report, 2,395 professionals were heard, representing a broad spectrum of regions, sectors, company sizes, and functional specialties; 1,150 said their companies had adopted AI in at least one business function.
First clue: 2021 will be the year of Autonomous and Electric Vehicles.
Google recently claimed that its driverless car could make life easier in chaotic cities.
Audi also showed a solution in which the driver is no longer required to park his car.
On the other hand, Nissan decided to focus its actions on the motto of safety, with cars that can perform maneuvers without risk to its occupants and third parties.
This approach is also the path adopted by Volvo, the automotive standard for having the safest vehicles globally.
Toyota promised to make the next Tokyo Olympic Games —whenever it happens — its great showcase for “safe individual urban mobility, with zero accidents and almost zero poluting emissions”.
As we can see, the world is going autonomous: trucks, buses, construction equipment, motorcycles, drones, ships…As NVIDIA CEO’s said: “Everything that moves will be autonomous.”
When it comes to automobiles, all automakers today are advancing their projects and adapting their deadlines. One thing I’m sure of: driving may still be fun today, but soon it will no longer be necessary.
But not only autonomous cars, but 2021 will also be the year in which we’ll have many electric vehicles, too.
According to the report Electric Vehicle Outlook 2020, published by
Bloomberg New Energy Finance, electric vehicles will make up slightly less than 4 percent of all automobile sales in the USA and 5 percent of all automobile sales in Europe that year, up from 1 percent and 2 percent, respectively, this year.
Automakers will accelerate their EV launch plans, partly to comply with increasingly stringent regulations in Europe and China.
It’s expected that more than 500 different EV versions will be available globally by 2022. Consumer preference and aggressive pricing would be crucial to attracting new consumers to the market.
For example, Volvo already has serious plans to have its autonomous car on the road by 2021. It is also working on the launch of five new all-electric models by 2022 as part of its bid to stop the internal combustion engine’s production.
Second clue: Technology for Smarter health
Health was the main protagonist of 2020, not in the way we would like, I know.
On the other side, the pandemic was paramount and culminated in a significant advance of technological solutions to meet fast-growing demands.
And after all, we have lived through this year, and I am more than sure when I say that 2021 will be the year that AI will take care of our health.
We still need a lot of time for the vaccine against the Covid-19 virus to reach everyone, and even after that, digitization in the healthcare system is a no-go and necessary way.
In all health areas, the advanced use of AI and Machine Learning will be vital for medical services to happen best.
Among the cases, we will see a substantial confirmation that the Telemedicine’s healthcare market is no longer only an emerging trend but has become a reality in 2020. It is undoubtedly here to stay.
Of course, Artificial Intelligence will be invisible in this field, too, being used without anyone noticing. It’s possible that you already are using it and will be further assisted by Artificial Intelligence, even if you don’t know.
Many smart Healthcare solutions have been created to automatically assist health plan operators in analyzing and approving procedures and surgeries.
Artificial Intelligence is also widely used to aid radiological examinations to identify diseases and tumors and the care of patients using chatbots and automated processes.
The advancement of AI in Healthcare will also benefit even those who do not have a health plan.
We will see a growing trend in the sector for finance solutions for patients who need to undergo a surgical procedure. This will facilitate medical payment, especially when the patient does not have a health plan.
Today there are already applications that provide this type of financing and have partnerships with clinics, hospitals, and banking networks. This may represent the first steps in the process of universal health.
To foster this revolution, we will see the proliferation of a substantial number of HealthTech startups, focused on the health segment, developing solutions ranging from the elaboration of duty scales and automated service solutions ( chatbots ), Artificial Intelligence diagnostic systems, even loans for medical procedures.
To give you an idea about the scale, only in Europe, according to a report by Sifted (powered by Financial Times), the HealthTech market brought in $2.3bn in the third quarter of 2020, nearing the record $2.9bn invested in the same quarter of 2019.
There are currently 626 funded digital health companies active across Europe today, and 63% of them were founded in the past five years.
Certainly, HealthTechs is another sign that AI will increasingly facilitate access to health services worldwide.
Third clue: the alignment between AI and Sustainability.
Climate change requires a collective effort between academia, technology, government, industry, non-profit organizations, and society to understand and unravel the complex web of cause and effect that unfolds the planet.
As climate data sets get bigger and bigger, AI, in particular, machine learning, will play a more critical role in finding patterns in that data. In 2021, we will accelerate our understanding of climate science using Machine Learning to filter large amounts of data and shape the future more accurately.
Let’s also consider that in 2021 we will see a substantial boost in the electric transport industry. It will affect manufacturers and several different parts of the industry, such as batteries and replacing parts.
Sustainability is a topic in a constant focus of attention. The tendency is for it to become more critical over time. It still seems a little strange to associate sustainability with AI and Machine Learning for many people, even if they are deeply connected.
Both themes have become the center of business decisions in recent years and, without them, it is almost impossible to move on.
In particular, AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science can significantly support all relevant sustainability efforts. For example, it is because of AI that many companies manage to avoid wasting raw materials, energy, and even water.
I believe we will see it in 2021. There will be more and more solutions created to serve this purpose in the years to come, with automation, AI, cloud apps, and all the other aspects that I already mentioned focused on solving sustainability problems.
Conclusion
2021 has everything to be the year of hyper-automation, the megatrend that declares anything within an organization can be automated. Not only repetitive tasks but also research, analysis, design, metrification, monitoring, among others.
One more time, citing Gartner, by the end of 2024, 75% of companies will move from pilot to AI operationalization, generating a 5-fold increase in streaming data and analytical infrastructures.
As we saw, When it comes to autonomous vehicles, Healthcare but also sustainability, we will see an intensification of efforts and collaborations that will allow us to achieve great things during this year.
2020 left an extraordinary technological legacy. Compared to a year ago, after the covid-19 crisis, a significant number of companies are better prepared to respond to a potentially catastrophic outage, such as a data breach or a natural disaster. Now is time to consolidate this legacy.
One more thing…
If you want to read more about Machine Learning, AI, IoT, and 5G, I’ve selected some interesting articles that you may like to read:
Also, I’ve just published my new ebook on Amazon, and I’m already working on publishing some other books across this year… keep in touch, follow me if you want and let’s do it together.
Resources:
- The Tech World Is Convinced 2021 Is Going to Be the Best …. https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/07/26/150341/the-tech-world-is-convinced-2021-is-going-to-be-the-best-year-ever
- 3 Market Predictions for the Coming Year | InvestorPlace. https://investorplace.com/moneywire/2020/12/mccall-repub-template-3
- What Are The Top 10 Blockchain Predictions For 2020?. https://www.forbes.com/sites/biserdimitrov/2019/12/11/what-are-the-top-10-blockchain-predictions-for-2020/
