3 Technologies You Need To Be Aware Of To Not Be A Dinosaur in 5 Years.
Here's why those techs matter and a book recommendation for each.
We live in an age where technology is not really a luxury anymore. I met a few people a week ago who were telling me that they want to get off of technology and they don't want to rely on it for anything in the world. They just want to live in nature and ignore all of technology as we know it.
The truth is, this utopian dream is one I personally cherish, but it's unrealistic. Technology nowadays is involved in every little aspect of our lives. The moment of me writing this involves at least 10 or 20 different technologies connected in different ways that make it so much of an infrastructure that we all rely on in order to prosper.
The Fast-Growing Nature of Technology
Technology is growing so fast that new technologies are developed every five years or so, and they're big technologies—not like the invention of a small portable fan. It's more like the invention of an artificial intelligence that could be better than humans in a lot of functions. Let me tell you about three current technologies you must learn about and why you should learn about them.
Before I tell you this, I need you to know that I am a business consultant. I work with companies to help them in their investment preparation. I am approached by startups every week, and these startups are a good indication of what technologies are growing and what technologies are not growing. It's like I get a sneak peek of the market before launch. For example, when ChatGPT was launching, I was swarmed by companies wanting to start new products using AI—such as a bottle to measure your fluid intake or a pencil that uses AI to write for you—stuff you’d not easily think of.
The 3 Essential Technologies You Need To Know About
1. Artificial Intelligence
We'll start with the technology that is a no-brainer. If you don't know about it, it's going to impact you in the next 5 to 10 years because it is starting to get incorporated into our lives on a daily basis. There was a time when the internet was starting to spread all over the world and people didn't know about it. They eventually had to learn about it. Think about all those fathers and grandfathers who never used the phone but now always depend on it. This is the same sort of thing, and for that, you need to know about artificial intelligence.
There are a lot of theories about how AI is bad and good for you, and the truth is, like any technology, it could be useful and it could be harmful. I, personally, as a consultant, try to always look at the good potential of companies, but you also have to be aware that those companies carry a certain risk.
For instance, OpenAI, with its journey to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), is quite a risky matter that could result in things we don't know, and that's why you have to be prepared. I'll throw in my book recommendation at the bottom of this article, and then you can explore a few books in this area.
I always like to incentivize my paid subscribers, so recommendations will be at the bottom for those people.
2. Mixed Reality
Another very important technology which you really have to know about is mixed reality. You've probably heard about it once or twice, but it still hasn't spread widely in our society because it's still growing technologically and isn't easy enough to be incorporated.
When I say mixed reality, think of it as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) together. The idea of AR versus VR is just about the hardware areas. For instance, I could use my phone to look around my room (AR), while VR involves being immersed, wearing goggles from Meta or Apple.
Virtual reality has a lot of beauty. For example, in architecture, if you're trying to build a building or interior design a house, how amazing would it be if you just wore goggles and were in the house as much as possible? This is a very good use case.
But there are other industries where it just doesn't work, like social media. At the moment, Instagram works well with our global population through photo sharing and linking on mobile phones. Changing that to virtual reality is something we don't need or want right now. However, the technologies that mixed reality is adding day after day and the fascinating use cases are going to force it to become something you need to know about. It will probably be in your workplace before it comes into your home.
Another big indication of why this technology is growing is that Apple built their Apple Vision Pro, indicating that they see mixed reality as a basis for the future.
3. Blockchain
The third technology that I really advise you to read about is blockchain. Blockchain is controversial to many people; some say it's illegal, some say it's unregulated, while others cherish and love it. I’m not talking about cryptocurrency, but cryptocurrency is based on blockchain.
Blockchain's root concept when it comes to technology is not debatable as one of the best technologies of our time. We have been working on bureaucracy and organization for years, and blockchain makes it better and faster.
It is going to have applications in the near future, not even in the far future. Companies are already adopting blockchain in most of their work. Almost every Fortune 100 company has submitted a patent to showcase that they are interested in working with blockchain. It will change the way we deal with finances, medicine, data, and it will democratize data in our world.
Book Recommendations for AI, Mixed Reality, and Blockchain
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