In 2045, the most conservative forecasts suggest that there will be more than 100 billion devices connected to the Internet.
These devices include mobile devices, wearables, home appliances, medical devices, industrial detectors, surveillance cameras, cars, and clothing. The data they create and share will bring a new information revolution to our work and life.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an important part of the new generation of information technology and an important stage of development in the era of "informationization". Its English name is: "Internet of things (IoT)". As the name suggests, IoT is the Internet of things. This has two meanings: one, the core and foundation of IoT is still the Internet, which is an extended and expanded network on the basis of the Internet; and the other, its user side extends and expands to any item and items, information exchange and communication, that is, things are interconnected. Internet of things through intelligent perception, identification technology and pervasive computing and other communication perception technology, widely used in the integration of the network, and therefore known as the third wave of the development of the world's information industry following the computer, the Internet.
The Internet of Things is the application expansion of the Internet, rather than the Internet of Things is the network, the Internet of Things is the business and application. Therefore, application innovation is the core of the development of IoT, and innovation 2.0 centered on user experience is the soul of IoT development.
Representative technologies: micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), wireless communications, power management technology
Practical applications: massive data analysis, medical real-time monitoring
Second, robots and automation systems
On the planet in 2045, robots and automation systems will be everywhere. Self-driving cars will make transportation safer and more efficient, and perhaps give a new impetus to the ****enjoyment economy.
Robots, on the other hand, will be responsible for a large number of tasks in everyday life, such as caring for the elderly and grocery shopping, as well as duties in industry, such as harvesting crops and maintaining public **** facilities.
And as robots become more maneuverable, more sensitive, and more intelligent, they will become powerful warriors, assisting and even replacing human soldiers on the battlefield.
Artificial intelligence software will be used in business, for example, to extract meaningful information from hundreds of terabytes of data, to automate business services, and to replace traditionally "human-centered" professions such as customer service and teaching.
But robots and automation also bring many crises. Millions of laid-off workers whose jobs will be replaced by machines will have a huge impact on society, leading to economic and social destabilization.
And automated networks will be a major opening for hostile forces to attack each other. The use of robots and automated systems in conflict has the potential to create significant ethical and cultural challenges.
Representative technologies: machine learning, sensors and control systems, human-computer interaction
Practical applications: AlphaGo, robotic neural systems, Microsoft's chatbot Tay
III. Quantum Computing
Quantum computing is the encoding and manipulation of data by means of the principle of superposition and the properties of sub-atomic particles such as quantum entanglement.
While quantum computing has existed only in theory for the past few decades, research in recent years has begun to show meaningful results. In the next 5-15 years, there is a good chance that we will build a quantum computer that makes practical sense.
The emergence of quantum computers will lead to huge advances in other research directions, such as climate modeling, drug research, and materials science.
But the most exciting thing is quantum cryptography. A quantum computer will be able to break all the encryption methods in the world, and quantum encryption will be truly invulnerable.
Today, many of the technological bulwarks of quantum computers are beginning to be overcome one by one, and while we may not see a truly practical quantum computer until the 21st century 40s, significant investment from government and industry means that quantum computing has already passed the tipping point.
Representative technologies: quantum error correction, quantum programming, post-quantum cryptography
Practical applications: MIT quantum superposition research, IBM's cloud-based quantum computing service, quantum communications satellites