Will The World Be Run By Machines Earlier Than We Fear?

Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Cryptocurrency are all here, and are here to stay for good.

- Tanmoy Mookherjee

Chinese zodiac classifies 2018 as the Year of the Dog, and the world of technology seems to have taken it quite literally. At the CES 2018—which remains the biggest technology exhibition in the world—Japanese electronics giant Sony chose to unveil its robotic dog Aibo, who is as close to the real deal as we have ever seen before. It plays “fetch,” develops a personality over time, and has facial recognition, all without it wanting to soil your rug or tear your slippers. The year, it seems, has begun with a throwback to the sky-navigating The Jetsons and their steel pooch.

As the year 2017 wound to a close, there was renewed fear over technology taking over our lives as debates on privacy and cyber security raged on, while Artificial Intelligence seeped further into our daily routines through smart home devices. Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Internet of Things (IoT) have been around, but this year will bolster their presence further into our lives.

The wheel of life has turned another rotation with generous science fiction references from the past or simpler times, as we like to call it. Technology makes life simpler, and while the developed world orders its essentials through Amazon Alexa while warming up to the latest electric car offering from Tesla, countries like India rejoice at the ever expanding universe of high-speed data and access to transparent information.

Augmented Reality has made it possible to sit anywhere and watch a creation come alive: imagine being inside a home that you want built, or how that sofa will fit in the living room. Robots, on the other hand, have taken over the Mercedes-Benz factory at Rastatt in Germany, and are producing the entire assembly line of A-Class cars on their own.