These Tech Trends in 2021 Will Get More Attention Due to Pandemic

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Jan 24, 2021 03:36 AM EST

(Photo : Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

Innovative tech trends in 2021 are expected after people spend much of 2020 indoors. However, some are going to shine because of the demands of the pandemic.

Many tech trends in 2021 could be pushed forward by the pandemic and many digital transactions that came with staying indoors as more people adjust their expectations from technology.

Many companies started relying on AI systems and other computer powers to support their day-to-day operations. Employees worked from home and businesses moved online, setting a bar for what they needed from tech trends in 2021 and, perhaps, the years that will follow.

Here are some tech trends that would likely have massive attention this year and beyond, according to Venture Beat's Usman Shuja:

Rapid AI Service Practicality, Security Among Awaited Tech Trends in 2021

With the risk of the pandemic to workers, the growth in artificial intelligence (AI) and industrial autonomous technologies is expected to be rapid in 2021.

Forbes pointed out that over the course of the pandemic, AI gained a strong foothold in the corporate world. Now, about 54% of financial services firms expressed that they want to invest more in it.

Boston Consulting Group also said in a report that more than 80% of companies also plan to accelerate their move to digital. It just so happened that only 30% of these transformations have been met or exceeded their target value.

That said, more products and services are expected to get into the IoT (internet of things) that already holds a wide range of items for users.

AI offers practicality to almost any business and with the need to offer remote solutions, companies had a sense of urgency to make digital transformations.

For big names like Amazon, this advancement is already a work-in-progress. BBC reported that Amazon has plans to expand its Go store chain where customers don't have to go through checkout.

These types of stores simply use cameras and AI tracks what customers took when they left the store. It then just bills when they leave.

Machine Learning Tech Trends in 2021 Offers More Autonomous Deep Learning Solutions

Many already predicted that machine learning will have a rapid boost amid the pandemic, with new cutting-edge models and better tool support, said Towards Data Science. However, there's one subset of it that needs to be magnified: deep learning.

Deep learning pioneer Dr. Geoffrey Hinton told MIT Technology Review that deep learning could do "everything," even go as far as replicating human intelligence.

But this improvement still has a long way to go.

Dr. Manuela Veloso at Carnegie Mellon University said AI should first be incorporated with symbiotic autonomy where it can receive more than simple yes/no feedback from users.

It is important to note that there are some ethical issues that come with deep learning like concerns of discrimination, violating human rights, accountability and others.

Advances in Quantum Computing Could Predict the Next Pandemic

Quantum computing, or the points at which a quantum computer can compute a multitude of data faster than a normal or classical computer, is far from widespread use. However, 2020 did allow for some milestones in some industry leaders like IBM, Amazon and Google, reported Tech Republic.

Some believe the fast computation power of these computers can affect the development and delivery of vaccines in a future pandemic, if not for the one faced by the world right now.

If done correctly, quantum computers have the potential to do simulations that today's high-performance computers find challenging.

If quantum computers could quickly map out or simulate things, a drug for the next pandemic would already be available before people even had to make it.

The growth doesn't stop with these three advancements, and nothing really goes awry if the predictions don't happen, but seeing giant leaps forward in today's technologies could yield exponential results.