The year 2022 came, and the advancement of technology is not slowing down. As we cover industry news on daily basis, we have a front-row seat watching trends as they arise, accelerate, and disappear.
Here’s our take on the top five tech trends to watch in 2022.
1. Central Bank Digital Currencies (often known as CBDCs).
You’ve obviously heard of modest experiments in China or tiny nations that are attempting to put them into practice. I’m referring to genuine government digital currencies, such as the Bahamas, rather than El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as a legal tender. This year, more big nations will join the race to create a government-issued digital currency in an attempt to counter perceived concerns posed by the cryptocurrency wave.
2. Batteries Technology.
We are not going to anticipate a major breakthrough in battery technologies — that’s 5-10 years away. Nevertheless, as solar and wind technology improves and becomes more revolutionary, it will cast a bright light on what we can accomplish with existing battery technology. Take into account what has happened to smartphone batteries and how it will affect industrialized power storage.
3. The Microchip Deficit.
Unsurprisingly, we do not feel it will be resolved this year, but by the end of 2022, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel, or shipping lane, or whatever logistical metaphor you prefer. Prepare for tales about capacity management when fabs catch up and all those new facilities built need to be rationalized.
4. Metaverse.
You will hear the word metaverse frequently. Nevertheless, it will be mainly meaningless, as it is currently. There will be no true metaverse in 2022, irrespective of the claims of various firms. Web3 exists, but the metaverse doesn’t really… yet.
5. The pushback against AI.
We suspect the criticism against AI will rise in 2022. There is considerable worry about bias in machine learning algorithms, and this issue will continue to spread into the cultural consciousness. This, combined with some false concerns about the impacts of AI, will lead to boycotts and requests for additional regulation. Expect the same thing to happen to AI that happened to data privacy.
Sorry for the pessimistic approach, but these are the patterns we have in front of us. Check back next year to see how accurate or incorrect we were.
