THE GOOD
- As loneliness reaches epidemic levels amongst the elderly, new AI-powered robotic technology is aiming to make a difference https://www.wsj.com/articles/on-demand-grandkids-and-robot-pals-technology-strives-to-cure-senior-loneliness-11550898010
- New nanoparticle technology promises to reduce symptoms for sufferers of celiac disease by up to 90% https://futurism.com/neoscope/nanoparticle-tech-celiac-disease-human-trial
- A construction company in Austin Texas has begun work on affordable 3D-printed houses for the homeless that take only 27 hours to build https://www.dwell.com/article/community-first-village-3d-printed-affordable-homes-icon-524fc3ad
- Apple take significant steps to protect users’ privacy by tightening rules around how Siri records and stores recorded conversations https://www.foxnews.com/tech/apple-tightens-privacy-rules-on-listening-to-siri-recordings
- Scientists edge closer to achieving viable nuclear fusion power production which is safe and produces zero carbon emissions https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/nuclear-fusion-could-solve-the-world-s-energy-problems-and-scientists-just-got-closer-to-making-it-work
THE BAD
- Airbus announce plans to fit their A350-900 aircrafts with sensors that will track, amongst other things, how often you visit the bathroom https://www.fastcompany.com/90402595/airbus-a350-900-planes-have-sensors-that-track-bathroom-use
- The UK is considering plans to conduct genetic sequencing on all children born in the country https://futurism.com/neoscope/uk-children-full-genome-sequence-birth
- China has banned 23 million people from purchasing travel tickets as part of their ‘social credit’ population monitoring system https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/01/china-bans-23m-discredited-citizens-from-buying-travel-tickets-social-credit-system
- Amazon is sued for illegally recording children’s voices and conversations on Alexa-enabled devices https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48623914
- New AI technology demonstrates the ability to write an entire fake news story after being given just a few words https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-ai-that-can-write-a-fake-news-story-after-being-given-just-a-few-words-20190215-p50xxv.html
THE BIZARRE
- Russian farmers have begun strapping virtual reality goggles to dairy cows in order to reduce anxiety and improve milk production https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/27/us/virtual-reality-russian-dairy-farm-cows-trnd/index.html
- New AI algorithms could predict and prevent marital arguments before they even start https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-could-prevent-marital-arguments-before-they-even-begin-11570807573
- Modern cars are collecting 25 gigabytes of data per operating hour including monitoring how much you weigh and what you listen to https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/opinion/car-repair-data-privacy.html
- Plans are underway for paid advertising in space using giant billboards made up of micro satellites https://astronomy.com/news/2019/01/billboards-in-space
- US pharmacy giant Walgreens begins rolling out smart refrigerator doors that use facial recognition to customize display ads for customers as they walk past https://slate.com/technology/2019/02/cooler-screens-walgreens-freezer-smart-shopping-tracking.html
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Michael McQueen is a trends forecaster, business strategist and award-winning conference speaker.
He features regularly as a commentator on TV and radio and is a bestselling author of 8 books. His landmark book How to Prepare Now for What's Next is a guide to thriving in an age of disruption.
To see Michael speaking live, click here.
For more information on Michael's keynote speaking topics, visit www.MichaelMcQueen.net/programs