What Are The Most Exciting Things Happening In Tech Right Now?
By Lori Melton
California students exploring STEAM-based curriculum and careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) are living in an exciting time - all sorts of advancements in these fields are currently taking place. With the increasing popularity of mobile apps, cloud computing, AI devices and more, user-friendly, forward-thinking technology continues to bring game-changing innovations to many different industries. Here's a look at a few of the most exciting, current technology trends.
GANs Technology Gives Machines Imagination
Can AIs have an imagination? A new technology called GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) can pit two artificial intelligence systems against each other to create realistic images and sounds. Machines have never been able to do this before, as generating images requires imagination.
GANs was created by University of Montreal PhD student Ian Goodfellow and has been used to create realistic-sounding speech and realistic-looking imagery. The technology lies in the formation of two neural networks that are trained on the same data set and repeatedly try to distinguish a real image from a fake one. A generator is tasked with producing realistic images and a discriminator compares them with images from the original data set to determine if they are phony. The generator will adjust image parameters accordingly until the discriminator can't tell the difference between a real and fake image.
Earbuds Producing Near-Real-Time Translation
Pixel Buds earbuds by Google will work with Pixel smartphones and the Google Translate app to perform nearly-real-time language translation. One person wears the Pixel Buds and the other holds a phone. The earbuds wearer speaks in his native language (with English as a default) and the app translates the speech and plays it out loud on the phone. The system works in reverse when the person holding the phone responds. The Pixel Buds user just taps and holds the right earbud to activate. The implied benefit of making foreign travel and revolutionizing person-to-person communication is huge.
Self-Driving Cars
The automotive and tech industries are taking a huge leap toward the automated driving future with self-driving cars. Google launched self-driving cars in 2009. They began testing Toyota Prius vehicles on fully autonomous 100-mile routes. By 2012, more than 300,000 self-driven miles were clocked and Lexus joined the vehicle lineup. In 2015, the "Firefly" self-driving car hit the road, boasting custom sensors, computers, steering and braking – with no steering wheel or pedals. In 2016, the Google project became Waymo and in 2017, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans were added to the automated fleet. This year, the self-driving Jaguar I-PACE is joining the pack as the world's first premium electric self-driving car.
Perfect Online Privacy
A new cryptographic protocol called zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) will prove something without revealing information underlying the proof. The aim of the technology is to make it easier for people to do things online without risking privacy or being victims of identity theft. More simply, it's an authentication method in which no passwords are exchanged. igital currency company Zcash has implemented zk-SNARK (zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge) to give users the power to transact anonymously. JP Morgan Chase added zk-SNARKs to its blockchain-based payment system last year.
