Prediction #1: Work-from-home will become work-from-anywhere

Do we really need to be together in one office to do our work?

The pandemic lockdowns gave us an answer to this question. We have discovered that many of us don’t need to be with colleagues in one office to do our jobs. The lockdowns reshape where and how we work.

According to Bloomberg, polls of employees who’ve worked remotely during the pandemic show that a majority have no desire to go back to the way things were before. For some, that means full-time remote work.

Nothing beats personal contact, but having the freedom to work anywhere we like is something to look forward to. Imagine working at your favorite coffee shop, hotel, beach destination, or anywhere you like. Of course, you can always go back to the office anytime you want to collaborate and catch up with your colleagues. You have the freedom to work anywhere as long as you manage your job properly.

Work-from-anywhere (WFA) is predicted here to stay. WFA has all kinds of benefits for employees and employers. This includes cost-saving, time-saving, freedom, flexibility, improved health, and happiness. In fact, there are people who said that WFA helped them to be closer to their family and improved their overall happiness and productivity.

The main reason why workers choose to work from anywhere is because of work-life balance. When workers attain work-life balance, they would be less likely to leave a company. 

Prediction #2: Telehealth will continue to grow

Many people are doubtful about the quality of telehealth at first because of the belief that it is impossible to receive the same level of care as compared to physical appointments. Telehealth allows patients to seek medication and advice from a doctor. Now, people have realized that telehealth appointments and regular doctor visits have no big difference at all. The only difference is that it will be done via video conference. 

With or without pandemic, the healthcare system needed to adjust its practices to provide care for their patients safely and vice versa. Telehealth was the solution.

According to Xtelligent Healthcare Media, 68% said they planned to further invest in telehealth following the public health emergency. Another 44% said they plan to invest in IT infrastructure and capabilities, which support telehealth solutions.

More and more people continue to trust telehealth for non-urgent consultations. Telehealth is a promising industry. In fact, many healthcare organizations are having strategies for developing stronger telehealth solutions.

Prediction #3: More people will use voice-to-text software instead of typing on the keyboard

The rise of Siri and Alexa is proof that voice recognition software is great. It’s simple and easy to use. Just hold down the “Home” button and start speaking. The device will identify the spoken words and automatically convert them into texts.

Computers can carry out voice-to-text dictation faster than any person can type. An average person can type 35 to 40 words per minute, and speak 100 to 130 words per minute. See a big difference? There’s no doubt why more people are using voice-to-text software. It makes our work faster and boosts productivity. 

We may expect to see more advanced voice-to-text features in the near future. Keyboards might begin to fade because people might realize that speech is always the best and natural way to communicate instead of typing.

Prediction #4: Deepfakes will become part of everyday life

Can you spot the real image of Tom Cruise?

Tom Cruise diehard fans might quickly identify the real image (second photo). But for some people, it could be harder to distinguish the real from the fake one.

Deepfakes are computer-generated fake videos that almost exactly look like an actual video of a person. It can also be in the form of audio recordings.

Deepfake technology is not just about the arts. It brings benefits to many fields such as healthcare. According to Forbes, the NVIDIA, Mayo Clinic and MGH & BWH Center for Clinical Data Science created ‘fake’ brain MRI scans. They found that, by training algorithms on these medical images and on 10% real images, these algorithms became just as good at spotting tumours as an algorithm trained only on real images.

Schools and companies also use deepfake videos to deliver more engaging and effective lessons. 

Deepfakes are actually a good thing. However, we need to prevent the inappropriate use of it as it could be weaponized for cyber attacks.

Prediction #5: Ransomware and mobile malware attacks will increase

Ransomware and mobile malware attacks are expected to increase as more people are using mobile wallets and online payments each year.  

Cyber attackers continue to take advantage of the convenient use of the apps. They will release more fake apps, fake ads, and fake messages to trick victims. The attacks would be more dangerous as it is nearly impossible to identify that it was fake. 

We should all stay ahead of the evolving cyber attacks. If you need help in creating solutions to protect both your computers and data, do not hesitate to message us.  

Technology predictions are sometimes based on facts and evidence, but not always. It doesn’t define the future. However, these technology predictions encourage us to think and plan ahead which can lead us to remarkable rewards.