On-Device AI Will Start to Shift the Conversation About Data Privacy

One of the least understood aspects of using tech-based devices, mobile applications, and other cloud-based services is how much of our private, personal data is being shared in the process—often without our even knowing it. Over the past year, however, we’ve all started to become painfully aware of how big (and far-reaching) the problem of data privacy is. As a result, there’s been an enormous spotlight placed on data handling practices employed by tech companies. Over the next year, I expect to see many more hardware and component makers take this to the next level by talking not just about their on-device data security features, but also about how on-board AI can enhance privacy.

At the same time, expectations about technology’s ability to personalize these apps and services to meet our specific interests, location, and context have also continued to grow. People want and expect technology to be “smarter” about them, because it makes the process of using these devices and services faster, more efficient, and more compelling. The dilemma, of course, is that to enable this customization requires the use of and access to some level of personal data, usage patterns, etc.

Starting in 2019, more of the data analysis work could start being done directly on devices, without the need to share all of it externally, thanks to the AI-based software and hardware capabilities becoming available on our personal devices. Specifically, the idea of doing on-device AI inference (and even some basic on-device training) is now becoming a practical reality thanks to work by semiconductor-related companies like Qualcomm, Arm, Intel, Apple, and many others.

India's reusable launch vehicle is operational

During this period, a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) reusable launch vehicle is developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This follows successful testing of smaller, scaled-down versions, which demonstrated important technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance and control, hypersonic and scramjet flight, a reusable thermal protection system, and re-entry mission management. An early prototype in 2016 achieved a speed of Mach 5 and maximum altitude of 40 miles (65 km)– not quite enough to reach outer space, which is generally considered to begin at a height of 62 miles (100 km).

 It lasted for 13 minutes and covered a distance of 280 miles (450 km), steering itself to an on-target splashdown to land (ditch) in the Bay of Bengal. Not designed to float, the vehicle disintegrated on impact and was not recovered. Known as the Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX) this was the first in a series of five tests. The four subsequent iterations were more advanced and enabled landing, return flights and scramjet propulsion experiments. These would eventually culminate in the finalised version, able to transport cargo into orbit, return safely to Earth and be re-used.

India had already launched astronauts into space by 2021, in a small capsule atop a GSLV rocket. The addition of a reusable launch system greatly expands ISRO's capabilities in space – enabling longer, more complex and commercially successful missions, while cutting launch costs by a factor of ten. This comes at a time when various new space planes are being developed by other countries and space agencies, making access to space increasingly affordable and routine.

Mars Science Laboratory is shutting down

This 900 kg (2,000 lb), six-wheeled rover has been transmitting back to Earth since 6th August 2012, the day it touched down on Mars.  Although its planned mission duration was around two years, it continued to be operational for considerably longer, like the previous rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. In fact, its onboard plutonium generators carried enough heat and electricity to last 14 years. By 2026 the machine is finally grinding to a halt. The last signal is received from the rover this year.

Various campaign groups voiced concerns, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the RSPB and WWF, as well as conservation organisation The National Trust, and developmental charities Oxfam and Christian Aid, alongside Hillingdon Council – a local government in West London. Among the biggest concerns were the impacts on local communities. Environmental campaigners warned that the increased CO2 caused by the additional flights would make it harder for the UK to meet its commitments to the Paris climate agreement.

Many people also resented London gaining yet another major project, drawing money away from the rest of the UK. The widening gap between London and everywhere else had already created a worrying socio-economic divide. This ever-growing sense of inequality may have been a contributory factor in the Brexit referendum result. The arguments from the opposition side were strong. In the end, however, the importance of Heathrow as an international transport hub and a catalyst for wealth generation in London and the South East was deemed too great. The construction of its third runway would be completed in 2026.

Youthful regeneration of aging heart muscle via GDF-11

In the previous decade, researchers identified an obscure blood protein called GDF-11. This was shown to have regenerative properties upon the cardiac muscle in age-related diastolic heart failure. The substance was found to be present at high levels in youth, and lower levels in old age. When elderly mice were supplemented with increased GDF-11, it had a dramatic effect on their hearts – restoring heart size and muscle wall thickness to a much earlier state.

Demonstrated that age-related cardiac hypertrophy can be reversed via exposure to a young circulatory environment. These experiments revealed that age-related cardiac hypertrophy is at least in part mediated by circulating factors, such as GDF11, which is able to reverse the condition. The reversal of cardiac hypertrophy in old mice exposed to a young circulation cannot be explained by a   reduction in blood pressurein the older mice. An extensive proteomics analysis was performed on the serum and plasma of the animals. GDF11 was reduced in the circulation of aged mice and its levels were restored to those in young animals by parabiosis.

This offered a potential way of treating heart failure and aging in people. A series of clinical trials, beginning in the late 2010s, confirmed this. By 2026, it's becoming fairly routine for doctors to repair cardiac damage and restore human hearts to earlier states, based on the GDF-11 protein. Along with stem cells and other advances this decade, science is gradually chipping away at the factors which cause people to die.

Tech Industry Regulation in the US Becomes Real

Regardless of whether major social media firms and tech companies enable these on board AI capabilities or not, it’s clear to me that we’ve reached a point in the US social consciousness that tech companies managing all this personal data need to be regulated. While I’ll be the first to admit that the slow-moving government regulatory process is ill-matched to the rapidly evolving tech industry, that’s still not an excuse for not doing anything. As a result, in 2019, I believe the first government regulations of the tech industry will be put into place, specifically around data privacy and disclosure rules.

It’s clear from the backlash that companies like Facebook have been receiving that many consumers are very concerned with how much data has been collected not only about their online activities, but their location, and many other very specific (and very private) aspects of their lives. Despite the companies’ claims that we gave over most all of this information willingly (thanks to the confusingly worded and never read license agreements), common sense tells us that the vast majority of us did not understand or know how the data was being analyzed and used.

Legislators from both parties recognize these concerns, and despite the highly polarized political climate, are likely going to easily agree to some kind of limitations on the type of data that’s collected, how it’s analyzed, and how it’s ultimately used. Whether the US builds on Europe’s GDPR regulations, the privacy laws instated in California last year, or something entirely different remains to be seen, but now that the value and potential impact of personal data has been made clear, there’s no doubt we will see laws that control the valued commodity that it is.

Global reserves of indium are running out

An Indium produced in industry comes as the by-product of smelting zinc and lead sulphide ores, some of which can contain 1% indium. Specimens of uncombed indium metal have been found in a region of Russia and an indium mineral, indie, has been found in Siberia, but it is rare. The present cost of indium is about $1 to $5/g, depending on quantity and purity. Indium is a rare, soft and malleable post-transition metal, found primarily in zinc ore.

It is mined almost exclusively in Canada, China, the US and Russia. Indium is used in various electronic applications such as LCDs and touchscreens, solar cells, LEDs and various batteries. It is also useful in making alloys, medical imaging, and in the control rods of nuclear reactors. Its role in electronic screens drives most of the production demand, which by now has resulted in global reserves being almost completely exhausted. 

Recycling is one option being pursued to solve this problem, but it will only suffice in the short term. Fortunately, new alternative materials are being introduced, derived from carbon nanotube compounds that can take on the role previously filled by indium. Indium does not react with carbon, silicon, or boron, and the corresponding carbide, silicide, and boride are not known. No reaction takes place between hydrogen and indium, but indium (III) and indium (I) hydrates can be formed. It dissolvers in acids and is stable in water and air.

Aquaculture provides the majority of the world's seafood

Aquaculture – the cultivating of freshwater and saltwater fish under controlled conditions – has remained one of the fastest growing industries in the agricultural sector. Since the late 1980s, traditional "capture" fisheries have been on a plateau. Aquaculture, by contrast, increased by 8.8% per year from 1985 to 2010 and had witnessed an eightfold increase by the mid-2020s. It now accounts for the majority of the world's seafood, surpassing wild catch harvests by weight. The capture fishing industry itself has faced severe problems. Overfishing, climate change and pollution have all contributed to the sharp decline of yields. The largest centres for aquaculture remain in East and Southeast Asia – with the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia seeing large increases in production.

Cambodia in particular has seen massive growth. New techniques have been adopted, helping to increase both sustainability and yield. One such method, used for the cultivation of jumbo shrimp, is super-intensive stacked raceways. Shrimp are grown in large, enclosed tubes called raceways, in which computers monitor and control a steady circulation of mineral water.  As they mature, they are moved down the stacked columns of tubes, until they reach the final bottom row, fully grown, where they are harvested. This method greatly increases the output of shrimp farms, up to one million pounds of shrimp per square acre, and can be deployed almost anywhere.

 The growth of aquaculture has caused a major shift in commerce and trade. Countries previously reliant on imports are now capable of producing vast quantities of fish, crustaceans, seaweed and other seafood Numerous start-up companies have appeared to fill the growing industry. Aquaculture as a whole will become one of the most vital industries in the world this century, as traditional commercial fishing breaks down and produces unsustainable yields.