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TOP 10 OMNI WISHES FOR 2022 WITH EXPONENTIAL IMPACT

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I work pro bono daily across communities of more than 100,000 CEOs, investors, authorities/experts/scientists, and thought leaders. From insights gained in this work, I'm providing my top ten omni (multiple sector) wishes for 2022 that will have exponential impact.

Inline with the theme of this article and while writing this article, I'm experimenting with a new A.I. writing tool based upon OpenAI and GPT-3 from Sudowrite.

Exponential Change Driving Impact

The world is experiencing more exponential dramatic changes in the next ten years than in the past 10,000 years. Let me provide a picture of how fast these changes are coming where the rate of change isn't a sloped line but now a nearly vertical line going up.

I will use the metaphor of flowers growing and covering a pond. Imagine a new flower species taking root on a pond and doubling daily. One flower become two, then four, eight, sixteen, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, ... This doubling you don't see initially however becomes apparent when the pond is 25% covered with flowers, the next day it's 50% and one day after, 100%. The flower representing positive change.

There's the alternative and possible concurrent scenario. Picture a growing invasive and disruptive weed that doubles in size daily. Before long, the weed totally covers the pond. The weed is winning over the flower and totally out of control. Expand, this to the world — the weed rewriting all aspects of our lives. The weed with limited natural checks and balances to its growth.

Which World Is Your Future?

This is what we are experiencing over the next ten years in the near vertical rate of change. We are in these last stages of these changes where we can shape this future into the flowers analogy. The confluence of environmental, social, biological, physical, digital-inspired, technological, quantum-infused, cosmological, creator culture; an endless list. All significantly transforming our lives. We are in the time where creativity, innovation, intuition, imagination, inspiration, purpose, meaning can be driving us.

What we are experiencing forms my top 10 omni wishes for 2022 that will have outsized impact on our lives.

Top Ten Omni Wishes

Wish 1: Generalizing, Contextually Improving Artificial Intelligence (AGI)

When I make a query to these new digital assistants (DAs), they will remember "me", the context of my series of questions and provide appropriate answers. The DAs can support, predict, and anticipate my actions in managing my schedule.

Currently with standard 2021 DAs, when I ask questions along a theme, I have to treat each question as self-standing so the digital assistant has sufficient information to answer the question. This isn't required when talking with your friends where your start with one question and continue on the theme without repeating elements of prior questions. Moreover, you can continue this conversation and the exchange of novel information over days and into years.

With new digital assistants, you will have more natural exchanges. An example, would be startups using OpenAI GPT-x or similar open source technology, the next generations of GPT-3 with an avatar embodiment. A virtual talking avatar, available on my phone, on stage in a hologram, in digital meetings, that displays emotions, responds and remembers my ongoing queries and can also free chat. There are startups already piloting in this space and you will see their integration in the metaverse. I'm currently testing one on my phone and PC which has these qualities.

Moreover, the new AI writing tool I'm testing, completed parts of this article providing usable text and interesting viewpoints which I edited. Can you tell where it's generating the text?

Wish 2: Metaverse Easily Accessible Improving Our Well-Being

A tight seamless integration between the physical and digital realities with tools and platforms where everyone can participate and adoption grows into the billions. Second Life (an early virtual world), multiplayer gaming platforms providing foundational glimpses of this next step but in its early stages.

To gain traction, this requires standards, interoperability, governance, and policies. Key parties can be the UN Agencies, ITU, UNESCO; IEEE; ACM; SIGGRAPH; ISO/IEC; IFIP; ... all working with industry and government bodies. Moreover the work in responsible AI can be leveraged including legislation in the EU and other countries. The Forbes article on responsible AI captures players in this space.

There is work in progress in 2022 to create the new evolution useable by all of an online interactive digital experience. This is the metaverse (or metaverses since initially there will be more than one). A 3D immersive and interactive world beyond the 2D internet. A world accessible on the myriad of digital devices present today and into the future—phones, glasses, AR/VR head-mounted devices, contact lenses, and non-invasive direct neural experiences. There are digital asset economies in the metaverse. This also provides a good opportunity for ensuring positive outcomes, well-being and better health.

Niantic (known for Pokémon Go) announcement in November 2021 already creates accessibility. “We’re building a future where the real world is overlaid with digital creations, entertainment and information, making it more magical, fun and informative,” said John Hanke, Niantic’s Founder and CEO. Niantic's Lightship Platform, enables developers to create within the real-world metaverse.

Others include Epic Games, Fortnite, Fortnite Party Worlds, and their Unreal Engine. Unity's announcement of their planned acquisition of Weta Digital (employed in movies Avatar, Lord of the Rings, ...). Unity provides their cross-platform 2D and 3D engine for developers to create interactive virtual experiences. Roblox provides their online game and creation platform. Sandbox announced in November, a virtual mega yacht sold for more than the equivalent of $600,000; Decentraland and Axie Infinity selling plots of virtual real estate when added together, are in the equivalent of millions of dollars. Entertainment companies can gain new opportunities in the metaverse, such as Disney, Warner Music Group, Sony, ...

The major tech companies, Apple, Alphabet, Samsung, Amazon are well positioned. Meta (formally known as Facebook), announced their focus on the metaverse space.

Throughout the year, NVIDIA has expanded on their Omniverse with enterprises using their metaverse (example BMW) and the goal to have a digital earth. I recommend looking at their GTC conference keynotes.

The standout, including with standards, governance, interoperability, can be Microsoft due to their billions penetration across hundreds of products and services. A small sampling including: operating systems, hardware, mobile, gaming, communications, enterprise and consumer solutions, office products, cloud computing, quantum information technology, annual approximately $20B R&D, open source (GitHub), AI (OpenAI GPT-X), Azure AI, developer tools and IT infrastructure platforms.

Wish 3: Hybrid Quantum Technology, Super-Computers, Cloud Computing — Combining with 5G, IoT Sensors, with Localized Advanced AI Processors

With Quantum Technologies as its base, unbounded computational capabilities providing a much richer real time experience in whatever activity I'm doing. Moreover solving intractable problem in new materials science, logistics optimization, new batteries and energy systems with 10x better capabilities, to developments in understanding quantum-based nature-based phenomenon, new vaccines and therapeutics.

Quantum Information Science (QIS) is accelerating with pilots underway and niche commercialization already being worked on. An example is D-WAVE's implementation in supermarket stores for logistics optimization processing.

QIS encompasses quantum technology (quantum computing), communications, sensing, quantum safe computing / cryptography. QIS is realized in hybrid configurations working with supercomputers, providing availability via the cloud. QIS can solve and support certains kinds of problems so must work in conjunction with classical digital systems.

Ultimately, this will further integrate with other networks using 5G, sensors and localized advanced processors such as in your phones, autonomous devices, wearables, implants and more.

IBM's announcement in November of breaking the 100-qubit barrier then more than 1000 qubits by 2023, yields the possibilities of quantum advantage. This means solving practical problems faster than world's best supercomputers which are now exascale (billion billion floating point operations per second).

Quantum startups are going public as evidenced by IonQ earlier in the year. Many are raising substantial investment rounds and recent M&A activity such new company Quantum Continuum from the merger of Cambridge Quantum and Honeywell Quantum Solutions.

For more information, there are two Forbes articles on Quantum Information Science: in Jan and July

There are also ten pro bono interviews on this topic, with the non-profit IEEE TEMS and in the non-profit ACM Learning Center:

-Mark Saffman: Experimental physicist; Researcher; Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Director of the Wisconsin Quantum Institute; Chief Scientist for Quantum Information at ColdQuanta, Inc; about atomic physics, quantum and nonlinear optics, and quantum information processing

-Travis Humble: Researcher; Scientist; Deputy Director at the Department of Energy's Quantum Science Center; Distinguished Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Director of the lab's Quantum Computing Institute; about the development of new quantum technologies and infrastructure to impact scientific discovery through quantum computing

-Dr. Gopal Dixit: Researcher; Associate professor in IIT Bombay; Visiting scientist at MBI Berlin and MPI-PKS Dresden Germany; about years of novel research including using pristine graphene at room temperatures to encode and process quantum information

-Dr. Sebastian Weidt: Co-founder and CEO, Universal Quantum; Senior Lecturer in Quantum Technologies at the University of Sussex about quantum computing

-Michele Mosca: Co-founder, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo; Founder of Quantum-Safe Canada and Quantum Industry Canada; Co-founder and CEO of the quantum-safe cybersecurity company, evolutionQ

-whurley (William Hurley): Innovator; Serial Entrepreneur; Founder & CEO Strangeworks, about Quantum Computing

-Scott Aaronson: David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin; recipient of ACM Prize in Computing; about theoretical computer science and quantum computing

-Dr. Stefan Woerner: IBM Quantum Applications Research & Software Lead

-Hausi Müller: Professor, Computer Science, University of Victoria; International expert in software engineering, software evolution, quantum computing, adaptive systems, Internet of Things (IoT), and intelligent cyber-physical systems; Top Researcher; Co-Chair of the IEEE Future Directions Quantum Initiative

-Alan Baratz (January 2022): CEO D-Wave Systems on Quantum Computing

Wish 4: Biotechnology For the Masses

Aritificially cell-based-grown food stuffs including meat replacements to the realization of the benefits of all.

An example is the non-profit Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) with four research facilities and a main center at UCLA. TIBI does research to invent practical solutions in areas such as personalized: nutrition, biomaterials, cells, implants, devices, physiological models, ... continually expanding.

From their website, “Conventional ways of meat production involving grass-fed livestock come at highly detrimental costs to the environment. Studies have shown that alternative meat sources, such as meat cultivated from animal cells, produce 92% less global warming, 93% less air pollution and use up to 95% less land and 78% less water than with conventional meat production methods. Not surprisingly, the potential advantages of alternative meat production have spurred much research and development in this area in recent years. Addressing the issues of scalability and costs for these methods, however, has remained a challenge, so scientists are continually striving to improve their methods and increase production efficiency. The results of the TIBI project will be published and presented to the research community for feedback and ideas for further improvement. It is the hope that the methodology will eventually be used on a large scale to produce a high-quality, cost-effective commercial product that can be used to cultivate any meat species.”

More wishes however as briefs...

Wish 5: Creativity Unleashed for Everyone Everywhere

Your creativity realized through the proliferation of accessible creator tools and platforms. These providing new sources of income and collaboration such as with NFTS (non-fungible tokens) and new digital economies. The creator ecosystem systematically automates the hard labour of creating where you can focus on ideation and seeding the tools and systems. AI plays a key role, where its integration is invisible—results just happen. Across sectors, these creator tools are available including in updates to existing software packages. For example, Adobe in their creative cloud applications provides for all manner of creative development tools and services for graphics, video, photo, web, and mobile. These are also embedded in the companies offering the metaverse.

Wish 6: Our Empathy Expanded Across Ecosystems

We are now pulled together with empathy, by the digital tools of our choosing, inspiring new ways of relating with each other and natural ecosystems.

Wish 7: Using Cognitive Technology for Creative Learning and Enhancement

A new generation of enhanced learning and understanding for children and adults providing advanced cognitive skills resulting from a combination of transformational technology and a holistic approach to education.

Wish 8: Digital Businesses MORE Profitable and Sustainable Through Digital Reshaping

We have new business and operational models where we have a wide range of genuine free choices from all around the world.

Wish 9: Materials Sciences Daily Innovations Making the Impossible Possible

A revolution in materials sciences from nanoparticles, graphene to new elements and novel configurations to totally new forms of quantum-inspired effects, computation and design. The coming of the super materials in every industry for all uses.

Wish 10: Space Mining, Communications, and Space Tourism

We will have a new industry of unbounded opportunities for all sectors and impacting globally which are already being realized with commercial space startups.

To place all wishes within context, I recommend this Forbes article which describes, how to best prepare for the digital reshaping from The GeoTech Decade.

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