#the future starts now

IBM 5 in 5: Unbiased AI will help people trust machines  

In the next five years, new solutions will be developed to help control bias in artificial intelligence. AI can be a powerful tool for helping people make decisions— for example, lawyers are using AI to help them conduct legal research and stay up to date with the latest legislation. But when AI is trained using biased data, the bias can be passed into the decision-making process—an issue requiring immediate attention as humans and AI increasingly work together. IBM researchers are developing new solutions to help remove implicit racial, gender, or ideological biases from data sets. Balanced data means balanced decision-making, building a future AI as intelligence we can trust.

See how we’re working to remove bias from AI within five years ->

IBM 5 in 5: Lattice Cryptography will outwit hackers

The scale and sophistication of cyber-attacks escalates every year. But within the next five years, a new security method called lattice cryptography will help create an intractable barrier for black hats. The key is hiding data inside complex math problems called lattices, designed to protect data from the threat of crypto-breaking quantum computers. Current encryption protocols are being outpaced by advances in computing technology, but with lattice cryptography, we’re working to get ahead of the problem. Hackers gonna hack—but we’re coming prepared.

See how lattice cryptography will future-proof data encryption within five years ->

IBM 5 in 5: AI-Powered robot microscopes will help save our oceans

Oceans are vast—and vastly complicated. They’re difficult to study, as even the most technologically advanced sensors struggle to analyze such a complex ecosystem. But over the next five years, IBM is working to tap the help of tiny little creatures—plankton—whose changes in behavior can point to hard-to-spot changes in the environment. IBM researchers are building a real-time network of autonomous microscopes that will monitor ocean plankton—the more data they collect, the better they’ll be able to predict threats like red tides. And in the future, AI technology can equip these microscopes to report abnormalities in real time. It’s a microscopic innovation with a massive effect.

See how AI microscopes will create a sea change for our oceans within five years ->

IBM 5 in 5: Blockchain and crypto-anchors will help knock out knockoffs.

In the next five years, cryptographic anchors and blockchain technology will help ensure a product’s authenticity—from its point of origin to the hands of the customer. Knockoffs aren’t always easy to spot, and it can be difficult to pinpoint when and where they are substituted for genuine items. Complex supply chains demand an immutable solution to keep counterfeits from replacing authentic products, goods, and medicines. IBM researchers are developing crypto-anchors are digital fingerprints that can authenticate a product’s origins and contents against records kept in a blockchain ledger, so you always know what you’re receiving. Knockoffs beware—your days are numbered.

See how crypto-anchors will protect supply chains within five years ->

IBM 5 in 5: Quantum computing will be mainstream

In the next five years, we expect the effects of quantum computing to reach beyond the research lab. Industries will begin to leverage quantum to work through what are currently perceived to be unsolvable problems, such as the development of personalized drugs or discovering more efficient and sustainable energy sources. As it proliferates into the mainstream, quantum will become a pre-requisite technology taught in science and engineering classrooms worldwide.

See how quantum computers will help change our lives within five years ->