Speaker highlights influence of innovation, technology

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is changing the world and PNG should embrace innovation and technology, says international speaker Paul Burman.
Burman, Megatrends ambassador HP (Hewlett Packard) said during the inaugural Innovation PNG summit in Port Moresby on Friday: “We have seen change that we have never experienced in our species’ history, and it is only going faster.”
He said there were four key mega trends, which were rapid urbanisation, changing demographics, hyper globalisations and accelerated innovation.
“There will be 8.6 billion people by 2030, mega city is a city with 10 million inhabitants, we had 9 in 1990, and there will be 41 mega cities by 2030,” he said.
“We are also seeing hyper globalisation and this means great news in this part of the world.
“For PNG and the South Pacific in general we are seeing massive shifts, 143,000 new internet startups per year in emerging countries alone.
“46 per cent of the Fortune 500 will be headquartered in emerging markets by 2025.
“6.4 billion mobile phone users in 2030 (75 per cent of global population).
“Cell phones will be a billion times faster in 2030, we have more connected devices that we do not know what to do with, and more data then we have ever had before.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about AI. Will it take over our job? We don’t think so.
“We are moving from a connected world to a cognitive world where AI will be present in every electrified device. That will allow humans to focus on what they do best, be creative and use adaptive thinking.
“In PNG, that will have big implications for things like health and education.
“AI is already democratising healthcare. Traditionally, it’s been necessary to travel to a doctor but AI/chat bots are now able to replace that entry-level doctor’s consultation, providing much easier and cheaper access.”