A revolution presents a shift from the existing way of doing things towards a new way of facilitating existing processes that usually involve a leap in technology employed. The shift from manual labor to the use of coal or steam engines to aid production was instrumental in the first industrial revolution early in the 19^th century. Fast forward, 21^st century society is due for a leap in technology with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT).

In order to distinguish AI, Blockchain and IoT from another, we will go through each platform by conceptual definition:

Artificial Intelligence – the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

Blockchain – is a distributed ledger in which transactions made in cryptocurrency or digital identities are recorded chronologically, publicly and each transaction history are traceable.

Internet of Things – the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.

All three emerging tech platforms are distinct when it comes to their principal science, but as each technology matures, these are converging in real world applications through innovative processing that leverage each platform’s strengths to enable automation across industries such as automotive, medicine and manufacturing, to name a few.

Two Use Case Scenarios for AI, Blockchain and IoT

Building Modern Highways – The future of cities and its many roads will be based on IoT that will help officials govern safety, response and traffic. Chances are you’ve heard about self-driving cars and the core technology behind it is the AI that is advancing rapidly to be able to assist drivers with a true autopilot function. Now let’s combine the concept of AI driven cars with smart cities and highways powered by IoT. The self-driving car of the future will be communicating with a centralized city AI in order to receive the latest traffic report, weather conditions and possible hazardous roads where your car will deliberately steer you away from.

The constant communication between your car and the smart authority of the city is made possible by the internet of things where devices in concept are constantly communicating in real time. In road emergencies such as a flat tire or engine troubles, your car will send a distress signal to the smart authority and in turn, the smart authority will send a road assistance crew as a response. That process from distress signal coming from your car and the seamless automated response by an emergency team is based on Blockchain. Ideally, your car will transmit to the smart authority which part is in trouble, so the smart authority can either send a crew with a spare tire or a towing vehicle.

With Blockchain, your car’s insurance contract will also be processed under a smart contract where repairs will be determined even before you arrive to the car service station.

The combination of AI, Blockchain and IoT will enable safer highways and better emergency response from the government within the smart city concept.

Shipping and Logistics  – The global trading system consisting of shipping, logistics, importation and export is also due for disruption that comes from AI, Blockchain and IoT as the existing system utilizes a massive workload of paperwork in the form of ship manifests, dock clearance and various levels of consignment. With Blockchain, each shipment or parcel is self-processing in the sense where port authorities, creditors, warehouses and governments are able to trace its origin within a matter of seconds.

When it comes to port routing, logistics traffic and warehouse routes, artificial intelligence will improve the capabilities of the existing logistics algorithm in order to put global shipping in a better position to seamlessly adapt to real-time situations that will require logistics re-routing.

Through the internet of things, each freight or container is tracked in real time. no matter where they are in the world. When they reach the port, IoT enables real time update if the freight is stored in the warehouse, shipped to a consigned location or is distributed across suppliers.

The need to adapt and evolve

The convergence of AI, Blockchain and IoT comes at the heels of a rapidly modernizing world where developing countries and economies are expanding. With expansion, comes the scenario of intaking more workload, thereby pushing the existing process to its plausible limits. Companies and organizations are looking to technology in order to further enhance the capabilities of processing through computer-aided solutions. This is the same paradigm that spurned science and governments to turn to electronic computing to be in a better position to record, store and process information.

The modern enterprise we know today are in the constant state of digital transformation where existing IT platforms are stepping aside and making way for their eventual successors, which are the next series of foundational technology that runs at the core of the enterprise. In adapting the technologies of AI, Blockchain and IoT, the enterprise is in the position to be:

• In a better position for business decision making through informed decision scenarios that is backed with insights from business analytics that is powered by AI.
• Achieve seamless efficiency in its core and secondary processing capabilities while effectively reducing redundancies with Blockchain.
• Enable modern communications and data procurement with a much secured network through IoT.

In a sense, AI, Blockchain and IoT will be the building blocks of modern enterprises very soon as these will be foundational technology. IoT will leverage modern communications as it does not just connect devices, but it also connects people. Blockchain will ensure optimal business efficiency with a much secured information processing through cryptography. Artificial Intelligence will be able to provide meaningful use of data to give decision makers unparalleled insights on business decision making.

The possibilities are surreal at this point but we’ve just explored the tip of the iceberg with these converging technologies. In fact, the 4^th revolution is here and it is changing the world as we know it.