Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 18 | Page 32

FUTURE TECHNOLOGY The technologies heading to the digital workplace S peech recognition will reach the ‘Plateau of Productivity’ within the next two years and six other technologies will reach mainstream business adoption in the next two to five years according to Gartner’s Hype Cycle for the Digital Workplace, 2018. "The effects of speech recognition can be seen on a daily basis. Consumers and workers increasingly interact with applications without touching a keyboard," said Matthew Cain, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner. "Speech- to-text applications have proliferated due to the adoption of chatbots and virtual personal assistants (VPAs) by businesses and consumer adoption of devices with speech interactions including smartphones, gaming consoles and, specifically, VPA speakers." The Hype Cycle identifies 40 key technologies and describes how they will 32 Innovative new technologies are constantly emerging and it’s important that the channel is fully briefed on those which could soon be set to disrupt the digital workplace. Gartner’s report, Hype Cycle for the Digital Workplace, 2018, identifies some of those key technologies that look likely to soon reach mainstream business adoption. he w Ca in, Vic e P res ide impact business performance in the digital workplace during the next 10 years. "The Hype Cycle classifies emerging technologies that describe how we will work, the tools we will use, the skills we will develop, the places where we will work and the workforce culture that we will develop," said Cain. ner nt a nd Dis Gart tinguished Analyst at said Van Baker, Research Vice President at Gartner. "Businesses that haven't begun deploying AI to interact with customers and employees should start now, because customers and employees are increasingly expecting conversational interfaces to be available to address help desk and customer service issues." Two to five years away from mainstream adoption Chatbots and virtual assistants (VAs) represent a value-added implementation of speech recognition. VAs use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to assist people or automate tasks. They listen to and observe behaviours, build and maintain data models, and predict and recommend actions. "Increasingly, behaviour and event triggers will enhance virtual assistants," Personal analytics is the analytics layer of VPAs which will reach