The Technologies We're Most Fired Up to Watch in 2017

Each year is filled with unforeseen surprises--advances we thought were years away, unexpected technology applications (like AI used for mental healthcare), and unlikely startups reimagining entire markets. These breakthroughs keep Singularity Hub's team of tech-enthusiasts on our toes around the clock. Though we can't forecast like famous futurist Ray Kurzweil, many of us have a favorite technology or two that we constantly track. Moving into the new year, these are some of the technologies we'll be eagerly watching in 2017 and beyond. "AI really made headlines this year. AlphaGo was on the tongue, OpenAI got a billion dollars to develop ethical AI, and toddlers talked to Google Home and Amazon Echo. The first two developments are fascinating, but the third may be more immediately relevant. The idea of X product AI will get legs next year--but it's the surprises I'm most looking forward to." "Cybersecurity means a lot of things to a lot of people, and often one person's definition is at total odds with another's. For me, I long for the type of unbeatable encryption promised by quantum computing, because quantum computing is going to make today's encryption worthless. Meanwhile, billions of smart gadgets are coming online, and most of us already conduct our daily lives by digital means. With governments demanding access to digital devices and histories, I fear loss of citizen privacy, but still have faith in the democratization of cybersecurity."