In 2022, we will see artificial intelligence continue along the path to becoming the most transformative technology humanity has ever developed. According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, its impact will be even greater than that of fire or electricity on our development as a species. This may seem like a very ambitious claim, but considering it is already being used to help us tackle climate change, explore space, and develop treatments for cancer, the potential is clearly there. The full scale of the impact that giving machines the ability to make decisions – and therefore enable decision-making to take place far more quickly and accurately than could ever be done by humans – is very difficult to conceive right now. But one thing we can be certain of is that in 2022 breakthroughs and new developments will continue to push the boundaries of what's possible.

Wondering who that hot new collaborator is, on your favorite artist's new album? It might just be artificial intelligence. Progress in AI music is accelerating rapidly, thanks to researchers and musicians at major tech conferences and universities who want to integrate widespread AI into the music world. Many artists feel we're about to enter a "golden age" of creativity, powered by artificial intelligence, that can push music in new directions. Let's look at some of the newest ways artificial intelligence is transforming the music industry from top to bottom. For 30 years, musician and composer David Cope has been working on Experiments in Musical Intelligence (EMI).

AI has the potential to change the world in many amazing ways. But like every revolution, it requires fuel. It's long been said that "data is the oil of the information age," and that's certainly true in many ways. But while data is a less finite resource than actual oil, it does come with some challenges. People are (rightly) protective of their personal data, and there are compliance and regulatory responsibilities that must be upheld if we're using that personal data (often the most valuable kind of data) to power AI and generate predictions.

It may have been created with the help of AI. Mackmyra, an award-winning Swedish distillery, has launched Intelligens, the world's first whisky created using an artificial intelligence program. Mackmyra partnered with Finnish technology company Fourkind to develop an AI system that augments and automates some of the tasks of the distillery's master blender, who is responsible for whisky flavor and product development. Master blenders spend their time meticulously tasting and experimenting to create the best flavors possible, and that process can be time-consuming. Mackmyra wanted machine learning to work its magic in sifting through massive amounts of data to find new combinations.

Technical skills and data literacy are obviously important in this age of AI, big data, and automation. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the human side of work – skills in areas that robots can't do so well. I believe these softer skills will become even more critical for success as the nature of work evolves, and as machines take on more of the easily automated aspects of work. In other words, the work of humans is going to become altogether more, well, human. With this in mind, what skills should employees be looking to cultivate going forward?

It's a challenge to learn a new language, especially once we're past 18 years old. But Duolingo, self-proclaimed as "the world's best way to learn a language" and seconded by reviewers at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, is set to change that with an assist from artificial intelligence (AI). Duolingo launched in 2011, and through a powerful mix of personalized learning, immediate feedback and gamification/rewards, it has become one of the most downloaded educational apps today. Let's take a look at how artificial intelligence helps the company deliver personalized language lessons to its 300 million users. Founded in Pittsburgh by Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist Luis von Ahn, who is renowned for creating CAPTCHA, Duolingo's mission is to "make education free and accessible to everyone in the world."

There's often a misconception that artificial intelligence (AI) is only applicable to businesses in the B2C space. It's thought that since B2C companies have more customers, they have more data to leverage to make AI impactful. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. AI is as relevant to a B2B company as it is to a B2C company. It's important for every B2B company to evaluate the ways AI can help them produce better products, provide better services, and improve business processes.

AI and automation will change the very nature of work. It's really important that leaders don't ignore this AI- and data-driven revolution – what I call the "intelligence revolution" – or allow other leaders in the organization to ignore it. Working out how to use AI, dealing with people-related challenges, avoiding the ethical pitfalls of AI, making sure you have the right technology in place, and so on – all are key considerations for the business leaders of today and tomorrow. This technology revolution will change what it means to be a good leader. It makes sense, then, that business leaders in the intelligence revolution will need to adapt.

It might seem strange to be making predictions about 2021, when it's far from certain how the remainder of 2020 is going to play out. No-one foresaw the world-changing events of this year, but one thing is clear: tech has been affected just as much as every other part of our lives. Another thing that is clear is that today's most important tech trends will play a big part in helping us cope with and adapt to the many challenges facing us. From the shift to working from home to new rules about how we meet and interact in public spaces, tech trends will be the driving force in managing the change. In many ways, Covid-19 will act as a catalyst for a whole host of changes that were already on the cards anyway, thanks to our increasingly online and digital lives.

There's been a great deal of hype and excitement in the artificial intelligence (AI) world around a newly developed technology known as GPT-3. Put simply; it's an AI that is better at creating content that has a language structure – human or machine language – than anything that has come before it. GPT-3 has been created by OpenAI, a research business co-founded by Elon Musk and has been described as the most important and useful advance in AI for years. But there's some confusion over exactly what it does (and indeed doesn't do), so here I will try and break it down into simple terms for any non-techy readers interested in understanding the fundamental principles behind it. I'll also cover some of the problems it raises, as well as why some people think its significance has been overinflated somewhat by hype.