Technology continues to change at an unprecedented pace. And it’s changing the way we live our lives and how we see the world. Self-driving trucks will soon be on the roads in the United States, while you can already use face-detection to pay for things in China. Soon, we can expect artificial intelligence to take millions of jobs, creating millions more in different industries.

Here are a few other ways technology is changing the world:

Constant connection

By 2020, 5G will be a reality- and we’ll need the lightning-fast speeds to power the Internet of Things. Wireless communications are already beginning to dominate our lives, but within a few years our appliances, homes, and cars will all be connected.

Learning for Everyone

In the past, only the people who could afford an education were able to learn. Now, people around the world can benefit from free learning online with some of the best homework apps available completely free. Some people don’t even need to use textbooks, and can instead use an apple study app to make sure they know everything they need in order to pass their next exam.

3-D Printing

3-D printers have gone from costly, complex, one-purpose devices designed solely for businesses to general-purpose and inexpensive desktop machines that can be used by anyone in their own homes. Soon, it will be completely normal to design and fabricate the things you need in your own home. This will mean a resurgence in DIY and less reliance on cheap products bought from overseas.

Big Data

Big data is changing the way we do business and interact with each other. Businesses now have access to more data than at any other time in history- from everything from their social media channels to their website, to their marketing materials and surveys. They’re now using this data to provide better marketing and customer service, and even to improve their products and services. Big data can also be used for things like optical recognition, machine learning, and precise user targeting.

Information

What did people do before Google? No, really. Technology allows us to be continually learning, and to find answers to even the weirdest questions while we’re on the move- with no judgment from the search engines. Whether it’s an instructional guide to help you make your life easier, or just a quick Google to prove a point, we can all easily get the answers we need in just a few seconds.