12 The Future of Machine Learning

The age of cognitive computing is dawning. Soon we will have self-driving cars that drive better than we do. Our homes will recognize us, anticipate our habits and alert us to visitors. Kaggle, a crowdsourcing website recently bought by Google, ran a $1 million contest for a program to detect lung cancer in CT scans and is running a $1.5 million contest for the Department of Homeland Security for a program to detect concealed items in body scans at airports.
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With cognitive computing, doctor's assistants will be able to diagnose even rare diseases and raise the level of medical care. There are thousands of applications like these, and many more have yet to be imagined. Some jobs will be lost; others will be created. Although cognitive computing technologies are disruptive and will take time for our society to absorb and adjust to, they aren't existential threats. On the contrary, we are entering an era of discovery and enlightenment that will make us smarter, live longer, and prosper.