The Future Machine to Machine Economy (A Rough Prognostication)

With the recent up-listing of IOTA to Bitfinex, the cryptocurrency based on the Internet-of-Things (IoT), leaves many people wondering about what the "machine to machine economy" could manifest as. This term is being used to describe future evolutions of technologies being linked up to the internet and responding upon various complex situations in an autonomous manner. Like many people being introduced to the idea, I was very skeptical on the perplexities and functions of what IOTA can offer to the machine economy. Still the questions remain, what is the machine to machine economy? How does it affect my life? Why is it important? Let's break these question down in universally comprehensible answers.

Visualize this scenario. You're driving your electric car for an extended period of time. Your car notifies you that it's running low on electricity and you see no recharging station in sight. This calculated probability of running out of energy mid-trip is something many car manufacturers are anticipating in the future electric car industry. How does one resolve this dilemma? The answer is you don't; your car does it for you. With AI reaching new heights in processing algorithms and finding patterns for solutions in each passing day, communicating with other machines to insinuate further productivity is suddenly becoming more feasible. Recently a patent was issued to developers coming up a new concept of drones charging electric cars while still driving on the road. With autonomous vehicles currently being developed in companies like Tesla, Toyota and G.E., new methods of charging are being conceived and developed. To me this is just the tip of the ice-berg of what other capabilities machines can provide to other machines all paid for with the cryptocurrency of IOTA.

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Okay, big deal. Machines charging other machines isn't life changing. My life is still going to be the same, right? Actually that isn't going to be the case in the future. As previously stated, AI is being evolved with each passing day. What worked in 2017 isn't going to work in 2027. With current projections of the machine economy being valued at $1.7 trillion USD by 2020, today is somewhat of a prequel of the machine to machine economy to come. As of today, Uber is a gig economy app that relies on its contractors' vehicles and the contractors themselves. With autonomous vehicle technology being developed, Uber will start to rely on AI drivers instead of human ones, thus decreasing job opportunities in the future. Not only is the transportation industry at risk of losing employment opportunities, but other service industries such as financial institutions, restaurants even entertainment is all at risk of losing jobs to machines (There's plenty of other industries being threatened, but I want to be brief for the sake of the post). Don't be surprised if you see giant fighting robots as the next big craze of sports entertainment.

Finally, the last question. Why is the Machine to Machine (M2M) economy important? Besides future M2M autonomous transactions and threats of losing employment in certain industries to AI robots, it's important for everyday people to realize how critical it will be to adapt to the M2M economy. Because technologies are always improving, older methods of doing things will be obsolete ( I know I sound redundant by now). So in order to not be left behind, people will need to learn how they can counteract the rise of the M2M economy in order to survive in an ever-changing landscape of technological innovations. Short-term, people would lose their jobs but in return they gain more time to pursue other ventures that are more particular with creative purposes rather than labor dominant ones. People would have to start becoming more educated in order to stand a chance to the M2M economy which I personally view as a positive thing for the sake of becoming a more advanced society. Now is the time for people to start being more educated of the M2M economy so they can brace themselves for future changes. Man and machine will be working together more symbiotically than what it is today.

I know I'm probably missing many other pointers about the logistics and possibilities of the Machine to Machine economy; please feel free to critique this post as bluntly but accurately as possible. Even I am still learning something new about this concept everyday. The purpose of this post is to provide the mind food for thought upon this subject and to clarify any misconceptions or clouds of doubt so that other people can learn more about M2M economy. I appreciate any time that was given to read my first post, and as always keep being positive out there.