The winding path towards symbiotic autonomous systems.

Over the next 10 years, we are likely to see the convergence of two independent evolutionary paths: one leading to an augmentation of machine capabilities; the other with the augmentation of human capabilities. This convergence will not happen at a specific point in time; instead, it will be the result of progressive overlapping, to the point that it might be difficult to identify a defining moment. The following decade will likely be quite different from the present one. 5G will probably be remembered as a transitional system, artificial intelligence (AI) as a misplaced objective. We are looking forward to a communications fabric created by autonomous systems that will exist both in the physical world as well as in cyberspace, determining a continuum that gives rise to digital reality and where intelligence is an emerging property of the ambient. Hence, the dichotomy between AI and natural intelligence will no longer exist and AI will be considered as a tool for human augmentation and as the glue connecting minds and machines. This article is part of the theme issue 'Towards symbiotic autonomous systems'.

Harnessing the Power of Smart and Connected Health to Tackle COVID-19: IoT, AI, Robotics, and Blockchain for a Better World.

As COVID-19 hounds the world, the common cause of finding a swift solution to manage the pandemic has brought together researchers, institutions, governments, and society at large. The Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI)-including machine learning (ML) and Big Data analytics-as well as Robotics and Blockchain, are the four decisive areas of technological innovation that have been ingenuity harnessed to fight this pandemic and future ones. While these highly interrelated smart and connected health technologies cannot resolve the pandemic overnight and may not be the only answer to the crisis, they can provide greater insight into the disease and support frontline efforts to prevent and control the pandemic. This article provides a blend of discussions on the contribution of these digital technologies, propose several complementary and multidisciplinary techniques to combat COVID-19, offer opportunities for more holistic studies, and accelerate knowledge acquisition and scientific discoveries in pandemic research. First, four areas, where IoT can contribute are discussed, namely: 1) tracking and tracing; 2) remote patient monitoring (RPM) by wearable IoT (WIoT); 3) personal digital twins (PDTs); and 4) real-life use case: ICT/IoT solution in South Korea. Second, the role and novel applications of AI are explained, namely: 1) diagnosis and prognosis; 2) risk prediction; 3) vaccine and drug development; 4) research data set; 5) early warnings and alerts; 6) social control and fake news detection; and 7) communication and chatbot. Third, the main uses of robotics and drone technology are analyzed, including: 1) crowd surveillance; 2) public announcements; 3) screening and diagnosis; and 4) essential supply delivery. Finally, we discuss how distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), of which blockchain is a common example, can be combined with other technologies for tackling COVID-19.