Consumers expect connected technology to become more flexible and interactive going forward and see devices enabling more pro-active, and even creative choices in a wide range of everyday life situations by 2030. The tenth edition of the Ericsson ConsumerLab 10 Hot Consumer Trends report highlights consumer predictions about the various roles that connected intelligent machines could take on going forward. Each of these roles could be seen as new service areas, opening a range of opportunities for 5G service providers to gradually extend intelligent networks to their customers.

At Ericsson Research, our vision is that advances in AI and cellular communications technology will enable connected intelligent machines to securely communicate across the networks of tomorrow. In the process, they could make the world more responsive to consumer needs than ever before, given that consumers predict intelligent connectivity to enable services that go way beyond the mobile broadband experiences of today.

Based on long-standing global trend research, the ConsumerLab 10 Hot Consumer Trends 2030 report represents the expectations and predictions of 50 million early technology adopters across 15 major cities. In this study, respondents rated 112 connected intelligent machine concepts, ranging from a human-centred to a more rational perspective. The result is an overview of the 10 roles consumers expect connected intelligent machines to take in everyday life by 2030. Each trend in the report depicts a specific role that such machines could take.

The 10 Hot Consumer Trends for 2030

• Body bots: 76% of consumers predict there will be intelligent posture-supporting suits.
• Guardian angels: Three-quarters believe that privacy guardians will help fool surveillance cameras and block electronic snooping.
• Community bots: 78% believe electronic watchdog services will alert neighbourhood allies to any trespassers.
• Sustainability bots: Future weather will be extreme. 82% believe devices will share data and warn about local rain torrents or heat blasts.
• Home officers: 79% say smart speakers will project noise-canceling walls around the home office space.
• Explainers: Over 8 in 10 predict automated financial management systems that explain how your investments are handled.
• Connectivity gofers: Smart signal locators will be able to guide you to optimal connectivity spots, say 83% of consumers.
• Baddie bots: A baddie bot that can be trained to carry out burglaries or attack other people is wanted by 37% of AR and VR users.
• Media creators: Machines will curate content. Sixty-two% think game consoles will make original games based on their game play.
• Bossy bots: Around 7 in 10 believe that social network AIs will understand your personality and build up a circle of friends that is good for your mental and physical wellbeing.

Dr Michael Björn, Head of Research Agenda, Ericsson Consumer and IndustryLab, and author of the report, says: “I was surprised to see that consumer expectations on smarter connectivity are higher than for any other connected intelligent machine type. The Connectivity Gofers trend includes predictions that devices will intelligently adapt to any signal, with use of cellular, Wi-Fi and fixed connectivity being seamless, as well as smart signal locators that guide users to spots with optimal coverage even in crowded areas.”

“This points to opportunities for 5G service providers to gradually extend intelligent networks to cover a whole range of new services for their customers, and each of the machine roles we present in this report could be seen as a whole new service area.”

“The Community Bots trend, for example, highlights the role machine intelligence could take in providing much needed community services. The Explainers puts forward the idea that all connected devices need to be able to explain themselves to users, and Sustainability bots focuses on the increased need for localised intelligent climate advice going forward.”

“What all of these potential services have in common is that they rely on intelligently communicating across devices and thus puts the networking aspect even more in the front seat than today.”