2 The impact of disruptive technologies
At a first glance, the phrase ‘disruptive technologies’ might sound intimidating, but it actually refers to many of the things you are most familiar with – from accessing the internet via your mobile phone to storing things in ‘a cloud’.
IT Education site Techopedia (2017) defines disruptive technology as ‘any enhanced or completely new technology that replaces and disrupts an existing technology, rendering it obsolete. It is designed to succeed similar technology that is already in use.’
Păvăloaia and Necula (2023) conclude that the five most prominent examples of disruptive technology are AI, the Internet of Things, blockchain, 5G and 3D printing. Within the scope of this course, it isn’t possible to cover all of these topics in detail, so you’ll concentrate on a disrupter with a particularly high profile and wide reach across many sectors – artificial intelligence, also known as AI.