Some IT leaders in the UK expect to be replaced in their jobs by artificial intelligence within the next ten years, according to new research by cloud security provider Trend Micro.
Researchers interviewed 500 IT directors and managers, CIOs, and CTOs about what kinds of threats they reckon will be most pervasive over the next few years.
Key findings to emerge were that more than two-fifths (41%) of IT leaders believe that AI will replace their role by 2030. Only 9% of respondents were confident that their job would not be performed by AI within a decade.
Nearly a third (32%) said they thought the technology would one day lead to the total automation of all cybersecurity, with little need for human intervention.
Asked about data access in the future, around a quarter (24%) predicted that unauthorized access would be impossible by 2030 because access would be fully tied to an individual’s DNA or biometric information.
Trend Micro's technical director, Bharat Mistry, said IT leaders shouldn't lose sleep over the study's revelations, because other roles will be created in the future, and AI relies upon a human touch.
"While AI is a useful tool in helping us to defend against threats, its value can only be harnessed in combination with human expertise," said Mistry.
“We shouldn’t worry about jobs becoming obsolete," he added, as "the profession will certainly adapt and evolve in new ways."
Another prediction made by 22% of UK IT bosses is that by 2025, most organizations will have significantly reduced investment in property as remote working becomes de rigeur.
Another IT prophecy, and one that echoes a storyline in Charlie Brooker's TV show Black Mirror, is that early adopters of “digital immortality” (AI facsimiles of a person created after their death) will start to appear online in the next five years.
UK IT bosses expect the rollout of nationwide 5G to have a huge impact on the British Isles, with 21% predicting that it will entirely transform network and security infrastructure.
In the near future, 45% of leaders said, they plan to focus investment on staff training and education with a particular focus on working remotely.