From ubiquitous computing to ubiquitous intelligence

If computers could be as commonplace as the written word, our everyday world would be transformed. That was the vision, announced over a decade ago, of the computer visionary Mark Weiser. In Weiser's world computers would be ubiquitous and we would interact with them almost subconsciously. This vision is currently developing, but has still some way to go. Yet Weiser's vision can be extended further, with intelligence embedded in objects ranging from mechanical components to tins. This paper outlines a future which embraces Weiser's vision but goes beyond it to a world of such intelligent devices interacting autonomously, for the benefit of people but often without human intervention. Opportunities exist, in particular for those who develop the new applications and the complex systems which support them. For the general public the greatest fearwhich needs to be allayed is a loss of privacy.