Software development is highly demanding in terms of skills, creativity and ingenuity which is why it has been far slower moving than the underlying physical technologies - there is no way known yet to automate the production. The 21st century future will be one of software which is produced by individuals and teams of people around the globe mixing a range of skills and creativity. In other words it will be highly labor intensive, but, importantly for Australia, intensive of educated, creative and highly paid labor. Of course, the software era is already underway, but still only in a comparatively small way. The major breakthroughs are before us, pushed forward by advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and miniaturisation.
Artifical intelligence is a big frontier.
Like so many of these technologies this is not new, but its time to bloom has arrived. This 'ease of use' factor requires the artificial intelligence technology, but it also requires a better ability to understand the behaviour of humans when they interact with the technology. Each generational enhancement to make computer technology easier for us to use will require ever more sophisticated design and programming by the software teams involved in the process. Telstra is leading the way in some of these activities. We are testing artificial intelligence to help people manage their emails, or to phrase questions using natural language.