As 2024 approaches, it’s tempting to think that nothing has happened this year except for a history-shattering presidential election. But it’s been a transformative year on the tech front — and in unexpected ways.
The technological innovations that changed our lives this year were, for the most part, not gadgets. Revolutionary software updates including advanced AI assistants dominate the list of most exciting announcements from major tech companies. On the policy front, we’ve seen new incentives for investment in renewable energy products like heat pumps and EVs, while nuclear power has returned to the spotlight. In space, thousands of new satellites are starting to provide cheap internet connections to remote areas.
Taken as a whole, the year of technological advancements has been more practical than imagined.
You can call the rise of AI pretty fantastic, but at least for now, the products Americans use every day are very simple chatbots rather than paradigm-shifting superintelligences. What is making our lives better are innovations that improve efficiency and productivity. This only sounds boring if you ignore the fact that these improvements add up to saving the planet.
Meanwhile, the most futuristic things that came out this year didn’t deliver. There was the Rabbit R1, a device that was supposed to put the mighty power of AI at your fingertips but Just didn’t work. There was the Human AI PIN that was supposed to replace your phone but it’s not. Then there was the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset. More on that in a minute.
Before we get too bogged down with trashtalking bad gadgets, let’s highlight the big successes. Here are five things that change our lives this year. And one that doesn’t.
5 Things that have improved our lives
AI is starting to do everything, everywhere, all together.
It’s only been two years since ChatGPT’s historic launch, but generative AI still seems to be the only thing tech companies want to talk about. OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, now offers A search engineA photorealistic video generator is called SoraAnd a new model codenamed Strawberry may be the reason for that. Google, arguably the original generative AI superpower, Launched Gemini 2.0Promising AI agents will soon do your bidding Apple has rolled out Apple Intelligence, a smaller but more accessible set of AI tools, to its millions of users.
However, that’s what happened in the last six weeks. Suffice to say AI is here to stay, and it’s getting better at a significant rate. There is also evidence that The number of people using AI is growing rapidly — so fast that AI is outpacing the rate of adoption of personal computers and the Internet. At the same time, AI currently requires enough electricity to power a small country and will need more as it develops. Which brings us to number two on the list.
Nuclear power is back.
The flip side of AI’s insatiable appetite for electricity is that it’s actually driving innovation in the clean energy sector. And when it can be Makes you think of the 1950sNuclear power is the hot technology that everyone wants. Microsoft led the way in September, when it helped Restart the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Plans for an AI-powered future by agreeing to buy all its electricity Google followed suit in October Signed an agreement To buy electricity from small modular reactors made by Kairos Power. In the same week, Amazon announced X is planning to invest in PowerAnother company works on small modular reactors.
Small modular reactors are exciting for a number of reasons, including how quickly and easily they can be built – at least in theory. No company has yet successfully commercialized the technology, but renewed interest in nuclear power is throwing a lot of money at the problem. The Department of Defense even announced a mobile nuclear reactor project of its own at the Idaho National Laboratory in September. So we don’t quite know what the new nuclear age will look like, but it will almost certainly be smaller, cheaper and safer.
Satellite internet just got better and cheaper.
Speaking of inventions of the space age, satellites had quite a year. More specifically, the constellation of satellites that beam Internet connections to Earth goes mainstream. Thanks in part to the pandemic, the technology took off this year, and you can get satellite Internet in all 50 states, even if you live in the middle of nowhere. SpaceX’s Starlink, which began providing connectivity to Ukrainian troops last year, is probably the satellite internet company you’ve heard of. It uses a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to deliver fast, low-latency Internet connections starting at $120 per month. HughesNet and ViaSat, known for its airplane Wi-Fi programs, have slower service, but their plans start at about $50 a month.
The big news this year is Amazon entering the space internet race with its Project Kuiper satellite. The company announced its launch in November Establishing a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites By early 2025, competing directly with Starlink. Some analysts believe this increase in competition Starlink prices may push downand even encourages the development of its new cellular services All of these new satellites, however, open up a future where you’ll never have to worry about reception again, even in a disaster.
Gadgets are becoming medical devices.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told Wired this year that he Wants to democratize health. This year, Apple received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration Two advances: Watches that can detect sleep apnea and AirPods Pro earbuds Can double as a hearing aid. You don’t even need to buy new AirPods for this hearing aid feature, since it arrived in a software update.
Apple isn’t the only tech company blurring the line between gadgets and health devices. The Aura Ring exploded in popularity this year thanks to its innovative sleep tracking and cycle tracking features. Google has released its Pixel Watch 3, which it says comes with a pulse detection feature Can save lives. Withings even brought us one step closer Star Trek-inspired Tricorder with a Device called BeamO which functions as a thermometer, stethoscope, pulse oximeter and EKG in one device.
Instagram Teens accounts attempt to address youth mental health crises.
Although it has been on the rise for years, youth anxiety about mental health and social media reached new heights in 2024 Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called for a warning label on social media Anxious generationA book about how smartphones are ruining childhood, and teenagers in particular, spent weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. And the biggest piece Laws to protect children onlineNow known as KOSPA, has passed the Senate and is very close to passing the House.
Meta has introduced a solution to the mental health crisis of young people. In September, it launched Instagram Teen Accounts, which by default makes accounts private for users under 16, restricts who can interact with young people, and introduces some anti-bullying features, among other things. While this is not the solution to the dangers of social media or the youth mental health crisis, it is action. You could also argue that this is how Instagram should have worked, but hey, it’s nice that Meta finally did something to try to quell the panic.
1 thing that was meant to improve our lives but sadly didn’t
The Apple Vision Pro was not the future we were promised.
Before its February release, you could tell people were excited about the Apple Vision Pro. The long-rumored mixed reality headset was Apple’s first all-new product in more than a decade, and it was supposed to change computing as we knew it. The Vision Pro also costs $3,500, you have to carry a battery pack in your pocket and Gave people black eyes. By the end of the year, it became clear Vision Pro was probably the most useful As a giant display for your Mac.
The future is difficult. It’s hard to predict, and as our warming planet reminds us, it’s hard to survive The Apple Vision Pro certainly looks like an impressive device, which will only get better and cheaper with time
But for a year like 2024, the technologies that have truly improved our lives are those that make us healthier, more connected and less dependent on fossil fuels. On the face of it, these improvements don’t sound as exciting as the spectacle that turns the world into a digital cinemascape. But they certainly point to a future we all want to live in.
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