The tech year that was 2023
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The year 2023 was the year of artificial intelligence.
It began with the ChatGPT noise and it’s ending with red flags from the company, OpenAI, that brought us ChatGPT.
As if the world has not heard enough about AI, a company formed by former Apple employees dropped an AI hardware, the Ai Pin.
Developments throughout 2023 were just the beginning of the AI revolution. In 2024, we will probably see more AI innovations that will come with amazing hardware.
I’m particularly looking forward to the Apple Vision Pro. I’m on record as saying it will be one of the hardware tools that will unleash the metaverse revolution.
Apple has promised us the first version of the Apple Vision Pro before the end of 2024. It’s a device that will be worn on your face, but the novel aspect is how you will use it.
Rather than view the computer’s output through a physical screen, that output is projected directly into your eyes with two small but high-resolution displays a short distance in front of you.
Rather than control the computer through a keyboard, mouse or touch screen, the primary user interface is through eye-tracking and gestures.
Apple might also just add another device in the form of an Apple watch that will come packed with AI powers to take care of your health needs.
In 2024, we will also probably get something from Elon Musk. In 2023, he delivered the Tesla Cybertruck. In my books, this automobile falls under the tech category. It’s a software on wheels, based on the specifications and its future capabilities. I think it’s a precursor to the Tesla future deliverable, the Optimus robot.
When it finally enters the market, it will take robots mainstream.
The Cybertruck has shown us that Musk can deliver despite the negative publicity he received throughout 2023 for acquiring Twitter. His act is another 2023 deliverable.
He transformed Twitter into something that we now know as X. It’s a 2023 deliverable not just for its name. X is no longer Twitter, at least in terms of its functionality business focus. X is a platform that has begun a process that might deliver profits for Musk.
Consumers and enterprises are expected to pay for the advanced version of the platform. Some users have also started getting paid for their influence on X. This is just the beginning for the X platform.
In 2024, we are likely to see an X version that enables payments which will pave a way for the Super App version of X. This has angered some users who liked the Twitter format and its functionality.
This has prompted another technology leader to replicate the original Twitter, in the form of what we’ve come to know as Threads.
The Meta-created product has become another 2023 technology product that saw a major upload rate during its first few days. The year 2023 has proved to be an exciting year for new products.
It’s my hope that 2024 will become a year of technological advancements that will make an impact. It seems to me a lot of what has been delivered throughout they year has been an iteration of what has existed in the past.
In 2024, I would like to see at least one product that will move from 0 to 1 as per the Peter Thiel theory. We have enough smart people who can turn some world challenges into technological breakthroughs.
Wesley Diphoko is the editor-In-chief of FastCompany (SA).
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