2024: How AI Accelerates Changing the World

Source: Quantum Number

In 2024, cutting-edge technology and the companies that control these technologies are becoming increasingly powerful, both exciting and frightening. With the expected rise of artificial intelligence (AI) as the cornerstone of modern life, companies like NVIDIA and Alphabet have seen their value soar. Although these grand visions are still in the future, it is undeniable that technology has influenced markets, wars, elections, climate, and daily life this year.

Perhaps, this year, the impact of technology on the global economy is the greatest. The so-called 'Big Seven'—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla—have largely benefited from the artificial intelligence boom, driving the S&P 500 to new highs. Nvidia, which designs computer chips for many artificial intelligence systems, has seen its stock price nearly double, leading the entire industry. These profits have stimulated an 'arms race' in artificial intelligence infrastructure, with major companies building large AI factories and data centers—drawing criticism from environmentalists for their energy consumption. Some market observers are also concerned about the increasing dependence of the global economy on a few companies, and the potential impact if these companies fail to fulfill their huge promises. However, as of early December, there are no signs of slowing down for these companies' value.

Despite the lack of groundbreaking innovations from ChatGPT in 2023, generative artificial intelligence systems have also made progress in the past 12 months: Google's DeepMind won a silver medal in a prestigious math competition; Google's NotebookLM impressed users with its ability to convert written notes into concise podcasts; ChatGPT passed the Turing test hosted by Stanford University; Apple integrated new artificial intelligence tools into its latest iPhone. In addition to personal devices, artificial intelligence has played a crucial role in predicting hurricanes and powering the growing fleet of autonomous driving cars.

However, the more dangerous side of AI is also revealed. AI tools developed by companies such as Palantir and Clearview have played a central role in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza due to their ability to identify foreign troops and bombing targets. Artificial intelligence is being integrated into drones, surveillance systems, and cybersecurity. Generative AI has also infiltrated many elections in 2024. Candidates in some countries post a lot of AI-generated content on social media. Some state actors use deepfake text, images, audio, and video to spread disinformation on the internet and exacerbate fear of immigration. After U.S. President-elect Donald Trump retweeted an AI-generated image of Taylor Swift supporting him on the campaign, the pop star posted her "concerns about artificial intelligence" on Instagram and instead endorsed Kamala Harris.

Many of Swift's young fans, like her, are worried that their generation is seemingly the first to bear the brunt of the harm caused by technology. This year, concerns about the impact of social media on mental health reached a peak with the publication of Jonathan Haidt's best-selling book "The Anxious Generation", which directly links the increase in teenage depression to smartphones. (Some scientists have questioned this correlation.) Social media platforms have come up with their own solutions to address this issue: for example, Instagram has set up new guardrails for teenage users.

However, many parents, lawmakers, and regulators believe that these platforms themselves are not doing enough to protect children and have taken action. The New Mexico attorney general sued Snap, accusing Snapchat of facilitating child sexual exploitation through its algorithm. Dozens of states have filed lawsuits against Meta, accusing it of inducing children and adolescents to become addicted to social media. In July, the U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), requiring social media companies to take responsibility for preventing harm. Most tech companies are opposed to the bill, which has not yet passed the House of Representatives.

Most of the potential harm of generative AI to children is still unknown. But in February of this year, a teenager committed suicide due to an infatuation with a Character.AI chatbot based on the character Daenerys Targaryen from 'Game of Thrones'. (The company called the situation 'tragic' and told the New York Times that it is increasing safety features.) Regulatory agencies are also cautious about the centralization brought by the technology, believing that its centralization may lead to health crises, rampant misinformation, and vulnerabilities in global failures. They point out that the Crowdstrike incident led to global flight suspensions and bank closures, while the Ticketmaster incident resulted in the data breach of over 500 million users.

US President Biden has signed a bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok, or it will be banned in the US. French authorities have arrested Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, accusing him of refusing to cooperate in stopping the spread of child pornography, drugs, and money laundering on the platform. Antitrust actions are increasing globally. In the US, the Biden administration has launched several aggressive lawsuits in an attempt to break Google and Apple's monopolies. A UK regulatory agency has accused Google of using anti-competitive practices to dominate the online advertising market. India has also proposed an antitrust law, drawing fierce criticism from tech lobbyists.

But the pressure facing the technology industry next year may be slightly reduced, in part because of the efforts of the world's richest man, Elon Musk, whose net worth has surged by more than $100 billion (about 730 billion RMB) in the past year. Musk has experienced many battles in multiple fields. Tesla's failure to deliver long-awaited self-driving cars has made investors uneasy. In Brazil, a judge accused X platform of allowing false information to spread, leading to a brief suspension of the platform. In the United States, regulatory agencies have accused Musk of promoting hate speech and false information on the X platform, and openly using a large public platform to campaign for his preferred candidate, Donald Trump. Musk's companies face at least 20 investigations from various government departments.

But Musk emerged victorious by launching and capturing SpaceX rockets and implanting the first Neuralink chip in the brain of a paralyzed patient. In the November election, he was rewarded for his alliance with Trump. Musk is now a key figure in Trump's transition team and is expected to lead a new government organization aimed at cutting $2 trillion in government spending. Although the Tesla boss must deal with Trump's public opposition to electric vehicles, he can use his new position to influence the future of artificial intelligence. While Musk warns the public of the risks of artificial intelligence survival, he is also working to create a more powerful chatbot than the one developed by his competitor Sam Altman. Altman's OpenAI has faced many criticisms this year due to security concerns, but despite this, it still raised a huge $6.6 billion in October.

The influence of tech giants like Musk and Ultraman is growing, is this good for the world? In 2024, they spent a lot of time building frantically, while criticizing regulatory agencies for hindering them. Their and other tech tycoons' creations provide ample evidence that their projects can bring benefits as well as significant risks and harms.