As 2024 draws to a close, it’s tempting to pretend that nothing happened this year other than a history-shaking presidential election. But this year has also been a year of change in terms of technology, in unexpected ways.
Most of the technological innovations that changed our lives this year weren’t gadgets. Innovative software updates, including better AI assistants, topped the list of most exciting announcements from major technology companies. On the policy front, new incentives for investment in renewable energy products such as heat pumps and EVs are starting to take effect, while nuclear power is back in the spotlight. In space, thousands of new satellites have begun beaming cheap internet connections to remote locations.
All in all, the year of technological progress has been more real than fantastical.
The rise of AI may seem very fanciful, but at least for now, the products ordinary Americans are using amount to highly useful chatbots rather than paradigm-changing superintelligence. What is improving our lives are inventions that increase efficiency and productivity. Ignoring the fact that these improvements add up to save the planet just sounds boring.
On the other hand, the most futuristic things released this year have disappointed. There was a device called the Rabbit R1 that was supposed to give you instant access to the great power of AI, but it just didn’t work. There was a Human Ai Pin that was supposed to replace my cell phone, but it wasn’t. Next up was the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset. More details later.
Before we get bogged down in talking about bad gadgets, let’s highlight the big advances. Here are five things that will change our lives this year. And what wasn’t.
5 things that have improved our lives
AI can now do everything, everywhere, and at the same time.
It’s only been two years since ChatGPT’s historic launch, and generative AI still seems to be all tech companies want to talk about. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, now offers a search engine, a photorealistic video generator called Sora, and a new model that can be reasoned with, codenamed Strawberry. Google, the original generative AI superpower, announced Gemini 2.0, promising AI agents to respond to your requests in no time. Apple also rolled out Apple Intelligence, a leaner and more approachable set of AI tools, to millions of users.
By the way, all this happened in the last 6 weeks. Suffice it to say, AI is here to stay and is improving at an impressive rate. There is also evidence that the number of people using AI is rapidly increasing. The speed is such that AI has surpassed the penetration rate of personal computers and the Internet. At the same time, AI currently requires enough electricity to power a small country, and will only require more as AI advances further. This brings us to number 2 on the list.
Nuclear power is back.
The benefit of AI’s insatiable appetite for power is that it is actually driving innovation in the clean energy sector. It may remind you of the 1950s, but nuclear energy is a hot technology that everyone wants more of. Microsoft took the lead in September, helping restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant by agreeing to buy all the power under an AI-powered future plan. Google followed suit in October, signing a deal to buy power from a small modular nuclear reactor developed by Kairos Power. The same week, Amazon announced plans to invest in X-Power, another company developing small modular nuclear reactors.
Small modular nuclear reactors are attractive, at least in theory, for several reasons, including how quick and easy they are to build. No company has yet successfully commercialized the technology, but renewed interest in nuclear energy is pouring significant money into the problem. The Department of Defense even announced its own mobile reactor project at the Idaho National Laboratory in September. So we don’t really know what the new nuclear age will look like, but it will almost certainly be smaller, cheaper, and safer.
Satellite internet is better and cheaper.
When it comes to inventions of the space age, satellites have become a hot topic. More specifically, constellations of satellites beaming internet connections back to Earth have become mainstream. Thanks in part to the pandemic, the technology has become popular this year, making satellite internet available in all 50 states, even if you live in a remote location. SpaceX’s Starlink, which began offering connectivity to soldiers in Ukraine last year, is a satellite internet company you’ve probably heard of. It uses a constellation of low-orbit satellites to provide high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity starting at $120 per month. HughesNet and ViaSat, known for their in-flight Wi-Fi programs, have slower service, but plans start at about $50 per month.
The big news this year is Amazon entering the space internet race with its Project Kuiper satellite. The company announced in November that it would begin deploying a constellation of low-orbit satellites in early 2025, competing directly with Starlink. Some analysts believe this increased competition could lower Starlink’s price and even spur the development of new mobile phone services. By the way, all of these new satellites open up a future where we won’t have to worry about reception even in times of 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 for two breakthrough products: a watch that can detect sleep apnea and AirPods Pro earbuds that double as hearing aids. This hearing aid feature comes via a software update, so you didn’t even necessarily have to buy new AirPods.
Apple isn’t the only tech company blurring the lines between gadgets and health devices. Oura Ring has exploded in popularity this year thanks to its innovative sleep tracking and cycle tracking features. Google has released the Pixel Watch 3 with a pulse detection feature that it claims can save lives. Withings is one step closer to the Star Trek-inspired Tricorder with a device called BeamO that functions as a thermometer, stethoscope, pulse oximeter, and electrocardiogram all in one device.
A teen account on Instagram sought to solve the youth mental health crisis.
Panic surrounding youth mental health and social media has been growing for years, but reached new heights in 2024. Public Health Secretary Vivek Murthy has called for warning labels to be posted on social media. Anxious Generation, a book about how smartphones are ruining childhoods, especially for teenagers, topped the New York Times bestseller list for weeks. And the biggest bill to protect children online, now known as KOSPA, has passed the Senate and is on the verge of passage in the House.
Mehta introduced a kind of solution to the youth mental health crisis. In September, it introduced Instagram Teen Accounts, which makes accounts private for users under 16 by default, limits who can contact young people, and introduces anti-bullying features, among other features. This is not a solution to the dangers of social media or the youth mental health crisis, but it is an action. Some might argue that Instagram should have been this way all along, but hey, it’s great that Meta finally did something to quell the panic.
There’s one thing we wanted to improve in our lives, but unfortunately we couldn’t.
Apple Vision Pro wasn’t the future we were promised.
It’s fair to say that people were excited about Apple Vision Pro before its release in February. The long-rumored mixed reality headset was Apple’s first completely new product in over a decade and was supposed to change computing as we know it. The Vision Pro also cost $3,500, required carrying a battery pack in your pocket, and left you with black eyes. By the end of the year, it became clear that the Vision Pro was probably the most useful giant display for the Mac.
The future is grim. It’s hard to predict, and global warming continues to remind us that we’re inhospitable. The Apple Vision Pro certainly seems like an impressive device, and one that will only get better and cheaper over time.
But in a year like 2024, the technologies that truly improved our lives were those that made us healthier, more connected, and less dependent on fossil fuels. At first glance, these improvements don’t seem as exciting as glasses that turn the world into a digital cinemascape. But they definitely point to the future we all want to live in.
A version of this article also appeared in the Vox Technology newsletter. Sign up here to never miss our next event!
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