Tech Trends 2024 and Beyond (AI, Innovations, and Emerging Challenges)

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Why in News?

2024 has been a transformative year for technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This year marked significant advancements in AI, responsible tech, and greener innovations, while also revealing challenges in adoption and ethical considerations.
Predictions for 2025 hint at further developments and shifts in the tech landscape.

Tech Developments in 2024 (Key Highlights):

AI’s growing influence:
- AI became all-pervasive, impacting various sectors and introducing existential questions.
- Companies have recognised AI’s potential but are recalibrating use cases due to difficulties in realising immediate returns.
- For individuals, AI acts as a “copilot,” supporting but not replacing human creativity and specialised skills.
Responsible AI and ethical concerns:
- The focus on responsible AI highlighted the importance of ethical considerations in deployment.
- AI agents raised questions about autonomy and human intervention, particularly in sensitive areas like healthcare and finance.
Greener tech and sustainability: Efforts to integrate sustainable practices into technology gained momentum, reinforcing the importance of eco-conscious innovations.
Missed predictions: Though these trends gained popularity worldwide, predictions regarding the prevalence of a “cookieless world” and extended reality in India were not met.

Tech Predictions for 2025:

AI agents revolutionise automation:
Adoption and capabilities:
- AI agents capable of autonomous learning and decision-making will become prevalent.
- Use cases include handling routine tasks, data processing, and generating alerts for human oversight.
Consumer impact: Personalised AI agents may shift interactions beyond the current chat-driven paradigm.
Death of dashboards:
- GenAI in analytics: Generative AI tools are set to replace traditional dashboards, answering complex queries with visual insights and predictions.
- Data evolution: Data collection formats will adapt to support advanced analytics, requiring greater granularity and complexity.
Rise of not-so-social media:
- Platform challenges: TikTok faces uncertainty despite its popularity. Platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook struggle to retain users.
- User shifts: Closed-group platforms and niche networks are gaining popularity among younger audiences.
Unmatched computing power:
- Quantum leap: Innovations like Google’s Willow chips and NVIDIA’s GPUs are pushing computing boundaries.
- Data challenges: Computational advancements highlight the need for robust, complex data models to leverage full potential.
AI meets hardware:
- Early failures and new hope: Initial AI hardware attempts (e.g., Humane AI Pin) faced setbacks. 2025 might witness a new wave of AI-integrated hardware with targeted functionalities.
- Innovative devices: Possible advancements include AI-led smartphones and laptops, replacing traditional apps and operating systems with AI agents.

Conclusion:

2024 underscored AI’s transformative potential while revealing its limitations and ethical implications.
Predictions for 2025 suggest continued innovation, particularly in AI agents, analytics, and computing power.
The tech landscape is set for significant shifts as companies and users adapt to these advancements, navigating both opportunities and challenges.

Q.1. What are the ethical challenges for AI adoption?

AI decisions are not always intelligible to humans. AI-based decisions are susceptible to inaccuracies, discriminatory outcomes, embedded or inserted bias.