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These Are The Technology Trends That Will Shape Our Lives In 2023
CNN —
The late management guru Peter Drucker once said that "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights, while looking out the back window."
When it comes to anticipating new trends in technology, change is happening so fast that the back window may as well be fogged up.
2022 saw NFTs go from flavor of the month to yesterday's leftovers; cryptocurrency experience a long cold winter; and nuclear fusion take its first steps from the realms of science fiction towards becoming science fact.
But for those who follow the latest developments in innovation, it is possible to see patterns in where societies are heading, and forecast which technologies will take them there.
As we begin 2023, CNN asked four experts to predict which technologies will shape our lives this year – here's what they said.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become part of our daily lives, found in everything from e-commerce to social media algorithms. Ayesha Khanna, co-founder and CEO of Addo, an AI and data solutions firm, predicts an explosion of AI-generated images and music in 2023. She adds that while it will not replace humans, "AI will become the new team member for humans in many jobs, contributing ideas and drafts."
Bernard Marr, a futurist and author of books including "Future Skills" and "Business Trends in Practice," also anticipates that this year, "a focus of AI will be the augmentation of workers, as new tools become available to enable workforces to fully leverage AI."
But Khanna warns that more work will be needed to ensure that generative AI co-pilots – such as GitHub's Copilot, a tool designed to help developers code – are accurate and unbiased, especially in industries like healthcare, where there could be serious consequences to an AI assistant recommending the wrong treatment to a doctor.
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Despite Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, losing billions of dollars on its metaverse efforts, the idea of spending time in virtual online worlds is increasingly becoming part of the public consciousness, and the buzz is set to grow in 2023, according to Khanna.
"Retail and entertainment companies will launch increasing pilots on how to build customer engagement and loyalty in the various metaverses, especially game platforms like Roblox," she says.
"Metaverse natives who have grown up gaming and socializing in alternate digital realities will drive companies to host concerts, fashion weeks, customer journeys and edutainment activities in 2023."
Marr adds that more small companies will join the bigger organizations that have already established "outposts" on metaverse platforms.
"The metaverse will also become more mobile and accessible through devices such as headsets and smart glasses, and businesses will need to consider how they can leverage these opportunities to create immersive and efficient experiences," he says.
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"The entire field of sustainability, underpinned by technologies, will play a monumental role in 2023," says Abishur Prakash, co-founder and geopolitical futurist at the Center for Innovating the Future (CIF), in Toronto, and author of "The World is Vertical: How Technology is Remaking Globalization."
"Clean energy projects, like those taking electricity generated by solar power from Africa to Europe, will advance in 2023, adding a new dimension to the global energy war."
Cynthia Selin, an associate professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, believes that in 2023, as we continue to build more capacity for renewables, short-term and long-term energy storage such as batteries and hydrogen will be key.
"Continued investment and favorable policy conditions … mean that clean hydrogen (including hydrogen made using renewable energy) could see sustained growth, the development of necessary infrastructure, and better cost competitiveness," she says. "In terms of consumer-facing developments in relation to hydrogen, in '23 the most likely area of attention will be in long-haul trucking."
Selin believes carbon capture and storage – removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it – will grow in importance.
"Direct air capture may continue to gain attention alongside natural removal mechanisms like reforestation," she says. "New demonstration projects are sprouting up worldwide in tandem with supportive policies, building our capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Prakash predicts the war in Ukraine will usher in a new era of geopolitics and globalization.
"The pursuit of self-reliance, a catalyst of vertical globalization, will accelerate in 2023, affecting every aspect of technology," he says. "Automakers in China are buying their own ships to export their cars to the world," he adds, and points to Apple's plans to move production outside China.
Another trend to watch will be the fight over the semiconductors that power our smartphones, computers, automobiles and home appliances. Prakash says semiconductors are set to upend world affairs in 2023, and become an area of competition between the US and China.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of connected sensors and infrastructure that can collect data on everything from household heating to traffic jams on city streets.
Selin believes the IoT will continue to transform the energy sector in 2023. "Smart thermostats to track energy consumption and regulate temperatures help in reducing energy consumption and costs. More and more devices are coming to market that use smart sensors and data-driven intelligence to inform energy choices and drive energy efficiency."
Marr predicts 2023 will see a rise in IoT products and services related to health and well-being, "with devices such as smartwatches offering sophisticated sensors for monitoring various health indicators."
He adds that there will also be a focus on "enabling more complex machine-to-machine interactions by developing global standards and protocols that devices can use to communicate with each other, as well as improving IoT security to prevent attacks."
Walmart Unveils Latest Tech Tools
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gettyNew technologies were introduced by Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart WMT , in a keynote address at the recent CES (Consumer Electronic Show). His announcements are significant because he used the occasion to explain how Walmart intends to use technology as a tool to enhance business. He defined Walmart's work in the technology arena as, "we build technology to serve people and not the other way around."
McMillon stressed that Walmart's purpose is to invest in technology to help people live better than ever, and advances in technology these days make it feel like anything is possible. He went on to say, "Our technology roadmap is compelling, and we are very excited about it, but we're clear that we are a people led, tech powered company."
Here are some of the products he revealed:
1. A new Gen-AI powered search experience is now available to IOS customers. The enhanced search experience allows customers to search by specific use cases rather than just search for individual products. For example, this tool makes it easy for a customer to conduct an aggregated search for a football watch party versus individual searches for chips, wings, drinks, and the 90-inch TV that are key to a successful party. This new tool also generates relevant cross-category results.
2. A sneak peek into Walmart In-home replenishment, which uses AI and Walmart's deep replenishment expertise to ensure customers' online shopping carts are filled with the right items at the right time and delivered into a refrigerator in a kitchen or garage on a reliable basis.
3. A beta social commerce platform called 'Shop with Friends' that takes VR (Virtual Reality) shopping to the next level by enabling customers to share the virtual outfits they create with friends and get feedback on their fashion finds.
All of these new tools enable Walmart to create more personal and flexible shopping experiences.
Omni channel shopping options have been around for decades, but adaptive retail is new, and takes the shopping experience a step further. To hear Suresh Kumar, global chief technology officer and chief development officer of Walmart Inc. Describe it: "it's a retail that is not only e-commerce or in-store, but a single, unified retail experience that seamlessly blends the best aspect of all channels." For Walmart, he sees adaptive retail is rooted in a clear focus on people.
Sam's Club was used to effectively test the concepts. The practical applications worked and will now roll out more broadly. Walmart also announced that it has expanded drone delivery to 1.8 million additional households. This action was taken to compete with Amazon's AMZN effort to dominate in the pharmaceutical drone delivery business.
It is also worth noting that its 2.1 million associates are also directly benefiting from the Walmart technology investments. The company has provided associates with tools, among them a tool called My Assistant, which Is changing how associates work and helps them manage workload and solve some of their problems.
POSTSCRIPT: Walmart has changed. Traditional systems and priorities have been reexamined to enhance service, speed deliveries to customers, and do so more efficiently. It is adapting many of the new tech developments, using public information and AI applications to its advantage. It does not have to be the first company to use technology, but it is committed to taking advantage of proven concepts to improve its shopping experience.
This strategy will move the company miles ahead of competition, and the tests in Sam's Clubs will soon be visible in Walmart's Superstores.
The slogan, 'We build technology to serve people, not the other way around' shows how management deliberately waited for the facts to become clearer and results more transparent. Walmart waited for the technology to firm up and is now ready to move forward.
Promising New Development In Solar Cell Technology
Researchers from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, who contributed to the development of record-breaking solar cells a few years ago, expanded their invention. The self-assembled monolayers can now be applied not only in inverted but also in regular structure perovskite solar cells.
Self-assembling molecules arrange themselves into a single-molecule-thick layer and in this case, they act as an electron-transporting layer in solar cells.
"The molecules that make up these monolayers, like a clever glue, coat the surface of the constructed devices with a thin one molecule thick layer. And this is not random, they don't stick wherever they go, but attach themselves by chemical bonds only where they are in contact with conductive metal oxide," explains Tadas Malinauskas, Professor at KTU's Faculty of Chemical Technology and one of the inventors of the new technology.
According to Malinauskas, the development of such a layer is a relatively simple and material-efficient process that requires a glass substrate with an electrically conductive metal oxide layer to be immersed in or sprayed with a highly diluted solution of the compound.
In this way, the self-assembling molecules are only attached to the surface of the metal oxide, and those that do not stick are washed away. This way a thin layer is created only where it is needed.
A crucial step in the development of the next generation solar cells
A team of KTU researchers has been synthesising and studying charge-transporting organic materials for several years. Previous experiments have focused more on molecules used for positive charge transfer in the perovskite solar cells.
"We can already say with confidence that these molecules have given a major boost to the development of the next generation solar cells. So, our next step is quite logical: to develop analogous molecules that can carry negative charges, and to apply these materials in perovskite solar cells," says Vytautas Getautis, professor at the KTU Faculty of Chemical Technology and Head of the research group in charge of invention.
Although it is a very thin layer, the role it plays in solar cells is extremely important. Malinauskas says that the best analogy for its function is the subway. "This layer, like an automatic gate on the subway, allows only one type of charge to pass through and continue its journey towards the electrode," he says.
In this way, self-assembled molecules increase the efficiency of solar cells.
Perovskite solar cell structures differ in the sequence of layers. In the regular structure, a negative charge transporting layer is formed on a transparent substrate, followed by light-absorbing and positive charge transporting layers. In solar cells with an inverted structure, the positive and negative charge transport layers are swapped.
Inventor and KTU PhD student Lauryna Monika Svirskaite says that the main difference between the two structures is the areas of their application.
"The regular structure is more widely used to study low-cost, easier-manufactured but less efficient solar cells. The inverted architecture allows them to be used in the construction of much more efficient combined devices, also known as tandem devices," says Svirskaite.
At the moment, as both structures are being intensively researched, the KTU scientists believe that the new invention is just as significant and promising as the last one.
The strongest inventions in the KTU patent portfolio
The new invention is the result of a collaboration with scientists from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
"We, KTU chemists, were responsible for the development, improvement, and optimisation of the materials and coating technology, while our colleagues from Saudi Arabia investigated the performance of it in solar cells," reveals Malinauskas.
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