The world of technology moves quickly, which can make it difficult to see the big picture. However, there are three areas that I think will stand out in 2023.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been greatly overrated. But this year, much of that hype seems justified: 2023 is a groundbreaking year for artificial intelligence. This was the year that ChatGPT, the symbol of generative AI, was packaged in a way that could fit on your smartphone or laptop. Gemini, Google’s answer to OpenAI, is starting to work in the services you use every day. Five years ago, such integration into everyday services and devices was unthinkable.

But in addition to its drawbacks, this technology also has unintended consequences that we are only just beginning to realize. For example, people can no longer distinguish real faces from artificial ones, which can make deepfakes difficult to detect.

And we’ve seen that ChatGPT, like humans, can be dishonest under pressure. This is especially troubling because the program was designed to be fair.

How did ChatGPT learn to lie and cheat in pursuit of money?

Is it just me, or is quantum computing one of those technologies that always seems “five or 10 years away”? But it cannot be denied that significant progress is being made in this field every few months.

One of the most impressive achievements came in December when IBM introduced its System Two quantum computer. The launch coincided with the release of a 133-qubit quantum chip called “Heron”, which generated much more excitement among experts than the 1,000-qubit chip released at the same time. From where? Because Heron is less noisy than its larger cousin and will therefore prove to be a foundational technology for future chips.

IBM’s new Heron chip brings us closer to quantum reality

I’m still unconvinced about the “metaworld,” but Matt’s insistence on pushing us into his digital world (where we had no basis until recently) taps into a much broader trend. Mixed reality hasn’t gone mainstream yet, but it’s getting there.

Apple has released the Vision Pro headset, which allows you to interact with apps and services using gestures and different angles instead of the screen.

Augmented Reality (AR) has made significant progress, and I believe that this field can significantly change the world in the future. Smart glasses are also becoming increasingly stylish; see Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban, for example. Ultimately, as technology advances, these advances will serve to further blur the lines between what is real and what belongs in cyberspace, for better or worse.

Here’s how sonar-enabled “smart” glasses can protect privacy in this growing mixed reality.

Also worth mentioning are the leaps in robotics, both large and small, and the breakthroughs in electrical engineering that could give us the technology to create Star Wars-style laser weapons and 6G systems. Whatever the industry, Living Science will be at the forefront, highlighting the biggest technological breakthroughs that will matter next year and beyond.