Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2024
Generative AI will remain huge, and we’ll also see big moves with electric vehicles, Apple’s mixed-reality headset, password security and regulation around social media
9 min
It’s been a crazy year in tech:
• Artificial intelligence infiltrated everything.
• Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agreed to a cage fight (which never happened).
• High-schoolers made pornographic clones of their classmates.
• A high-profile tech CEO was fired and rehired over a weekend.
• Oh, and Apple unveiled its least-mainstream product since the G4 Cube.
We could go on, but we’re here to look forward. That’s the best part about this annual exercise, where we all pile into an electric time-travel vehicle and set the Google Maps destination to The Future.
So what can we predict for 2024? AI as far as the…A-eye can see. We won’t even pretend to know all the things generative AI will do to our devices, our jobs, our lives—and our elections. But we promise you won’t be able to escape it. We’ll see other things too: the decline of the dreaded password, a boom in cleaner energy, increasing regulation around kids on social media, and more.
And yes, Apple will start selling a $3,500 face computer that aims to change how we see the world, or at least our living rooms.
Here are our predictions for the coming year in tech.
Is it real?
When photos of a bull walking on train tracks in New Jersey recently went viral, many people’s first thought was, “Did AI make this?” No, the photo was the real deal. (Don’t worry, the bull is safe now.)
This is the internet challenge of 2024: How do we tell the real from the AI? The generative-AI product flood will continue, but also expect more tools to help us pinpoint artificially generated text, photos, video and audio.
OpenAI, specifically, has promised a feature that will identify whether an image is created by its Dall-E 3 image generator. TikTok has said it is working on ways to detect and automatically label AI-generated content.
The Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative, which provides technology to embed information about the origin of an image or video into the file, will also continue to gain steam. Microsoft has said it will launch a tool for political candidates and campaigns that allows them to add credentials to media so people will know how it was created or edited. Camera maker Leica recently announced a new camera that automatically embeds such credentials in its photos.
At some point, we might just regard content without credentials as suspicious.
EVs struggle to accelerate
If you’re expecting 2024 to be the Year of the EV Boom, think again. “It’s not that EV sales are down, it’s that the pace of growth is slowing down,” said Barclays analyst Dan Levy.
That deceleration looks to continue but it marks a turning point: More mainstream car buyers are now catching their breath and beginning to assess their EV options. Two of the biggest consumer pain points—price and charging—will start to improve. Especially for people looking beyond Tesla.
Sometime in 2024, Ford, General Motors, Rivian and others will be able to charge at many of Tesla’s charging sites. That should significantly increase the number of places EV drivers can stop to charge on a long road trip. Additionally, we’ll see the launch of more fast-charging stations funded through the Biden administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. Here’s hoping they work—and actually accept credit cards.
Starting Jan. 1, if you’re buying an EV that’s eligible for a federal tax credit you can get that discount at the point of sale. You will no longer have to wait until you file your taxes. The bad news: Fewer EVs will qualify for the credit. But at least there are some sub-$40,000 EVs on the way, including the Chevy Equinox EV and Volvo EX30.
The clean-tech boom begins
Electric vehicles may seem like the embodiment of so-called “clean tech”—driven in no small part by a certain eccentric billionaire and his car company. But the EV supply chain is enabling hardware companies of all kinds to make use of really big batteries, and the critical “power electronics” that go with them.
For example, in Vermont, the biggest regional utility is turning batteries into a distributed energy-storage network it calls a “virtual power plant.” In-home batteries can recharge from the grid when energy is plentiful, and put it back into the grid when demand shoots up or there are outages, increasing reliability and saving customers money. Even electric vehicles can help in a similar way: Ford says its electric F-150 can power your home in a blackout.
And the relentless rollout of new sources of low-carbon and renewable energy is proceeding apace, including offshore wind, rooftop solar and geothermal power from the earth’s own heat. Startups—backed by big money—are looking to develop a generation of smaller, safer modular nuclear reactors, too.
AI + PC = ?
In 2024, every major manufacturer is aiming to give you access to AI on your devices, quickly and easily, even when they’re not connected to the internet, which current technology requires. Welcome to the age of the AI PC. (And, yes, the AI Mac.)
What’s coming is what engineers call “on-device AI.” Like our smartphones, our laptops will gain the ability to do the specialised computing required to perform AI-boosted tasks without connecting to the cloud. They will be able to understand our speech, search and summarise information, even generate images and text, all without the slow and costly round trip to a tech company’s server.
On Dec. 14, Intel announced its entrants into this race, chips with built-in neural-processing units. Qualcomm announced similar chips in late October. Both silicon giants will compete to power Windows laptops and Chromebooks. Look for more announcements of chips to enable on-device AI, possibly from Nvidia and AMD. Apple—which brought variations of its neural-engine-equipped mobile chips to laptops and desktops in 2020—will be making that specialised processing power available to software developers in new ways.
The hardware will show up before the compelling software applications do, but we’ve already seen some promising demos—like fast AI-powered photo-editing tools.
Longer life for older gadgets
Unlike milk and bread, there’s no expiration date printed on our gadgets’ packaging. That doesn’t mean they don’t have them. Modern, internet-connected devices remain tied to their makers after we buy them. And when the makers stop providing services and software updates, they die.
A growing number of manufacturers and brands are extending software support, however. Apple—which updates iPhones for about six years, and Macs for six to eight years depending on the model—was the gold standard, but it has fallen a bit behind Alphabet’s Google. For its new Pixel 8 phones, Google upped support to seven years. The company also said it will provide updates to Chromebooks for up to a decade starting in 2024.
Samsung previously updated phones for just two years, with four years of security patches. It recently committed to four years of system updates, with an additional year of security. Microsoft announced earlier this month that after support for Windows 10 machines ends in 2025, customers can continue receiving security updates for a fee.
By stretching devices’ lifespans, companies could reduce some of the 6.9 million tons of electronics waste we generate annually, according to nonprofit public-interest group U.S. PIRG.
Apple’s mixed reality meets the real world
Will Apple’s Vision Pro change the way we work by putting floating 3-D spreadsheets on our office walls? Will it make us all yearn to FaceTime with holo-grandma? Will it finally make 3-D movies cool? Or, at $3,499, will it be the world’s most expensive paperweight? We find out in early 2024.
In early trials, we’ve been impressed with just how natural it is to navigate the digital interface with just hand waves and finger taps. It still is quite a substantial piece of hardware you have to put on your head, however, battery pack and all.
Given its price tag and its first-generation status, the Vision Pro isn’t positioned to be a mainstream hit. Instead, Apple’s betting on early adopters and software developers to define the killer apps of spatial computing—the idea that we can blend our real lives and digital worlds in new ways. As Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said during the Vision Pro’s introduction, it’s “the beginning of a journey.”
Cracks in Apple’s garden walls
Perhaps the president of the European Commission should just move her office to Cupertino, Calif. In 2023, EU legislation forced Apple to give up its proprietary Lightning port in favor of USB-C on the iPhone 15. Next year, EU regulation will push Apple to make additional changes.
While Apple’s App Store has been the only way to install apps on the iPhone, the EU’s Digital Markets Act aims to change that. It requires the “gatekeepers”—specific tech companies—to stop restricting users from getting apps from outside its own app stores. The deadline to comply is March 7. A recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Apple stated that the company “expects to make further business changes in the future” to the App Store. (Google’s Android already allows users to install apps downloaded from outside its Google Play app store.)
It’s unclear if Apple would change the App Store only in the EU or around the globe. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s plans.
Then there’s Apple’s tightly protected iMessage. Beeper, a new app that brings iMessage to Android devices, has regulators pressuring the giant to open up its exclusive iMessage chat platform. Separately, Apple has agreed to adopt RCS, a messaging standard that will make “green bubble” texting with Android phones a bit more like iMessage.
Passkeys in more places
Passwords are lousy. When hackers exposed information belonging to around 6.9 million customers of DNA test-kit company 23andMe, the company said the attackers tried credentials stolen from other websites. Because people often reuse their usernames and passwords, thousands of logins worked.
That’s why, in 2023, companies including Google, Apple and Amazon moved toward passkeys, a type of login that can replace passwords and two-factor authentication codes. Starting next year, Microsoft will roll out passkeys for businesses.
A passkey is more secure than a traditional login because each is unique, it won’t work on fake sites designed to trick us and it can’t be stolen from company servers. It’s stored inside password managers and can be accessed with a face or fingerprint scan.
Today, over eight billion accounts are passkey-enabled, according to Andrew Shikiar, executive director of FIDO Alliance, which oversees security standards for passkeys. Shikiar expects 20 billion passkey-capable accounts by the end of 2024.
Rocking the vote in 2024
Millions can now generate images and videos with AI—and potentially influence elections around the world. In 2024, an estimated two billion people will vote in 50 countries. While manipulated media isn’t new, the ability to create convincing AI-generated sounds and imagery on a dime is. The White House said generative-AI systems have the potential to “erode public trust and safety in democracy.”
Former President Donald Trump posted a parody of Republican Ron DeSantis’s campaign launch with a video featuring AI-generated voice clones. In turn, a pro-DeSantis super PAC ran a television ad attacking Trump, using an AI-generated version of his voice. Meta Platforms is requiring advertisers to disclose when political ads on its Facebook and Instagram contain digitally altered media.
AI-enabled content isn’t the only concern. We can expect just as much or more old-fashioned disinformation compared with the last presidential election, too, said Erik Nisbet, a professor of communication at Northwestern University. That’s because some social-media platforms have either changed their policies or pared back their content-moderation efforts, Nisbet said.
Research has shown a particular rise in malign content on X, he added. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment. Meta now allows ads to say past elections were “rigged” or “stolen,” a false claim often repeated by Trump. At a conference, Meta’s head of global affairs said private-sector companies shouldn’t arbitrate whether politicians can “make claims or counterclaims about the legitimacy of previous elections.” Google’s YouTube will also no longer remove content questioning the legitimacy of former elections, saying the action could “have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech.”
Ride in a self-driving car—no, really
Robotaxis and self-driving vehicles in general had a rough 2023. GM subsidiary Cruise lost its license to operate in California and subsequently laid off about a quarter of its workforce. Tesla faced lawsuits over its “full self-driving system” on account of its apparent reliance on human monitoring, despite the marketing. And residents of San Francisco, the self-driving-est city in the U.S., expressed doubts about this technology.
Yet amid the chaos, there have been winners—in particular Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, which is continuing to expand its robotaxi service to more cities. If you travel to Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Austin, Texas, you can hop in one of the company’s driverless taxis today. And it’s…surprisingly normal?
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz gained approval to roll out the first hands-free, eyes-off-the-road autonomous driving system in the U.S. It only works on certain roads, under certain conditions. Jeep and Chrysler parent Stellantis is working on a version, which it says will arrive in 2024. Ford says it will have its version in 2025.
No surprise, then, that in Phoenix, you can now hail a Waymo robotaxi through Uber, thanks to a recently announced partnership. Yes, the future is here. You just might have to go to Phoenix to find it.
Another social-media reckoning
As they seem to every year, Meta and TikTok face massive lawsuits, new laws, curbs from regulators, and the possibility of huge fines.
In 2024, Meta will have to contend with a grab bag of suits from more than 40 state attorneys general trying to force the company to change features of its products that the AGs allege harm minors. These include features that attempt to maximise teens’ and adolescents’ time spent on Meta subsidiary Instagram.
The company said: “We share the attorneys general’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families.”
In December, the New Mexico attorney general filed a suit alleging the company steers predators to the accounts of children on Instagram. In a statement, Meta said it uses technology, industry protocols and partners in law enforcement, including state attorneys general, “to help root out predators.”
Should the suits somehow force Meta to make its products less appealing, they may accelerate users’ flight to TikTok. That could reignite the long-smouldering fire in Congress to ban the TikTok app outright. The initiative has won bipartisan support, but not enough to make it law. States have attempted their own remedies, but in November a federal judge blocked Montana’s TikTok ban, signalling that such state-level laws are unlikely to stand.
Meanwhile, age verification sounded like a promising move to protect kids on social media. But doing it effectively means clearing some high technical and administrative hurdles. It’s not likely you’ll see that in 2024.
Beyond heartbeats and nighttime Zs
Wearable gadgets have long tracked heart rate and sleep. Soon, they’ll be out for blood.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Apple is studying a way to track blood pressure through sensors in the Apple Watch. Next year—when Apple is expected to commemorate the watch’s 10th anniversary with a new design—the company might finally release the feature, which can notify a watch wearer when blood pressure is trending upward and direct the user to verify the measurement with a traditional inflatable cuff, according to a report in Bloomberg.
Other wearables may not be far behind. Fitbit filed a patent application for a display that could estimate blood pressure when pressed. Samsung has offered blood-pressure measurement on its Galaxy Watches for several years, though the feature isn’t available in the U.S. for regulatory reasons. Aktiia is a wrist-based wearable with an optical sensor that can capture 24/7 blood-pressure data. It’s currently only available in Europe, and is awaiting authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration for commercial availability in the U.S. Omron has a larger wearable device available in the U.S. now.
There’s certainly a market for this metric. The devices could make it easier to manage high blood pressure (aka hypertension), which affects as many as 119 million American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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From early financial mistakes to hard-earned habits, five high-performing leaders share how they spend, invest and think about wealth.
9 min
Five minutes doesn’t sound like much. But it’s enough time to tell whether someone really understands money or just talks about it. Because once the gloss is stripped away, what’s left is instinct. The early mistakes. The bad calls. The quiet pivots that no one brags about but shape everything that follows. Making money is one thing. Living with it, and not mishandling it, is another. Here, five executives talk about what they got wrong, what they’ve learned, and how they now actually spend, invest and think about wealth.
Andrew Raso: Founder, Online Marketing Gurus
Self-made millionaire Andrew Raso grew up in an ethnic household with a father in construction. Investing was not a priority, he recalls.
The co-founder and CEO of Online Marketing Gurus, a digital marketing platform that generated more than $30 million in revenue in the 204/25 financial year, admits he’s had to learn about handling money as his wealth has grown.
“If I had my time again, I would change my spending habits and would probably be a lot more wealthy as a result,” the Sydneysider tells Kanebridge Quarterly.
Raso, in his mid-30s, says that his biggest lessons have come from his losses.
Buying the wrong property and copping the losses upon sale. Feeling FOMO when buying crypto and making a purchase that lost money.
“I’ve learned a lot from the errors that I’ve made,” he says.
Raso admits that he gets more of a thrill out of working than watching money hit his bank account.
“I’ve had the cars, I’ve had the property, I’ve had the watches. Once you’ve had them, they’re not that exciting, but the process of earning money is pretty cool.”
What he won’t forget is being $45 million in property debt a few years ago.
“I’d never want to be in that position again,” he says.
“My investing strategy is a lot safer these days. I’m very cautious. I’d prefer to invest in things that don’t take as long to be realised so my family can be financially secure.
“Once you have a house paid off and a few investments, it then becomes about enjoying your money, rather than hoarding it. Giving back gives me a much bigger kick than spending these days.”
Daniel Wessels: CEO, Jacaranda Finance
Fintech founder Daniel Wessels knows only too well that money remains a taboo topic in Australia with many people.
He points to consumer surveys that reveal people are more likely to talk about their sex life with friends than their finances.
It’s a major concern for the man who founded Jacaranda Finance in 2013, which has helped countless people lift their credit scores and get their finances back on track.
“If people aren’t learning money habits at school and they aren’t discussing it with their friends, learning new strategies and better habits is difficult,” says Wessels, who is based in Brisbane.
He wants to see more people take the time to proactively understand where and why they are spending money.
“Everyone needs to have a financial strategy and a plan to measure if it’s working,” he says.
The father of two young children admits his week can be pretty fast-paced. Pomodoro clocks, sleep optimisation techniques and saying ‘no’ keep him on task during the week.
“I used to think I was fairly decent at managing time, but the whole game changed when we had kids,” he says.
“Now, I’ve got to get out of the house at a certain time and leave the office at a certain time for daycare pickup. I’ve got to be really specific about my tasks to maximise my week.”
Before he had a family, he loved heading out to one of the trendy new restaurants popping up in Brisbane.
But that happens less these days. He’s saving to build his forever home but admits that price rises have resulted in rising costs.
“It’s such a big project with so many variables that change quickly,” he says.
These days, Wessels likes to optimise his professional and personal life. “With only a finite amount of money, time and energy, you’ve got to be really good at deciding what you want to be good at,” he says.
He calls this ruthless prioritisation. He has a very specific focus on activities that prioritise health and wealth, adding experiences into the mix more recently. This has meant the addition of micro-holidays to his annual calendar.
Wessels works with a couple of financial advisers. That said, he also does his own due diligence before agreeing to investments.
“One likes private equity investments that pay cash every month and another prefers to focus on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange for buying shares because he’s bullish about that.” he says. “They’re each experts and really good at what they do.”
Jim Penman: CEO, Jim’s Group
He may have invested a lifetime building a franchise juggernaut that is reportedly a $1 billion a year empire, but Jim Penman insists he’s a frugal guy who prefers to spend time planting a tree in his garden than contemplating his wealth.
What started out as Jim’s Mowing back in 1989 became Jim’s Group. Today, there are 5,700 franchisees across Australia and New Zealand in the business that has become ubiquitous for being the local handyman company that households could rely on.
He may have built a successful business empire, but the Melburnian insists he’s stingy when it comes to money.
“I wear my clothes even today until they wear out. I’ve always had a very lean and mean attitude. I live a simple life. My personal needs are very modest and my finances are simple,” he says. Jim reveals he’s usually in his garden these days and rarely eats out or takes holidays.
He is also running for state politics in the November Victorian election.
“I’m not particularly money focused. I could tweak the franchise contract to put more fees in and double my profitability, but that’s not my goal or my aim. To be honest, I often make decisions that go against my financial self-interest,” he says.
Jim purchased his first brand new car three years ago, opting for an electric Volvo.
“Being rich is not my aim and it never has been. People think I’m a lot richer than I am. They think I’m a billionaire, which is kind of ridiculous,” he says.
In fact, he insists he carries debt, which is common for anyone in business. “If I wanted, I could pay it off in 18 months.”
While his competitors were spending on fancy office space, Penman was running his franchise from his basement, keeping business costs low. “When I started out, I didn’t have any concept of how big this business could be. But there has never been a plan to grow franchisee numbers.
“Our attrition rate is far more important, and how to reduce complaint rates and drive more enquiries through new software.”
He believes people these days worry too much about impressing others, which leads to spending on superficial things.
“I would rather than offer people advice on how to be happy, rather than how to become rich. It’s important to have a good income so you can support yourself. But life is more about purpose.”
Jim doesn’t bother with stocks or bonds. He only invests in his own business. “My rate of return on my business is substantial. I could buy back a regional franchise when they come on the market and get a 20-25 per cent annual rate of return, plus capital gains. There’s nothing like that available in the investment space.”
Nicola Beswick: Founder, White Rabbit Advisory
Rabbit Advisory founder.
A clothing allowance provided by her parents and then a part-time job during high school was the first taste of financial freedom for Nicola Beswick.
She quickly became a spender rather than saver, but she’s changed her tune over the years.
The founder of financial advice firm White Rabbit Advisory left behind a successful career in intellectual property law a year ago to become a financial adviser because she realised the potential that financial education could have on someone’s life.
Her journey began after coming across the book Rich Dad Poor Dad some years ago, which opened her eyes to the power that money could have on her life. This marked a time when she became serious about her finances.
“Financial education and investing over time can have a huge impact on a person, and that book got me thinking about money and financial education in the first place,” she says.
Nicola says years ago, her father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When dealing with the devastating news and an uncertain future, her father discovered he was eligible to receive an income protection payout.
“This was the stone that rippled his pond and mine. A new complex world of finance opened up and I discovered my calling – helping people plan for a financially secure future.”
She hasn’t looked back. “Commercial law was very transactional. I don’t regret quitting at all. I’m much happier now helping people get their finances in order. Financial planning helps people change their lives. That was a really big driver for me.”
The Melburnian admits she’s learned plenty of lessons along the way as she embarks on the process of building wealth. She uses superannuation as an investment vehicle, favouring its tax advantages.
“I also built a nest egg outside of super, because you never know when the rules will change,” she says.
She prefers to set a financial goal and save up for something specific over time than rush out and make a purchase.
“It’s a really powerful thing to wait before making a purchase,” she says.
Her current financial goals involve renovating her heritage-listed home. “We will keep the façade and gut it to rebuild. That’s a major expense for us on the horizon.”
While holidays are rare, she will spend on overseas trips on occasion. “I’m terrible at taking time off. I’m always working.”
Sam Riley: CEO, Drova
Sam Riley was in his 20s when he set out to amass enough money to be able to retire by the age of 40 if he wanted to.
“The goal was always to be doing something by 40 that kept me engaged enough that I didn’t actually want to retire because I was happy,” he says.
An entrepreneur at heart, Sam started a juice and espresso bar when he was 21, which didn’t work out. His next venture was a technology business, Ansarada, an ASX-listed company he ultimately sold nearly two years ago for $250 million.
The sale set him up for life, but he’s not one to rest on his laurels, launching into the complex world of artificial ntelligence with his next technology play, a company called Drova.
The technology startup simplifies risk, compliance and resilience for small businesses. Sam believes it’s got potential to become a tech juggernaut in time.
Having early financial success has meant he has the luxury of slow mornings and working in short bursts throughout the day, problem solving, experimenting with what works and figuring out how to harness AI.
“I favour a more sustainable approach to working these days. More frequent breaks. Making sure not to deteriorate my capacity,” he says.
It was a hard slog. He admits he touched the fringes of serious burnout when he was younger, which he works hard to avoid these days.
“Every business venture has exposed a gap in my skills that I’ve worked to close. Whether that’s marketing or managing people, closing those gaps along the way is how you get more effective at generating wealth,” he says.
The secret to his success has been finding ways to bolster value in the corporate world, finding ways to bring more to the table. Sam admits he spends too much money on travel, food and niche vinyl audio equipment, like turntables. He prefers to invest in experiences rather than things.
But it can get expensive. Like a recent trip to Antarctica to stay in a lodge for a week. “The thing is I didn’t like having these experiences on my own, so I have to bring family or other people and then pay for them.”
Sam describes his investment portfolio as balanced. While he continues to invest in entrepreneurial ventures, he admits he has a safe foundational platform to his investment approach.
“Over the years, I’ve added a lot more dividend stocks and protective assets like gold and silver, and some index funds.
“When I was younger, I didn’t appreciate the value of being safe and boring in the investment world.”
He says a lot of his investments used to be leading edge and visionary. “Some of them work, and some of them don’t. I didn’t really have much balance in my portfolio. I still invest in entrepreneurial things, but am much more conscious of taking a more even-handed approach,” he says.
This article appeared in the Winter 26 issue of Kanebridge Quarterly, which you can buy here.
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