Tech
Tech Predictions for 2023: AI Authors, Testing Crypto Times, and ‘Preparing’ for EU Big Tech Regulation
Euronews Next looks at what the tech and cryptocurrency sectors might have in store in 2023.
ANNOUNCEMENT
While predictions for the year ahead should be taken with a grain of salt, some indications have emerged about what the tech sector may have in store for us in 2023.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a big player this year, as the hype bubble on the metaverse appears to have burst. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies have collapsed amid scandals and economic pressures, and the tech sector has seen mass job cuts.
Euronews Next looks at what the tech and cryptocurrency sectors could hold in 2023.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence has made great strides this year, particularly with ChatGPT, a powerful AI chatbot from the OpenAI foundation founded by Elon Musk, which self-censors and generates text upon user request.
“I think the area that will continue to see big strides is artificial intelligence,” said Ajay Chowdhury, managing director of Boston Consulting Groups, senior partner and BCG X Lead for the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium.
He also added that with ChatGPT you could even write this article about the future of technology – and “pretty good at that.”
He stressed that the journalist’s experience would still be needed “but as a research tool it is absolutely amazing”.
Chowdhury told Euronews Next that we will see the democratization of this type of AI fundamentally change many industries, especially the media.
“The media industry is always the first to be affected by these new technologies and I think this will push a lot of media companies to think about creativity and talent,” he said.
But TO THE it will impact every industry as its problem-solving capabilities can speed up the time it takes to analyze masses of data, making many business decisions more cost-effective.
The metaverse gamble
There was a lot of buzz around the metaverse last year after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his big bet on the world of virtual reality, which didn’t take off as he had hoped.
Meta shareholders have complained about the costly change in focus and have seen the company’s shares fall more than 65% this year. Meta also laid off 11,000 employees in November.
“The metaverse was the big bet that I think a lot of people in the tech industry decided to make, particularly Zuckerberg,” Chowdhury said.
“The reality in tech is that things take a lot longer to happen than you would expect,” he said, adding that this is true of Meta’s metaverse but that there are “other amazing virtual worlds” for consumers to go to or which may be used for educational and training purposes.
The economic problems of the technology sector
The job cuts have not only affected Meta, but also other tech giants such as Amazon, Twitter and Lyft.
Early on, in particular, the U.S. tech sector outdid itself in terms of hiring, Chowdhury said, while growth and valuations have now started to stabilize, resulting in job cuts.
“The markets had given them some leeway on costs because they were growing so fast and as macroeconomic headwinds came in, they suddenly realized that their markets are slowing down. They want to focus on profits and, frankly, they have too many people,” she said.
But this could be an opportunity for smaller or niche tech companies to hire talent from tech giants.
For Europe, war was inflicted on Ukraine this year, and the economic shock has hit the continent far more than other parts of the world with rampant inflation and rising energy prices.
This could impact venture capital funding, resulting in reduced investment in start-ups and innovation.
Innovation in synthetic biology, quantum computing or advanced AI-based robotics will be much deeper in the next five to ten years than in the last twenty years. But these start-ups need funding to do so. Chowdhury said that if this were not done, Europe could fall behind the United States and China in terms of innovation.
Cryptocurrencies
This year the difficult economic period has also had an impact on the price of cryptocurrencies, but that’s not all.
The sector also witnessed the spectacular collapse of the third largest cryptocurrency exchange FTX, run by Sam Bankman-Fried.
This comes as the entire cryptocurrency market has lost more than $1.4 trillion (€1.3 trillion) this year due to multiple collapses, including the Terra Luna saga.
It’s been a testing year for the cryptocurrency and web3 industry as markets have been on a turbulent path with the rise and fall of Terra Luna and FTX, said Samantha Yap, founder and CEO of YAP Global, a international communications and PR consultancy focused on blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi).
But he also said this year has seen the growth of multi-chain ecosystems, meaning users don’t have to switch between networks when transacting across multiple chains at the same time.
“The promising aspect of the growth of these ecosystems is the focus on the technology and the applications it can enable, which is the most exciting part of the cryptocurrency industry.”
“As we ponder what will weather the bear market, we need to delve deeper into the fundamentals of crypto technology and understand why we truly believe in this technology. If we don’t have this belief in technology, then it will be difficult to survive the bottom of this wave,” she said.
But economic conditions will impact the cryptocurrency sector, which will be “constrained by macro conditions such as high interest rates and slow growth in global markets,” said Danny Chong, co-founder of decentralized finance app Tranchess.
“Investment activities will be much slower than in the last two years and investors will take a “wait and see” attitude. Their decisions will also be influenced by the broader market environment,” she said.
“Investors will be more rigorous in selecting projects with greater due diligence of operational and governance processes, team member backgrounds and balance sheets.”
EU technology regulation
Government regulation, especially in the cryptocurrency industry, will likely be important in 2023.
THE Cryptocurrency Markets Regulation (MiCA).EU legislation regulating digital assets in member states is expected to come into force in early 2023.
The law aims to maintain financial stability and protect investors, while promoting transformation in the cryptocurrency industry.
Meanwhile, the EU’s head of internal markets, Thierry Breton, has warned that online platforms will need to “be ready” for 1 September 2023, when the Digital Services Act (DSA) finally comes into force.
The DSA legislation is essentially aimed at social media companies and is intended to counter hate speech and misinformation online, protect children and prevent consumer fraud.
Violations can lead to fines of up to 6% of a company’s global turnover and even a ban from operating in the EU for serious and repeated violations. Users of the website will also be able to request compensation for any damage caused by suppliers’ failure to comply with the new rules.