No one would call the last several years “normal,” but a few things have remained constant; a few theories of life were as expected. But I think it’s safe to declare 2023 the last “normal year” when it comes to technology—and that’s really only rounding to the end of the year for the sake of this article. Because A.I. already caused major changes. The moment we hit the current benchmarks and allowed it to be used by basically anyone, it started to shift everything.
Now, to be clear, as I said in a previous article, A.I. is not “intelligent” yet. It’s not. But neither is Stockfish, and that’s still one of the best chess players on the planet, measurably. But this won’t be just for games. Human history has been a progression of speed being valued above almost anything else in technology. The loom, the printing press, factories, cellphones: it’s a box that cannot be closed once it’s opened. If something is more efficient, effective, or convenient, people are going to use it. Full stop.
But this article is not a prediction post. I have predictions for what’s about to happen, but that’s not the point. The point of this article is to simply declare that, with this new year about to happen, we are about to enter the first post-A.I. year. An entire year is ahead of us where every tech company is basically required to have some integration or A.I. product available. The internet hive mind has access to it. Ordinary people have access to it.
I wish I could pinpoint an exact date when people will say this all started, but we are here for moments that will go in every history book. 2024 will be a year that people will speak of for a long, long time.
