Artificial Intelligence

AI has made significant progress this year, particularly with ChatGPT, a powerful AI chatbot developed by the Elon Musk-founded OpenAI foundation. This tool is capable of self-censorship and generates text based on user prompts. "I believe that the area which will continue to see major advancements is undoubtedly AI," said Ajay Chowdhury, Managing Director, Senior Partner, and BCG X Lead for the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium at Boston Consulting Group. He also added that with ChatGPT, one could even write an article about the future of technology – and a "pretty good one at that."

He noted that while a journalist's expertise would still be essential, "as a research tool, it's absolutely astounding."

The Metaverse Gamble

Last year, there was significant hype surrounding the metaverse after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his big bet on the virtual reality world, which has not taken off as he had hoped. Meta’s shareholders have expressed dissatisfaction with the costly shift in focus, leading to a decline in the company’s stock by more than 65 percent this year. In addition, Meta laid off 11,000 employees in November. "The metaverse was the big bet that I think a lot of people in the tech sector decided to make, especially Zuckerberg,” said Chowdhury. “The reality in tech is that things take much longer to develop than you might expect,” he explained, adding that this applies to Meta’s metaverse. However, he noted that there are “other amazing virtual worlds” where consumers can engage, or that can be used for educational and training purposes.

 

The Tech Sector’s Economic Woes

Job cuts have affected not only Meta but also other tech giants such as Amazon, Twitter, and Lyft. According to Chowdhury, the US tech sector, in particular, got ahead of itself in terms of hiring early on, and now, with growth and valuations starting to plateau, job cuts have followed. “The markets had given them a bit of a free pass on costs because they were growing so rapidly, and as macroeconomic headwinds have emerged, they’ve suddenly realized their markets are slowing down. Now, they want to focus on the bottom line, and frankly, they had too many people,” he explained. However, this could present an opportunity for smaller or niche tech companies to attract talent from the tech giants. For Europe, the war in Ukraine this year has inflicted significant economic shock, hitting the continent far harder than other parts of the world, with rampant inflation and rising energy prices.