Latest Technology Trends
3 New Inventions That Will Change The World
1. Commercial nuclear fusion power
Nuclear fusion, in its most common form, is the process of energy being released when bits (“atomic nuclei”, if you’re fancy) of hydrogen are exposed to extreme heat and combined. This process releases massive amounts of energy, which humanity is increasingly hungry for. That’s how the sun works too, by the way.
Several countries have heavily invested in fusion research, and private companies are also conducting their own trials. The ITER reactor, which is under construction in France and due to begin operation in 2026, is the first reactor that should produce energy-positive fusion; but dozens of others are being built.
2. 4D printing
The name 4D printing can lead to confusion: I am not implying that humanity will be able to create and access another dimension. Put simply, a 4D-printed product is a 3D-printed object which can change properties when a specific stimulus is applied (submerged underwater, heated, shaken, not stirred…). The 4th Dimension is therefore Smart Materials.
The key challenge of this technology is obviously finding the relevant “smart material” for all types of uses (namely a hydrogel or a shape memory polymer for the time being). Some work is being done in this space, but we’re not close to being customer-ready, having yet to master reversible changes of certain materials.
The applications are still being discussed, but some very promising industries include healthcare (pills that activate only if the body reaches a certain temperature), fashion (clothes that become tighter in cold temperatures or shoes that improve grip under wet conditions), and homemaking (furniture that becomes rigid under a certain stimulus). Another cool use case is computational folding, wherein objects larger than printers can be printed as only one part.
3. Generative design AI
Generative AI technology uses deep learning to generate creative assets such as videos, images, text and music. This technology is no longer new since it entered the mainstream in late 2022. While you may have played with (and enjoyed!) the likes of ChatGPT and Midjourney, they’re barely more than surface-level distractions.
Tom Cruise riding a t-rex in Hogwarts
Corporate use for generative AI is far more sophisticated. If used to its full extent, it will reduce product-development life cycle time, design drugs in months instead of years, compose entirely new materials, generate synthetic data, optimize parts design, automate creativity… In fact, experts predict that by 2025, 30% of outbound marketing messages from large organizations will be synthetically generated, and by 2030, a major blockbuster film will be released with 90% of the film generated by AI.
Going beyond the most headline-grabbing use cases, studies have shown that Gen. AI increases productivity for a variety of tasks, with specific benefits for low-ability workers and less experienced employees. Put simply, these tools will level the playing field.
This is happening today, and will continue to happen, with increasing success, over the coming decade. That is, if we can navigate the many risks associated with generative AI. I’m particularly worried about deep fakes, copyright issues, and malicious uses for fake news.