Page 172 - CW E-Magazine (30-1-2024)

Special Report

2024: Where The Tides Meet

024 is going to be an extra- lar, which has dipped against the Euro
ordinary year for the future of in 2023 after a rise in 2022; etc. They RAJ NAIR
2the human species due to strife are happy that inflation, which was Chairman
and technology, but it is also expected uppermost in people’s minds in recent Avalon Consulting
to witness a boring slowdown from times all over the world, is getting
the economic angle. I am not quali- tamed as predicted. They are happy imagine what technology could do in
fied to predict the outcome of the wars that the world did not slide into 2024 to impact their individual lives.
in Gaza and Ukraine, which can have recession, though it was challenging i will also pepper it with many ques-
major consequences if they escalate, for many economies. But there are also tions which they need to think about
as they seem to be doing. Hence, it unhappy people who are worried that as a precursor to action. do write in
would be more meaningful to discuss a big recession may finally happen in to talk about what your thoughts are.
how certain other developments will 2024 and also that 2023 seems to be Eventually, actions by developers and
shape 2024 and impact us. I do not ending with the appearance of JN.1, users will determine the early inroads
want the GDP projections for each a descendent of Covid 19, demand- that Ai will make in 2024.
country take centre stage. ing that the pandemic is not forgotten.
They are worried about inhumane if i don’t, i will commit the grave
The tide of 2023 will carry many wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, not to mistake of missing the woods for the
floating issues of the year into 2024, mention the bloody battles going on trees. irrational optimism and pessi-
but it will meet an unusually strong in the Congo region and the activities mism dot the global economic land-
tide of technology which is rushing of Houthi pirates near Yemen, which scape because there is little apprecia-
towards 2024 and beyond. The result are disrupting ocean cargo traffic. The tion of the major changes that are in
will redefine much of the future that tide from 2023 will inevitably deposit the offing due to technology. What
we are heading towards. Many people some of it onto 2024. will shock many as drastic changes
expected a recession in 2023 (i pre- in a few years, will start happening in
dicted otherwise) and many bears are However, the worrisome thing is a small way now, but may go unno-
adamant that the Big Crash in the US that most folks, neither happy nor ticed because we will not be looking
stock market was merely delayed and sad, are looking at the huge oncoming for them. For instance, the average
is just months away in 2024. others technology tide with myopic lenses. American is pessimistic of the future
cautiously disagree, but suggest that There is a lot of the incredibly good (recent PEW Research) because the
the labour index and that many broad things and unmitigated problems, in recent decades have been challenging
indices of stock markets be tracked store due to Ai. What we collectively for them. But they don’t know America
closely, given that it was only a few do from hereon, will impact future is poised to become a big winner in
large caps that saved the US market generations of mankind. Make no the medium term due to its unique
in 2023. mistake, i am optimistic about the position as a hub for massive innova-
future, and i am conscious that the tion in most of the relevant sectors.
2023 started with ChatGPT com- right thing will be done, if not the best The race has started with USA in pole
pletely crowding out almost every- thing. We are at the place where the position. A great reset is expected.
thing else, including remnant tides rushing in from where we lived others in certain industries and coun-
thoughts about Covid and rightly till now are meeting the tides from tries oblivious of the great change that
so. So much else has happened during a technology-laden world which we is happening, could sleepwalk into
the year, that have distracted people have not seen. Would you not want to trouble and wonder what hit them.
away from important developments understand this phenomenon?
in Ai. The attention of many happy AI, ML, LLMs and its impacts
people has been on the oil prices that instead of picking a few threads if you are a technology buff, think
have dipped sharply from the highs including those that will knit the com- of the familiar illustrations of the
of $120 per barrel (during the early ing year with the current year, i pre- warped fabric of space-time which are
days of the Ukraine War) to around fer to go a few years into the future used to explain gravity in the light
$77 at the close of 2023; the US dol- till 2028 in this article and let readers of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in

172 Chemical Weekly January 30, 2024

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