While 2023 saw users rush to experiment with generative AI’s imaginative side – see Generative AI: Tech’s New Frontier – in 2024, consumers will be critical of its deployment. Globally, 71% of them expect new regulations to limit AI’s capabilities (KPMG, 2023). How successful these are at preventing misuse will shape the technology’s reputation and social impact.

By 2028, the global market for spatial computing is expected to be worth $280.5bn, up from $97.9bn in 2023 (Markets and Markets, 2023). Comprising augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality, new hardware and software is making these untethered devices a more appealing interface for leisure and work.

The global cost of health damages associated with climate change will amount to $2bn to $4bn annually by 2030 (WHO, 2023). As wildfires become more frequent and severe, individuals and organisations will seek tech that protects against excessive pollution and heat exposure. Emerging tools monitor risk, accelerate disaster response and disseminate critical weather warnings.

Although general-purpose chatbots (like ChatGPT) introduced consumers to generative AI, those with tailored uses will become mainstream. They may help people find hiking routes or provide creative nudges. Their success depends on “how easy it is for them to become a personal assistant for you”, predicts Noah Giansiracusa, mathematics and data science professor at Massachusetts’ Bentley University.

Globally, 62% of consumers are waiting until electric vehicle (EV) tech improves before switching from an internal combustion engine (S&P Global, 2023). A critical factor is range anxiety – the fear of outdriving a car’s battery. In 2024, automotive brands will launch products and invest in research to ensure people feel comfortable going the distance.

In 2024, brands will need to figure out the practical details of bringing generative AI to a mass audience. The industry’s current dependence on high-powered, highly specific chips and energy-hungry immense datasets is untenable, considering manufacturing challenges and climate change.

Globally, 67% of consumers are worried about smartphone data security and privacy – an increase of 13 percentage points from 2022 (Deloitte, 2023). Brands will answer this concern by introducing more secure pathways for identity verification across multiple platforms and sectors.

Two goals will guide AI’s workplace role in 2024: cutting costs and increasing productivity. Experts estimate that generative AI could automate work activities that occupy 60% to 70% of employees’ time today (McKinsey, 2023). Cue a trimmed-down labour force and a race to determine the AI tools most suited to the needs of specific workers.

In 2023, the global caregiving market was worth $185bn, with 12% annual growth forecast until 2028 (Market Data Forecast, 2023). New tech tools promise to alleviate the burden of both professional and family caregivers, helping to stem the gap for the additional 13.5 million carers needed by 2040 to meet demand (OECD, 2020).

Consumers will become more selective about the tech they use to interface with the people and world around them. For some, it means reconsidering their social media use to prioritise smaller circles. For others, it’s deploying tech to overcome linguistic barriers during in-person and phone conversations.