Due to the growth in the valuation of Nvidiaone of the main manufacturers of semiconductors used for the development of artificial intelligence applications and software, The Economist published its forecast report on the technology and telecommunications sectors and anticipated that during this year, Investment in AI will continue its growth trend alongside an increase in the number of people connecting to the internet in the world.
Following the launch in November 2022 of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool that, from the user’s perception, democratized access to this disruptive technology, It is estimated that during this year investment in data processing centers and servers will grow to meet the demand for AI data storage. On the other hand, demand for smartphones, personal computers and tablets is expected to remain at the levels recorded last year in contrast to greater investment in electric vehicle technology as demand grows.
Manufacturers from Taiwan and the United States such as Tsmc and Intel will take the lead in building new factories thanks to the offer of subsidies in countries such as Germany, the United States and France. In the same way, other brands are expected to join the expansion of this market due to the US$100 billion investment plans offered in the American Chips Act, the Science Act and the European Chips Act.
However, the report details that The advance of artificial intelligence could have an impact on the political landscape of nations, especially those that will undergo presidential elections. like the United States and India. Faced with this, The Economist recommends monitoring the generation of content made by AI in order to warn citizens about content that is intended to misinform and erode voter trust.
Faced with this, the report considers that the regulations and policies of each country in relation to the expansion of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies will direct their development in the coming years. The United States, one of the countries with the most centers for the development of new technologies, will have the challenge of facing the evolution of AI while its regulation will be subject to how far it advances.
In the case of China, its AI regulations have two aspects: one that aims at the transparency of recommendation algorithms, while those for generative artificial intelligence focus on responsibility and precision. AI is a strategic priority for the country and a strict crackdown is unlikely to be imposed in 2024. Still, socialist values are always at the forefront, and the main objective of the Communist Party is to maintain control and prevent alternative sources of power.
That said, it is expected that the tensions between this superpower and the United States due to alleged cases of espionage and political interference continue and in which TikTok (owned by Bytedance, a Chinese company) is in the middle.
In terms of connectivity, it is estimated that the number of people connected to the internet in the world reach 5,000 million Worldwide Web users, with the Asia-Pacific region being the one with the greatest representation with 3,000 million connected, followed by Europe with an approximate number of 600 million Europeans who use the internet.
Finally, The Economist has put the spotlight on the launch of Apple’s most recent gadget, the Apple Vision Pro. Although this augmented reality device would further enhance the growth of the metaverse, This technology, which had a considerable boom with the announcement of investments by Meta (formerly Facebook), is not expected to grow at the same time as artificial intelligence.
With the intention of anticipating new cyber attacks such as those that occurred to the United Kingdom Electoral Commission and the theft of information from at least 40 million voters, that of T-Mobile and its leak of sensitive data of its customers such as dates of birth, cell phone numbers and addresses, the member states of the European Union must implement the Network and Information Security directive before the end of October 2024.
