The Futures - No. 36

Introducing the Quantumrun Trends Report 2024

Dec 19, 2023

In this issue

The Quantumrun team shares its 2024 Trends Report, the water-powered car engine that is challenging electric vehicles, and the exodus of young professionals from Republican US states.

Future signals to watch

Amazon is reinforcing its office attendance policy, stating that staff not adhering to the three-day-a-week office requirement may face extra hurdles for promotion 👀.
Toyota's new water-powered engine promises a significant shift in the automotive sector, potentially redefining eco-friendly transport and challenging the electric vehicle (EV) market. This technique generates hydrogen from water to fuel the engine, bypassing the heavy storage tanks required in fuel cell EVs and hydrogen combustion engines.
Consulting and law firms are leveraging AI to hasten junior staff's progression to partner status by automating repetitive early-career tasks.
Over 60 companies are engaged in R&D for electric aviation, contributing to a broader initiative to reduce carbon emissions in the sector.
Researchers have developed a 3D printer capable of operating inside the human body, using ultrasonic waves to construct structures within layers of biomaterials such as skin, muscle, and bone.
Deep Search, a recent addition to Microsoft Bing, offers more precise and thorough responses to complex search inquiries, using GPT-4 to transform a search query into a detailed outline of the ideal search results.
German startup e-Revolt claims to drastically reduce the time for converting internal combustion engine cars to electric, from weeks or months to just eight hours, offering a universal conversion kit compatible with 42 car models.
US states with strong Republican influence are driving away young professionals through the adoption of extreme conservative measures. These range from strict abortion laws to regulations on academic tenure, transgender health care, and the teaching of contentious racial topics.

Culturally // Trending

YouTube → Cillian Murphy & Margot Robbie // X → Golden Globe Nominees // Reddit → Daddy’s little girl // TikTok → Corporate influencers // Instagram → Fortnite resurrects Rock Band // Spotify → “My House”

💡 Watch Quantumrun’s trend videos on Linkedin & YouTube & Instagram & TikTok

🎉 Introducing the Trends Report 2024: Quantumrun Foresight

Quantumrun Foresight's annual trends report aims to help readers better understand those trends that are set to shape their lives over the decades ahead and to help organizations make more informed decisions to guide their mid- to long-term strategies.

In this 2024 edition, the Quantumrun team prepared 195 unique insights, divided into 18 sub-reports that span a diverse collection of technological breakthroughs and societal change. Read freely and share widely!

Trending research reports from the World Wide Web

According to Deloitte’s 2024 renewable energy industry outlook, between January and August 2023, utility-scale solar led in capacity additions in the US, nearing 9 gigawatts (a 36 percent increase from 2022) alongside a 20 percent growth in small-scale solar generation.
This report argues that Africa has the potential to enhance its value-added sectors at the beginning of the energy transition, with several countries favorably situated to produce green hydrogen through electrolysis using renewable energy.
Andreessen Horowitz discusses the top innovations that will disrupt tech in 2024, including the rise of miracle drugs.
According to the 2023 State of European Tech report, the global rate of new tech startups has decreased by about 30 percent from its 2020 peak, a trend evident in Europe and the US according to recent data.
According to the European Central Bank, about 25 percent of jobs in certain European countries are highly susceptible to AI-driven automation, posing both opportunities and risks depending on whether AI technologies replace or enhance labor.

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Outside curiosities

Which of these AI pranks did you fall for in 2023?
And speaking of AI, here are the deepfake scams NOT to fall for.
McDonald's reintroduces adult Happy Meals in Ohio, featuring comedian Kerwin Frost with a McNugget Buddy toy, reviving a concept last seen 25 years ago.
A compilation of real-life problems that GPT-4 solved.
A talent management company is building a creator economy campus (it’s looking fancy).