From AI-enabled science to gene-edited organs: The top 10 emerging technologies of 2024

Generative artificial intelligence has undoubtedly transformed the world, with the release of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, launching an AI race between major tech companies and startups.

But AI, of course, isn’t the only emerging technology making an impact this year and for years to come.

See the top 10 emerging technologies of 2024, according to scientists, researchers, and futurists who worked with the World Economic Forum.

The need for organs for transplants “far outstrips” what is available in the donor pool, according to the WEF. But for over three decades, scientists have made progress with gene editing, which can be used eventually to transplant animal organs into humans.

Technology such as CRISPR-Cas9 has made it possible to edit genes in pigs, such as deleting genes for viruses that could infect patients. That, along with certain drug regiments, has allowed some non-human primates to live for months, and even years, with pig kidneys and hearts, according to the WEF.

“If ‘xenotransplantation,’ or the transplantation of organs from animals into humans, becomes a common form of therapy, it would impact not only the quality of life of millions of patients but could also bring about changes in the healthcare economy,” the WEF said.

Understanding genomes goes beyond organ transplants — specialized pig cells could also improve other conditions such as diabetes or Parkinson’s disease, according to the WEF. However, xenotransplantation raises ethical concerns that still need to be explored.

Alternative livestock feeds, which can be sourced from insects and food waste, can be a sustainable solution as demand for protein in animal agriculture rises. The feeds “provide viable alternatives” to traditional soy, maize, and wheat, the WEF said, adding that nearly 80% of soy production is used for animal feed, which negatively impacts the environment.

Using alternative feed could also protect animal welfare because it adds diversity and nutritional value. But there are still concerns over how environmental regulations will impact alternative feed, and it faces competition from sustainable fuel production, which could potentially increase prices and limit the availability of livestock feed, the WEF said.

Researchers are engineering microorganisms, such as bacteria and microalgae, to capture greenhouse gases and turn them into products such as fuel and fertilizer. Not only do the products have market potential, but using microorganisms to capture carbon “is emerging as a promising strategy to control atmospheric CO2 and mitigate global warming,” the WEF said.

However, challenges persist, like the fact that microorganisms are mostly adapted to lower temperatures and are therefore less effective in capturing carbon dioxide from hot exhausts. On top of that, the system is expensive, and access to a lot of sunlight and renewable or clean energy is not available everywhere.

Elastocaloric heat pumps can reduce the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling. Elastocaloric materials respond to mechanical force, such as stretching or compressing. The materials emit heat when under force, and cool down when the force is relaxed.

A study from the U.S. Department of Energy found elastocaloric heat pumps are a promising alternative to current cooling solutions. Elastocaloric heat pumps also do not rely on refrigerant gases — or the compound used in refrigeration and air conditioning — which contribute to climate change.

“Taken together, the environmental impact of catering to emerging energy requirements for temperate control can be significantly reduced by elastocaloric technology,” according to the WEF. “Socially, this technology can enhance access to cooling in regions with limited or no grid-based electricity, thereby improving quality of life and addressing a key aspect of climate change impact.”

However, there are still challenges including the need for material that can withstand millions of cycles without breaking down.

The construction industry “stands poised for transformation” by immersive technology such as the metaverse. For example, designers and construction workers can use immersive reality tools to test for potential challenges before starting the building process, and technology such as digital twins can improve accuracy and efficiency.

“Crucially, this would streamline the construction process from design to implementation, allowing waste to be identified and eliminated, improving both efficiency and sustainability,” the WEF said.

The buildings and construction industry makes up 37% of global emissions, according to a United Nations Environment Programme report. The next step to transforming the construction industry, the WEF said, is incorporating generative AI.

After decades of sensing and communications technologies being developed separately, there is a “surplus of devices with overlapping functions,” the WEF said, resulting in “device congestion, spectrum inefficiency and financial loss.” However, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) brings sensing and communication technologies together, making data collection and transmission simultaneous in one system.

Integrating sensing and communications technologies improves energy and cost efficiency, according to the WEF. An example of an ISAC is an environmental monitoring system that uses sensors and data analytics for air and water quality monitoring.

ISAC adoption could make devices more sustainable, including by reducing consumption of energy and silicon, and providing options for reusing, recycling, or repurposing devices.

High altitude platform stations, or HAPS, allow for months of observing and communicating at stratospheric altitudes. HAPS can provide connectivity and coverage, as well as performance enhancements, from areas that satellites and terrestrial towers can’t reach, specifically difficult terrains including jungles and deserts.

Therefore, HAPs could help provide internet connection for communities without traditional communications infrastructure, giving more people, especially those in rural areas, access to economic opportunities, as well as education and healthcare, according to the WEF. HAPS could also help with disaster management and environmental monitoring.

Current regulations around traditionally crewed aircraft do not fit for HAPS since it is different, but organizations are discussing ways to responsibly use the technology, the WEF said.

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, or RIS, can turn walls and other surfaces “into intelligent components for wireless communication,” and are made up of metamaterials, algorithms, and advanced signal processing.

Because RIS can adjust configurations based on real-time demand, these platforms allow for efficient use of resources and energy in wireless networks.

Companies including Huawei, Intel $INTC, and Samsung are investing in RIS, a sign that it will be an important part of telecommunications in the future, the WEF said. However, RIS faces challenges such as high hardware costs and regulations on its secure and ethical use.

Datasets are getting larger and more valuable — especially with the rise of AI — raising concerns over how to privately and securely share high-value data nationally and globally. However, according to the WEF, “synthetic data” or data that replicates patterns and trends in sensitive datasets without actually containing specific, identifiable information, is seeing growing interest, and is part of a “suite of technologies” making global collaboration with sensitive data possible.

A technology from the 1970s is also seeing interest again amid AI advancements. Homomorphic encryption, which allows for analyzing encoded data without making raw data directly accessible, is another technology predicted to allow for data sharing “while ensuring privacy, security and data sovereignty,” according to the WEF.

The rise of these technologies are not only important in AI, but for health-related research and other industries. However, they face limitations such as the potential to infer or reconstruct sensitive data.

The many fields of AI, including deep learning and generative AI, have allowed scientists to make “near-impossible” scientific discoveries and accelerated the rate of discoveries as well, the WEF said. Recently, DeepMind’s AlphaFold AI model, which can accurately predict 3D models of protein structures, and other models which have allowed scientists to find a new family of antibiotics and efficient battery materials, show “the world is on the cusp of an AI-driven revolution in how new knowledge is discovered and used.”

At the current rate of AI-enabled research and innovation, the WEF predicts advances in areas including disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, as well as next-generation green tech.

However, AI in scientific research raises concerns over ethics and individual privacy, as well as the environmental impacts from the technology’s energy consumption.