Wishlist for 2023

Originally posted on PURE LAMBDA.

Introduction

It is this time of the year.

Everyone is getting ready for the Christmas holidays and spending time with family and friends. If the end of the year is usually festive, it is also the time to step back and reflect on the year that has just passed. The year has been fast-paced at PURE LAMBDA: working with and coaching many startups.

If I had to write down my Wishlist for 2023, I would divide it into 3 categories:

1. Technology or trends that I am tired of
2. Technologies I want to see grow and rise
3. Commitment to improving the world

Technology or trends that I am tired of

In my experience as someone who closely follows developments in the tech industry, certain technologies or trends tend to get discussed endlessly. While I’m not saying that these technologies or trends are inherently bad or unimportant, I do feel like they have been oversaturated and I’m ready for something new.

Metaverse

It would be nice to see a shift in focus away from the Metaverse in 2023 and toward other areas of technology. While the concept is interesting, it has been explored numerous times in the past and there may be more pressing issues to address.

Second Life existed 20 years ago. Second Life was an online multimedia platform that allowed people to create an avatar for themselves and interact with other users and user-created content within a multiplayer online virtual world. People made and lost a lot of money with this. The idea of the metaverse is not new. It is a great tool for corporations to push brands to their trapped customers, keeping you in an infinite loop of consumerism. However, for the end users, the appeal is very limited.

One addition to this “new” metaverse is the addition of recent technologies such as VR and AR but that does not change the main concept. VR and AR alone have great potential. One day, it will be possible to combine the progress of robotics with VR. The Tesla Robot could be controlled by the plumber to fix the pipes in your house without coming over. AR, VR, and XR training are also used in medical schools and healthcare facilities to offer repeatable, immersive surgical simulations that provide beneficial practice. Virtual experience has a bright future, let’s not limit it to the metaverse.

Blockchain

People should stop using the blockchain for everything, it was the same for AI.

Every time there is a new hyped technology, every startup feels they need to use it for everything. The blockchain is only a database. There are a lot of great use cases for it but not all use cases need a blockchain as underlying data storage.

On the other hand, cryptocurrencies are a great solution to bypass banks. But cryptocurrencies, at the moment, are used for two very different purposes: a currency and a speculative asset. It would be nice to have a stablecoin that does not collapse on itself for once.

Technologies I want to see grow and rise

According to the World Economic Forum, innovation is critical to society’s future well-being and driving economic growth. The maturity of advanced technologies such as Web3, Quantum, DAO, or AI is around the corner and gives a lot of hope for what could be achieved in the near future.

Quantum Computer

One topic that I am passionate about is Quantum Computers. There has been so much progress, but I hope to see in 2023 some even more significant milestones.

So far, IBM, NASA, and Google have “the beginning” of what we could call a “Quantum Computer”. Meluxinain Luxembourg is more what we call a “Super Computer” but is not Quantum Computer yet. The distinction between Quantum Computers and Super Computers is fundamental to understand. Quantum Computers and supercomputers are powerful machines that perform complex calculations, solve problems, and analyze data. But there are significant differences between the two.

Super Computers use a traditional computing approach with many processors to quickly crunch large amounts of data and achieve a single result.

Quantum Computers, on the other hand, use principles of quantum mechanics to process information in ways that traditional computers cannot, resulting in much faster processing speeds for specific use cases. They can handle multiple tasks at once and quickly tackle complex problems that would take supercomputers months to solve.

Quantum computing is exciting because it is shaking the tree, disrupting many things. For instance, encryption could be decrypted in a matter of seconds, thanks to Quantum Computing. Quantum Computing is challenging the industry, maybe for the better. Quantum Computing will also allow us to perform tasks we cannot do today with traditional computers.

The way the code needs to be written for Quantum Computing is also quite different because, in everyday computing, it is a step-by-step approach. In contrast, in Quantum Computing, you need to think about the underlying quantum state of the system and do mathematical operations on it.

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)

DAO is quite the revolution. DAO is the future of work. And I am very excited about it.

Imagine a world where you don’t have one job but several projects in parallel. Imagine a world where you get a say in the organization’s strategy, and so will all of its customers, developers, and users. Imagine a world where you don’t need to commute, and cars and offices are not required or needed anymore.

A DAO is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization. It is a type of organization that operates through small contracts on a digital platform. It allows for transparent and accountable decision-making, as all actions and decisions made within the DAO are recorded and open to review by all members.

DAOs will revolutionize the way businesses operate, allowing for more democratic and decentralized decision-making and efficient, transparent operations. They offer the benefits of the gig economy, such as flexibility and autonomy for their workers, but with a more secure and structured work environment.

One of my favorite articles on the subject is ”No Meetings, No Deadlines, No Full-Time Employees” by Sahil Lavingia.

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Artificial intelligence is an extensive topic. People right now are very passionate about AI art generators and AI story generators.

With AI art generators, like MidJourney, artificial intelligence allows you to turn your prompts into art. The only limit is your imagination, you can create beautiful art and images in seconds. All the posters in my living room have been AI-generated. Of course, like many frontier technologies, AI-generated artwork can raise a lot of ethical and moral issues and questions in terms, for instance, of valuing the work of artists. But AI, as with every tech, is a tool, and I remain an optimist. AI art generators will not replace artists; it will expand their art. It is only a tool that will help artists create new masterpieces. Just like how a calculator is a tool for a mathematician.

For this next paragraph, I asked ChatGPT to talk about AI.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant progress in recent years, with advancements in natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning. One specific area of AI that has garnered attention is chatbots and conversational AI, such as GPT, a language model developed by OpenAI that generates human-like text. GPT has been used in a variety of applications, including language translation, content generation, and customer service inquiries, and has the potential to improve efficiency and productivity in various industries. As AI technology continues to advance, chatbots and conversational AI are likely to become increasingly prevalent and sophisticated.

Not bad!

Commitment to improving the world

It might sound a bit tacky, but I would love to see more startups solving climate change, contributing to space exploration, and aligning with the UN’s sustainable goals.

Life is cooperative, not competitive. In the end, we are all in the same storm. Startups committed to a “better world” may have a hard time attracting investors, since it may take years for them to mature. Today, everyone wants fast cash which creates a misalignment in the market, but talented investors or governments with longer investment horizons might fill this gap. In order to build businesses that improve our lives, we need to stop focusing so much on GDP. Luxembourg is a great example of initiatives such as the no-waste website or the platform to teach citizens how to eat locally and seasonally.

Neo-Capitalism and circular economy are one part of the answer, building and developing our future economy. Everyone has a part to play in it. On our contact page, PURE LAMBDA clearly states that “ We aim to accelerate the success of companies that are ethical toward their customers, users, employees, and the planet. We do not work with companies that exploit the environment or that make money to the detriment of the well-being of their customers, users, and employees”. If you are one of those companies, reach out to us.

Conclusion

This holiday season and throughout 2023, whatever is beautiful, meaningful, or brings you happiness, may it be yours. I wish you all a year full of memories to treasure and warm moments to cherish. Leo

Originally published at https://purelambda.com.