The MIT Technology Review editorial team is always looking for promising technologies for our future. At the beginning of a new year, however, the US edition always shines a spotlight on very specific approaches that have a lot of potential and which, in the opinion of the editorial team, will experience their breakthrough in the future.
“Breakthrough” can be interpreted in different ways: perhaps there was a scientific advance that made a new technology possible, or a company received approval for an important medical treatment. Perhaps a consumer device has reached a tipping point in its adoption, or an industrial technology has passed the critical pilot phase with flying colors. The progress can also extend across a wide range of areas. It's always exciting to see which technologies our editors see the greatest potential in.
However, some candidates inevitably lose out. Nevertheless, they are worth keeping an eye on. We will definitely do it. These include:
Virtual power plants
Virtual power plants are energy systems that combine many different technologies to both generate and store electricity. They enable utilities to connect solar panels and wind turbines to grid batteries and electric vehicles and better control the flow of electricity on the grid.
During times of peak electricity consumption, software linked to smart meters could one day automatically shut down and provide electricity to a customer's home by drawing power from a fully charged electric vehicle in the neighbor's garage, thereby reducing demand on the grid. The software could also calculate how the owner of the electric vehicle can be compensated for this.
There are now an estimated 500 virtual power plants in the U.S. with capacity of up to 60 gigawatts (that's about the total capacity the U.S. grid will acquire this year). Some such systems are already in operation in China, Japan, Croatia and Taiwan. But many more virtual power plants would have to be configured before their benefits extend to the entire network.
Useful AI agents
AI agents are definitely experiencing a peak right now. These AI-controlled helpers supposedly plan our appointments, book our trips, and complete all sorts of tasks online on our behalf. Agents use generative models to learn how to navigate websites and desktop software (and manage our passwords and credit card information). You may find yourself coordinating and coordinating with other people's agents.
And there's real development power behind it – Salesforce just launched a platform where companies can create their own customer service agents, and Anthropic's Claude model gained the ability to learn using a mouse and keyboard on a computer, just like humans .
However, enabling these agents to know what you mean when you make certain requests and enabling them to reliably perform the required actions remains a major challenge. Given the enormous hurdles, it will probably be a while before they are good enough to be really useful. AI agents may come, but not right away.
Editorial recommendations
Air taxis
The acronym eVOTL (electrical vertical takeoff and landing) is a bit long-winded, which is why they are more commonly referred to as “air taxis” in German-speaking countries. You can think of them like electric helicopters. Most versions in development are not intended to be private vehicles, but rather will be flown by pilots to ferry commuters from the suburbs or visitors from the airport to the city center. The industry promises that one day these air taxis could also fly autonomously.
There is real progress in the introduction of air taxis. Earlier this year, manufacturer eHang received the first Chinese certificate for mass production of this type of vehicles and has started accepting orders. South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have taken measures to allow air taxis to operate there. And in the US, Archer recently received FAA certification to begin commercial operations. In October, the FAA finalized rules for training pilots and operating air taxis, the first time in decades that the agency has approved such rules for a new category of aircraft. At the same time, there is no progress for the air taxi startup Lilium, which had such a promising start that it had to file for bankruptcy in October.
Interest and momentum have increased in recent years. Major companies in the aviation industry, including Boeing and Airbus, have invested in startups or funded internal research and development projects to develop these futuristic aircraft. However, no eVTOL company has started commercial operations yet, which we will continue to monitor.
