In addition to the continued growth of AI, there are other emerging technology trends you should keep your eyes on in 2024. These innovations in artificial reality, decentralized finance, social video apps, and campaign tech are poised to have a big impact across industries and society. Though not directly related to advances in artificial intelligence, these human-made technologies have enormous potential in the coming years.

Dive into Alternate Realities

One of the most exciting areas on the horizon is artificial reality (AR) and extended reality (XR). As these technologies mature, get ready to immerse yourself in interactive digital environments blending the physical and virtual worlds. AR overlays computer-generated content onto real-world settings while XR covers the full spectrum from augmented to virtual reality.

In 2024, anticipate AR to become increasingly mainstream led by Apple and Android’s AR developer tools. Imagine getting directions overlaid on the sidewalk as you walk or visual product previews projected right in your room. As AR headsets and glasses improve, you may find yourself eschewing screens for simulated environments.

Early tech adopters can expect rapid XR advancements like photorealistic graphics, enhanced real-time rendering, and multi-user cross-platform virtual spaces. Before this decade ends, XR might transform communication, training, therapy, travel, and of course, gaming and entertainment.

Decentralize Your Transactions

You’ll also see financial institutions and startups monitoring DeFi innovation in 2024. Known as decentralized finance (DeFi), these services aim to reconstruct finance by eliminating middlemen through automated smart contracts. The result for you is expanded access, transparency, and personal control over money matters.

Expect innovations like decentralized stock exchanges, insurance apps, loan services, crowdfunding platforms, and payment processing built on secure distributed ledgers. For example, you could receive a mortgage from a group of far-flung investors without a traditional bank. Or instantly pay someone abroad without any fees. As developers iron out scalability and security challenges, DeFi’s liberating potential is coming into focus.

Get Entertained on Social Video Apps

In 2024, short-form social video feeds will continue dominating online entertainment. Over the last few years, TikTok pioneered an addictive video-sharing model blending music, comedy, drama, and influencers. Its winning formula inspires copycats while competitors refine their own special sauces.

You’ll have more apps than ever to mindlessly scroll through Headlining 2024 is TikTok spinning off BeReal’s dual front/back camera concept into TikTok Now. And Facebook and Instagram are pushing hard into short videos aping TikTok’s vibe. While starting out as Lower third music and comedy clips, social video apps increasingly churn out documentaries, talk shows, and cinematic narratives as creative boundaries expand on these platforms.

Choose Your Reality This Election Season

As pivotal 2024 elections approach in the U.S., political campaigns, and related technologies will shape much of next year’s cultural discourse. You’ll see candidates, causes, and issues permeating entertainment, brands, workplace chatter, and social feeds in unprecedented ways.

But instead of just catching campaign speeches and ads on TV, you’ll consume political media across myriad apps and sites. Voters will utilize web portals displaying candidate policies, voting records, small donor sources, and fact-checking feeds to make informed choices. Campaigns will micro-target Americans by political leanings across platforms. And localized peer-to-peer texting apps will spread key messages between supporters.

AI may dominate many 2023 tech headlines, but equally transformative innovations are unfolding adjacent to artificial intelligence. In 2024, you can participate in alternate realities via augmented and extended technologies, gain financial freedoms through decentralized services, enjoy social video feeds optimized for entertainment, and leverage political web portals to elect leaders reflecting your values. From how we experience the world and manage money to the ways we consume media and choose governments, non-AI breakthroughs will profoundly impact our realities in 2024 and beyond.