The 2024 Good Tech Awards

In 2024, the tech industry experienced rapid transformation and significant shifts.https://wordpress.com/

AI continued to evolve at a breathtaking pace, with major updates to products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude. Billions of dollars were poured into developing even more advanced models. (And the team behind Google’s AlphaFold, the AI project focused on protein folding that won a Good Tech Award three years ago, received a more prestigious recognition this year — the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.)

However, AI wasn’t the only major development in Silicon Valley this year. Tech companies found themselves in fierce battles with regulators and governments, while a rising “founder mode” movement saw some CEOs embracing a more micromanaging approach. Meanwhile, the election cycle captured the nation’s attention, with a growing “tech right” rallying behind Donald Trump. After his victory, many tech leaders began courting the president-elect, hoping for a smoother second term.

Each year in this column, I highlight a few tech projects that I believe have positively impacted humanity. Although my criteria for “good tech” are often subjective and flexible, this exercise remains important to me. It helps balance out any subconscious negativity bias I might have and provides motivation to those who’ve received recognition. I’ve heard from previous honorees that even a simple mention in a newspaper column, with no prize attached, has inspired them to continue their work. I believe technologists should use their skills for the public good, and I hope this year’s awardees will feel similarly encouraged.

So without further ado, here are this year’s Good Tech Awards:

To Epoch AI, for providing reliable data on the AI boom

One of the most highly praised organizations within the AI community this year was Epoch AI, a small nonprofit dedicated to helping lawmakers, academics, and the public better understand the rapidly changing AI landscape.

Founded in 2022 by Jaime Sevilla, a 28-year-old Spanish AI researcher, Epoch AI’s mission is to provide the industry with more accurate data about its trends and developments. The organization maintains public databases of AI models and hardware, publishing insightful reports like its influential analysis on whether AI models can continue to scale at their current rate (concluding they likely could until 2030). Epoch AI also creates benchmarks, such as the FrontierMath test, which evaluates the mathematical capabilities of top AI models.

In an industry often fueled by hype, Epoch AI brings much-needed rigor and empiricism to the conversation about AI’s progress.

To Andres Freund and all open-source software maintainers for saving us from disaster

One of my most enjoyable columns this year was about Andres Freund, a Microsoft database engineer who discovered a critical security flaw while maintaining an obscure open-source software package, xz Utils. This vulnerability could have potentially allowed hackers to take control of millions of computers, causing widespread disruption.

Freund’s story is a reminder of how much of our digital infrastructure relies on the tireless work of volunteers in the open-source community. After writing about Freund’s discovery, I received numerous tips about other close calls with open-source software, many of which were avoided by vigilant maintainers who caught bugs just in time to thwart cybercriminals.

This award goes out to all open-source maintainers who keep our digital systems secure — your quiet heroism often goes unrecognized, but it is deeply appreciated.

To the Arc Institute, Lichtman Lab, and SyntheMol for advancing AI in healthcare

One of the most exciting aspects of AI this year was its application to healthcare, where it is being used to discover new treatments for diseases, design drugs, and speed up scientific research. Several groundbreaking developments stood out:

• The Arc Institute in Palo Alto unveiled Evo, an AI model capable of predicting and generating genomic sequences, much like how AI systems like ChatGPT predict the next word in a sentence.
• A team at Harvard, led by Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, in collaboration with Google, created the most detailed map of a human brain sample ever produced, using AI to analyze over 150 million synapses in brain tissue at nanometer-level resolution.
• Researchers at Stanford and McMaster University developed SyntheMol, a generative AI model that can design novel antibiotics, including six new compounds with activity against the drug-resistant bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii.

These advances demonstrate the transformative potential of AI in medical research and disease treatment.

To NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for keeping Voyager 1 alive

One of my favorite tech-related moments this year was a podcast interview with Todd Barber, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He and his team performed what could be considered the greatest long-distance tech support mission in history when they helped fix a critical malfunction on Voyager 1, the 47-year-old spacecraft currently more than 15 billion miles from Earth.

Using radio signals, the team sent a patch to the spacecraft’s aging computer, successfully bringing the probe back online. Voyager 1 is still transmitting valuable data about interstellar space and contains one of the two “golden records” sent in 1977, intended as a sonic capsule of life on Earth.

To Bluesky for revitalizing my social media experience

This year, I stepped back from social media after growing weary of Elon Musk’s antics and Instagram’s lackluster content. However, I found a refreshing change in Bluesky, a text-based social network that reignited my interest in online communities.

Although Bluesky has not yet reached the scale or cultural impact of Twitter, it holds promise due to its decentralized architecture, which makes it less susceptible to interference from its owners. Its playful and slightly chaotic culture also sets it apart, offering an online space where things feel more organic and less controlled.

To NotebookLM and Coloring Book Hero for enriching my daily life

I’ll wrap up with two AI products that made my year more enjoyable.

• Google’s NotebookLM is a tool that allows you to upload documents and turn them into summaries, study guides, or even AI-generated podcasts. Its “Audio Overviews” feature has become a favorite of mine, helping me digest research papers during my commute.
• Coloring Book Hero, a ChatGPT plugin, allows you to create custom coloring pages from text prompts. I used it to generate fun, personalized images for my 2-year-old son, who loves dinosaurs and construction vehicles.

While these might not be the highest form of AI, they’ve certainly brightened my days and made technology more enjoyable and accessible.

That concludes this year’s Good Tech Awards. Congratulations to all the recipients, and here’s to a wonderful new year ahead!