ChatGPT and Apple’s metaverse may (or may not) change your life.

Every year, there are tech gadgets and inventions that grab your attention. For example, on your 2022 tech “wow” list, you could place at your command advances in artificial intelligence that generate text or images. It was a holy grail moment for nuclear fusion to one day create clean, cheap and limitless energy.

But where all this could lead is a big question mark. Perhaps the AI ​​language generator ChatGPT will free you from textual drudgery. Or maybe it will overwhelm schools with rampant cheating or destroy jobs. Maybe ChatGPT can do something else great or terrible. Or ChatGPT may die.

I don’t know. You don’t know. And it’s best to avoid predicting the unpredictable.

Take cues from the zillions of other times when technologies weren’t (or at least, not yet) world-changing magic and optimists.

A decade ago, many executives were working on driverless cars, and they expected them to be commonplace on the roads by now. He is still many years away from becoming a major. In the year In 2022, cryptocurrencies have once again shown that they are not particularly useful except for things that people can increase in value. (And the value of crypto has dropped in the last year.)

And, as we expected (or maybe as), so far, not many people are hanging out in the metaverse or delivering their cat food with drones.

While those gadgets are supposed to be a part of your life, you probably don’t own a foldable smartphone or a 3D television. And hey, a year ago, you never thought Elon Musk would be the owner of Twitter now.

I’m not trying to shame anyone for being a fortune teller. Predictions are often wrong and it takes years to find new technology. But we shouldn’t take them too seriously, as even experts have no basis in technology predictions.

A new year and a new you. So let’s resolve to keep an open mind about technology in 2023. Don’t be sure about the prospects or the downsides or how long it will take to reach the future.

You will have many opportunities to practice your new resolution. This year, for example, there’s likely to be a lot of hype around your face on a computer set to be introduced by Apple.

Many companies are building glasses-type things that push you into virtual reality like Meta Quest, or immersive digital integration like the video game “Fortnite.” (I hate to call any of these things meta opposites, but you can use that term if you want.)

Will virtual reality and similar technologies be Apple’s next computer for everyone? Uphill.

Apple’s glasses will probably be expensive and imperfect for a while. And that’s fine, as long as you keep it in perspective. No moment can tell you with certainty whether or not we will wear computers on our faces in the future and how that will change your life.

This year, there will also be several landmark court cases that could change social media as we know it in the United States.

Nowadays, websites have extensive protections against prosecution when people post nasty things. Those legal provisions, for example, prevent Yelp from being held legally liable if they give a brutal review to a restaurant, and protect Snapchat if the sale of illegal drugs through the app kills a child.

But Supreme Court cases coming this year could begin eroding those special Internet legal protections that are so dangerous and beneficial to you.

I don’t know how any of these court cases will play out, or how the potential decisions will affect your experience online — but they’re reminders that what you feel is normal and constant about your digital life can change, for better or worse. .

One lesson from the unpredictable future is to pay more attention to what your technology is doing or doing now.

In the new year, you’ll have more ways than ever to stay in touch with loved ones and others like your doctor.

And, you can shop online without destroying the planet, and you can use the sometimes controversial apps you and your kids use every day, like YouTube.

And even though government and corporate failures still keep Internet access out of reach for most Americans, and even though we’re entering the year with relatively few protections from companies spying on everything you do; In the year In 2023, you can at least make sure that today’s technology will serve you… and still keep one eye on the promising appeal of flying cars.

I want to remind you again and again that Americans pay more for worse Internet service than our counterparts in almost every other developed country. It’s bad.

But the idea of ​​saving money is for you. Contact your internet service provider and ask for a better deal – or else. I am writing this to force myself to take my advice.

These tips for negotiating a lower internet bill may not work for you. But my colleague Geoffrey A. Fowler recently reported on the nation’s worst Internet service providers:

“Threatening to call and cut off your internet service works. It’s annoying, I know, but Verizon (for example) offered discounts on 58 percent of the bills people gave them, an amazing average monthly discount of $40.”

– Jeffrey Fowler

(Another tip: You may not need the high-speed upgrade your Internet company pushes on you.)

DoNotPay, which automates tasks like fighting parking tickets, is developing an AI chatbot that can negotiate with internet companies for you. I haven’t tested this use of ChatGPT, so I can’t vouch for it.

Brag about your small victory! Tell us about an app, gadget, or tech trick that made your day a little better. We may feature your suggestion in a future issue of Tech Friend.