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Talks of artificial intelligence dominated 2024, and tech leaders predict that the next stage of the new AI era will come in 2025 — for better or for worse.
Their mixed predictions indicate that the outlook for AI in 2025 is still uncertain. Still, many execs assert that the way people interact with technology will continue to change in 2025, and it'll likely impact jobs.
More intentional tech use is "reshaping our relationship with the digital world," and people are prioritizing wellbeing over attention-seeking, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels said in a December blogpost.
"The workforce of tomorrow will not only be driven by financial success and career progression but by a deeper desire to create positive change in the world," according to Vogels.
However, Clement Delangue, CEO of AI startup Hugging Face, predicts a more combative response to AI. He said on LinkedIn that the "first major public protest related to AI" is coming in 2025.
This year will also reveal if the prediction that Bill Gates has been vocal about for over 10 years will come to fruition. Gates has said on many occasions that two-thirds of all jobs in the US will require some form of education beyond high school by 2025.
Here's what else Vogels, Delangue, and other tech leaders say 2025 has in store.
Management services company ADP uses AI to assist sales reps, and GenAI helps the company prepare for investor days, among other things, according to The Wall Street Journal. Such investments will continue in 2025, Don McGuire, CFO at ADP, said to the Journal.
"Things that people used to sit beside you and have a headset, now you can do those things with GenAI tools," McGuire said.
As smarter tech integrates into the workforce, Vogels said "a quiet revolution" is happening among workers who value meaningful societal impact over financial success.
Millennials and Gen Z are leading the charge in finding their purpose at work, but Vogels said the trend is being driven by other age groups and the job market itself.
"Harnessing technology for good has become both an ethical imperative and a profitable endeavor," Vogels said.
Tech users will find more intentional ways to use their devices in 2025, according to Vogels. The Amazon exec pointed at data related to social media use and mental health issues among teens in the US in his blog about 2025 as an indicator of a need to rethink our relationship with technology.
"Every swipe, headline, and notification are meticulously engineered to hook us," Vogels said.
More people are becoming conscientious of their screen time. Some are implementing rules for themselves or their children, and others are seeking out alternatives like "dumb phones" with no web browsers.
On the other hand, Delangue predicts that other consumers will buy into more futuristic devices, like the robots being developed by Tesla and other robotics companies.
"At least 100,000 personal AI robots will be pre-ordered," he said on LinkedIn.
Donald Trump is weeks away from his second presidential inauguration, and the president-elect has already threatened tariffs on imported goods. It "feels like an inevitability," according to Michael Perica, CFO of software company Rimini Street.
LendingTree economist Jacob Channel previously told Business Insider that consumers will likely be subjected to higher prices for their goods during his term if Trump makes good on his pledge.
Companies may have to make some cuts to offset the effects of tariffs, Perica told the Journal. More businesses will have to adapt their strategies in anticipation of supply-chain disruptions.
"We are absolutely partnering with folks to help them along and take a look and evaluate what's a 'nice-to-have' project versus 'got to have,'" Perica said.
