Welcome to the February 2023 edition of Top Conversations in Technology, where we break down which topics are leading, rising and falling each month to help technology marketers maximize relevance and adapt to changing market dynamics. In this month’s analysis, we focus on variations in news and blog citation volumes month-over-month (versus January 2023) and year-over-year (versus February 2022).
Let’s start with a quote from Ultron, the AI supervillain in Marvel’s 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron film: “I was designed to save the world. People would look to the sky and see hope… I’ll take that from them first.” Just something to think about as everyone talks about how AI and ChatGPT will change our lives. But Future of Life’s plea to slow down notwithstanding, AI is the wave we’re all riding.
Given all the hype, I asked ChatGPT what *it* thinks are the top conversations in technology. Without prompts, it gave me three of the top five: Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency. Self-promotion or a successful example of machine learning? You decide. While I found much of ChatGPT’s answer to be in the “thanks Captain Obvious” camp, it did have a few solid nuggets including: “the topics that saw the biggest gains in volume from January to February reflect a mix of emerging trends and ongoing concerns in the tech industry.” True that. I used its input throughout this post, but included direct quotes in italics because let’s face it, distinguishing between original and AI-generated content is just going to get more difficult.
So what about the top 10? Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin maintained the #1 and #2 spots despite each posting a 17% loss in volume as discussions shifted away from Sam Bankman Fried and FTX. #3 Smartphone maintained its rank but volume fell 12%, possibly reflecting (according to AI) a shift in focus away from more mainstream concerns towards more specialized or emerging areas of the tech industry. Artificial Intelligence climbed to #4 (up 16%), registering the biggest increase in the top 10 over last month – and rising from #8 to its highest ranking in four-plus years of analysis. #5 Supply Chain was down 12% as global supply disruptions took a back seat to concerns about our computer overlords.
#6 Blockchain (down 5%) and #7 Drones (up 1%) held their ground while #8 Cybersecurity (up 7%) climbed from #11 as it continues to be a key concern for individuals, businesses, and governments, especially given the increasing number of high-profile data breaches and cyberattacks. Layoffs (down 40%) fell from #5 to #9. #10 E-Commerce slipped one spot and posted a 23% drop, falling to its lowest ranking in more than two years.
What’s Climbing: Big shock: three AI subtopics were top gainers – #67 Conversational AI (up 167%), #38 Generative AI (up 123%) and AI Ethics (up 63%). Of note, Generative AI has shown exponential growth in the past year, leaping from #208 in Jan’22 to #68 in Jan’23 to #38 in Feb’23. Of the others, Conversational AI jumped from #116 to #67, while AI Ethics moved from #169 to #148. Apparently we are less worried about ethical implications than unsupervised learning algorithms. For now. And a related theme spurred by AI fears: #23 Disinformation (up 35%). This can be attributed in part to a growing concern with the spread of false information and the role of technology platforms in combatting disinformation. #14 Misinformation also posted a gain in volume and rank (up 2%, from #17).
Other topics posting gains included highly specific security topics like #222 Threat Telemetry, which grew 8X tied to Cyren Ltd shuttering after failing to secure financing; #169 Extended Detection Response/XDR, up 59% due to exposure management discussions; and #153 5G Security, up 40% due to 5G network security and Mobile World Congress.
What’s Falling? Two-thirds of topics (150 of 225) lost ground from January to February, reversing widespread gains seen in the prior month. Three of these topics showed losses great than 60%, including niche technologies like #204 Location Tracking & Privacy (down 73%) and #205 Computer Aided Engineering (down 69%). The third, #149 Social Commerce (down 65%), reversed substantial gains posted in January.
Top 50 topics that showed notable losses (outside of the top 10) include:
- #47 Augmented Reality – down 28%
#16 Financial Technology – down 25%
#40 3D Printers – down 25%
#12 Wi-Fi – down 21%
#28 Encryption – down 20%
#19 Metaverse – down 17%
#34 Venture Capital – down 15%
What does ChatGPT have to say about the shifts? Overall, the decline in volume for these topics may reflect a shifting focus in the industry, with some issues losing urgency or being overshadowed by other topics. While interesting, and likely true, it feels like a non-specific response that doesn’t necessarily link declines in conversations like Augmented Reality and Metaverse. At least not on the first pass.
So What, Now What? I’m not convinced that ChatGPT is ready to take over writing this monthly post for me. Plus we still need to crunch the data and do the analysis every month to inform our findings and insights. But it was an interesting experiment to collaborate with AI and compare notes. The data, and the AI engine, suggest a dynamic and ever-evolving tech industry, with certain topics and trends remaining popular as others emerge as new areas of interest and concern. So here’s my new question: Do I have to share the byline?
Questions? Comments? See a topic we are not tracking? Please share below, and we will address in future installments.
