The technology industry has seen its fair share of disastrous failures over the decades, but in 2023, reckless ambition and the pursuit of wealth pushed the boundaries of prudence and safety in many technology sectors. It's only fitting that we recall some of the worst failures in this field over the past year, a year that many individuals and companies would probably prefer to forget.
Titan Submarine.. Lessons from the Ocean Floor
On the morning of Sunday, June 18, 2023, the Titan submarine began what was supposed to be an "exploratory voyage" to the wreck of the Titanic in the San John's region at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, specifically from the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Accompanied by a support vessel and carrying 5 people, their journey began brimming with enthusiasm and adventure. However, in less than two hours, it turned into a major search and rescue operation and then into a mission to find what remained of them at the depths of the ocean. It seems that after more than 110 years, the curse of the Titanic refused to spare the five passengers.
Supersized Ambitions.. Misleading Claims
A material that resembles rocks and no larger than a small piece of glass, researchers in South Korea named "LK99," claimed to have created the "world's first" room-temperature, normal pressure operating superconductor.
The dramatic developments around "LK99" began in late July 2023, when the Korean research team published two research papers, claiming "LK99" was superconductive just by placing it on a tabletop surface.
A video captured by the South Korean team showing a silver coin-shaped sample hovering above magnets led to speculation it could be the holy grail of energy crisis solutions due to the "Meissner effect," the hallmark of superconductivity wherein a material expels magnetic fields.
However, the validity of LK99 as a superconductor came into question with the lack of evidence and inability to reproduce results outside the original team's lab.
Autonomous Taxis.. More Dangerous than Human Drivers
This year also brought setbacks for giant car companies, such as Tesla recalling nearly two million vehicles to update their full self-driving software after an investigation into a series of crashes caused by this feature.
But the biggest shift came with Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, which became the first company to offer driverless taxi rides in San Francisco, day or night, with a fleet exceeding 400 vehicles.
The repeated accidents raised concerns about the absence of safe and appropriate responses of Cruise's self-driving cars during pedestrian-related incidents.
Cruise believed that autonomous taxis don't get tired or distracted, even boldly claiming in a full-page newspaper ad that "humans are terrible drivers." Yet, their robotaxis faced unfortunate, notable accidents, including dragging a pedestrian for 20 feet after hitting them, which led California regulators to halt Cruise's robotaxi service over unacceptable risks to public safety.
"Ai Pin".. A Flawed Invention
Former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri launched "Ai Pin," a wearable device with a camera, chips, and sensors from their company focusing on AI-based devices, called "Humane."
They showcased "Ai Pin" operated by voice commands, addressing questions, summarizing texts, translating languages, and playing music, but using public voice commands and a camera which might be uncomfortable for some users in public settings.
Despite New York Times' description as "Silicon Valley's Big, Bold, Sci-Fi Bet on the Device After the Smartphone," critics doubt whether the device, priced at $699 plus a $24 monthly subscription, will replace smartphones or become widely adopted.
Lab-Grown Chicken.. Innovation at a Cost
Upside Foods, a company widely regarded as a leader in lab-grown meats, faced scrutiny over its potential to produce full pieces of chicken in large quantities, an achievement that would place it at the forefront of sustainable meat production.
Despite collecting over half a billion dollars in funding and displaying rows of gleaming bioreactors, an investigation revealed that the company's main product – complete tasty chicken cuts – are almost manually fermented in much smaller lab flasks.
The laborious process, contrary to the futuristic image portrayed, could not productively create the needed sheets of tissue for full chicken slices, rendering Upside Foods' approach costly and inefficient. The company faced technical setbacks even as it tried to showcase its abilities to overcome significant scientific production challenges.
Overall, the year 2023 shined a light on how the race towards the future could sometimes overlook fundamentals such as safety, viability, and environmental impact. These tech experiment failures serve as a reminder that innovation needs to be balanced with wisdom and careful consideration of its long-term effects. Hopefully, the lessons learned this year will guide a more responsible and sustainable tech development in the future.
