It Ain’t All About AI: Five Hot Topics to Watch this Year
Elections, disclosure, climate sabotage, gender identity, and facing suicide and mental health issues
Do a Google search for “more important topics than AI,” and you’ll see that nothing comes up.
While artificial intelligence is becoming more a part of our lives these days, it didn’t just start on Nov. 30, 2022, with the release of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI. It’s been years in the making, but now it’s taking shape in much more detail with ChatGPT and competitor test products and platforms like Google Search Generative Experience (SGE).
AI is ideal subject matter for writers and analysts to explore deep philosophical issues and for sharing examples of how it’s all playing out. I would say there are other hot topics to pay attention to this year.
1. Elections are very big this year, and it ain’t all about Donald Vs. Joe.
National elections have been scheduled or expected in at least 64 countries this year. The European Union will also have elections in June. Overall, it represents almost half the global population possibly voting in elections this year. That percentage is usually more lean, but some of its coming from parliamentary governments where election dates can be set off regular schedules, which is the case for 2024. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed for holding simultaneous elections for parliament, state legislatures and local bodies; that would end the country’s relentless cycle of voting in its six states. Elections started on April 21 and will go for six weeks.
One of the major 2024 elections already took place with long-term incumbent President Vladimir Putin taking 88% of the vote in March. That’s his fifth term, a troubling concern for democracy advocates who worry about a country being ruled by the same leader for longer than 10 years. Putin had no serious competitors this year, which will not be the case in the U.S. and several other large countries that have very competitive elections this year.
2. Disclosure is becoming the ‘new normal’ in Washington, D.C.
While the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy is credited with starting the modern movement for disclosure by government, that murder mystery still hasn’t gone away. Further delay of the JFK assassination and Warren Commission documents release only feeds the conspiracy theories, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn,) wrote this year in a letter to President Joe Biden. Many similar complaints have been expressed.
Federal agencies have other pressure to deal with on making proper disclosures laid out in the spirit and details of the U.S. Constitution. Recent examples of this mounting trend include the Securities and Exchange Commission on cybersecurity disclosure rules, and self-disclosure policies from the Department of Justice to help avoid securities and healthcare fraud.
In March, the Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) released a report detailing its review of nearly 80 years of reports on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, a more recent name for UFOs. AARO acting Director Tim Phillips said the office found no verifiable evidence that the U.S. government, or private industry, has ever had access to extraterrestrial technology.
The problem is that fewer people believe him now than they would have in the 1950s, and they expect more from their government. Polls indicate about a third of Americans believe that UFOs are for real, a growing number. Major news media and government officials have essentially avoided the issue, but the numbers of sightings has been growing significantly in recent years. The public, and several members of Congress, want disclosure here — as an issue that could have profound impact on national security and solving one of humanity’s oldest mysteries. Is there life out there beyond Earth?
3. Climate change has morphed into climate sabotage.
We’ve been watching climate and weather conditions getting worse in recent years, as we’d been warned about for the past 35 years or more. But it has been getting worse recently. Case in point: at least 12,000 people lost their lives in 2023 due to floods, wildfires, cyclones, storms, and landslides globally, according to a new analysis from the Save the Children nonprofit organization. That was 30% more than in 2022.
The organization used the international disaster database (EM-DAT) to identify the number of people killed as a result of wildfires, floods, cyclones and other storms and landslides since 2019. EM-DAT recorded a 60% rise in the number of deaths from landslides, a 278% increase in deaths from wildfires and a 340% increase in deaths from storms between 2022 and 2023; much of that was tied to the death toll in Libya from the floods that resulted from Storm Daniel in September. Overall extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe as a result of the climate crisis, the study found.
Don’t forget the oceans that make up about 70% of the world’s surface. Human-caused carbon dioxide emissions are warming the ocean, making it more acidic, and reducing oxygen levels. These changes have led to a number of devastating impacts on marine life and coastal regions, according to the United Nations.
4. Gender identity became the biggest political issue.
“The economy, stupid” is a phrase that was coined by James Carville in 1992, which is usually cited as, “It’s the economy, stupid,” by Bill Clinton’s lead strategist during that election year. The word is that culture war issues have taken over this election year, with gender identity being the tipping point.
While best-selling author Gregg Braden and John Petersen, president and founder of the Arlington Institute, spend a lot of time on YouTube talks and speaker panels digging into historic changes that the world is going through, it took them a while to name the heated debate issue that they’ve been nearly overwhelmed by lately: gender identity. These two philosophers/futurists get together regularly to talk about transformative issues shaping the future of the planet. This issue took them several minutes to name and define in a recent ‘What’s Up!’ chat. But they articulately described what a powerful, heated, emotionally charged, and manipulated, issue it has become lately — whatever side you land on.
Gender identity is being played out in various forms in recent years. Transgender surgeries — also known as gender affirmation surgery and sex reassignment surgery — and all that goes into it before and after — is usually the first issue that comes up. The cost of going the transgender route can be quite high — in dollars spent and in the condemnation that can happen on social media and in person. But the tension and debate can extend out to LBGTQ issues, abortion rights, and other charged issues.
Much of it has to do with individuals living with these identity distinctions and seeking respect for being who they are; while others feel it’s being forced on them to provide special treatment that they never had access to. The conflict is coming from different factors — religious beliefs, the rights of the individual, decades-old legal and legislative battles, and the personal experiences each American has lived through.
Some would say the heated debate really has more to do with the impact of turbulent times we’re all living through. That could be caused by the impact of Covid-19, turmoil in the nation’s capital, warfare and homicides, stressful changes in the workplace, job loss, increased cost of living, new technology taking over, lack of privacy, weather disasters, and the vast and aging baby boomer generation.
Another part of our diversion could also be based on changing traditional roles playing out based on gender, ethnicity, race, religion, and other social factors. It’s typical to see marriages and other relationships coming together these days that cross these ancient boundaries; and that can stir the pot for a lot of families and other social circles.
5. Climbing suicide rate and mental health issues are here.
The U.S. suicide rate has gone up substantially in the past two decades. Suicide was responsible for 48,183 deaths in 2021, which represents a 36% increase in the national suicide rate since 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death in 2021 for people ages 10–14 and 25–34 and the third- and fifth-leading cause of death for people ages 15–24 and 35–44, respectively, according to the study. The CDC study reported that 26.3% of LGBTQ youth attempted suicide in 2021 — five times the rate of their heterosexual peers. Another very vulnerable group: veterans. Veterans accounted for 13.9% of all adult suicides in the US, a 57.3% greater suicide risk than non-veteran adults in 2020, according to the study.
According to a Forbes report from November 2023, the suicide rate for girls aged 15–19 and part of GenZ is 5.1 per 100,000, which is higher than previous generations. This compares to 3.1 per 100,000 for millennials and 3.9 per 100,000 for GenX. Some psychologists and sociologists worry that social media is having a huge impact on this audience — with TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube reinforcing identity and value by perceived beauty and sexuality.
Suicidal ideation is usually connected to a few factors. Depression, other mental health issues, substance abuse, and exposure to abuse, are common motivations citied by mental health professionals. Generationally, GenZ is getting a lot of attention here — as an age group that’s lived through a lot of pressure and change, and which is known for being extremely honest and willing to cross old lines. That includes being willing to attempt, and sometimes commit, suicide. There’s clearly negative and positive qualities typical to this generation. They’ll need to seek help when going toward suicide and other troubles that can build up.
Concerns over the homeless and transient population seems to be tied to these issues. Proposition 1 passed in California by a thin margin in March. It will finance about 11,000 treatment beds and housing units with health care and social services for homeless people suffering from mental illnesses and addiction. It takes a lot for people to get off the streets and away from self-destructive behavior; but they do need support and resources.
As I’ve written about before, finding out that you live with a condition such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder, and other diagnoses, is becoming more common these days. It is a challenge and can throw us into some of the biochemistry of living with the condition — including anxiety and depression. It is much better to know than to not know.
There is great value in finding out who you are and tapping into the resources. That can include connecting with other people who live with challenges such as mental health issues, conditions and disorders, addictions, and traumatic experiences. These may be tough times we’re going through, but the resources and support are becoming more clear and plentiful.
Jon LeSage is a Southern California-based freelance writer.
Photo credit: Special thanks to NewsDrum Desk.
