2024 was the next year a year defined by generative artificial intelligence, with software capabilities put into the hands of millions of people around the world and inevitably embedded in popular services like Google Search. While interacting with some AI tools, such as ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode and Google’s NotepadLM, was enjoyable, the dominant narrative focused on the inherent flaws of the technology, with rampant hallucinations and constant questions about how to properly train data.
I mean, who could he forget? Shrimp Jesus and other surreal AI-generated images spreading across Facebook? Or when AI Reviews told Google users that it’s OK to eat rocks in moderation apply glue to the pizza? It was a year where bizarre AI-generated content was everywhere.
2024 at WIRED was full of insightful investigations, deep conversations, and thorough gadget reviews. A summary of our journalism throughout the year, this quiz highlights just a tiny part of all the challenging work and fantastic work of my colleagues. With that in mind, I hope this will be an engaging way for readers to reflect on what has often felt like a cluttered year. Links are provided at the bottom after you complete the quiz, allowing you to continue reading and learn more about any of the 10 questions you may have missed.
For further reading, here’s each article referenced in our quiz:
Question 1: Rabbit R1 Review: Skip This AI-Powered Hardware Assistant | WIRE
Question 2: The main actor of the event Willy Wonka says: “It was just gibberish” | WIRE
Question 3: Data Broker Exposed Visitors to Jeffrey Epstein’s Island | WIRE
Question 4: The solar eclipse is the Super Bowl for conspirators | WIRE
Question 5: Massive Microsoft outage linked to CrowdStrike crashes computers around the world | WIRE
Question 6: JD Vance left his Venmo Public. Here’s what it shows | WIRE
Question 7: First Neuralink user ‘constantly multitasking’ thanks to his brain implant | WIRE
Question 8: Wear this AI friend around your neck | WIRE
Question 9: Employees say they were deceived and intimidated in Elon Musk’s get-out-the-vote campaign | WIRE
Question 10: AI’s energy needs are out of control. Welcome to the era of hyper-consumption of the Internet | WIRE