TechScape: Cybercrime, AI supremacy and the metaverse – the tech stories that will dominate 2024
From the future of X to Apple’s Vision Pro headset, we make a call on the deals, products and technologies that could define this year
I tried to get over my phone addiction – by spending even more time on it
In week 1 of Rhik Samadder’s detox, he tries aversion therapy. Can he use his phone to such excess it makes him sick of it?
Reclaim your brain: why it’s time to stop scrolling our lives away
Let’s be honest – many of us are unhappy with the excessive time we spend on our phones. We’re here to help with a brand new series and newsletter
John Fetterman: social media made battle with depression more difficult
The first-term senator said on Meet the Press that comments about him and his family had a negative effect on his mental health
How 2023 became the year Congress forgot to ban TikTok
Momentum seemed to be with US lawmakers as they planned to stop 150m Americans from using TikTok. What happened?
Could exercise pills help create a healthier society?
Finding drugs that mimic the benefits of a workout has long been a goal of science. As a new trial begins, the hope is to assist not just the time-poor or the lazy but elderly people and those with disease or disability
My plan to topple the Tory dark lords in 2024
We need a fellowship of socially conscious heroes to fight the Conservatives and NHS data-grabbing firms and save our democracy
What’s in store for 2024? Read our experts’ predictions, from Trump 2.0 to a super el Niño
Will KJ-T strike Olympic gold? Will Sunak go for an early election? How much will Taylor Swift fans bring to the UK economy? From tech to fashion, food to politics, the Observer’s top writers predict who and what will make the headlines
For all the hype in 2023, we still don’t know what AI’s long-term impact will be
As with the printing press and the dotcom boom, initial frenzy and speculation obscures the lasting legacy of new technologies
How social media’s biggest user protest rocked Reddit
A mass user protest six months ago over technical tweaks had big downstream effects, and now the ‘front page of the internet’ is changed for ever
The year in patriarchy: abortion bans, circumboob and deepfake porn
To help you look back, here are 10 memorable moments from the year in patriarchy, from Spain’s reckoning with sexism to Taylor Swift’s takeover
Don’t flake, don’t dump friends and don’t hold grudges: experts on what not to do in 2024
Guardian writers including Marina Hyde, John Crace (and a few other successful types) reveal what they won’t be doing in the coming year
The Guardian view on the AI conundrum: what it means to be human is elusive
Editorial: Over the holidays, this column will explore next year’s urgent issues. Today we look at the challenge to regulate science that seems to defy comprehension
Academic paper based on Uyghur genetic data retracted over ethical concerns
Exclusive: Study published in 2019 used blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghur and Kazakh people living in Xinjiang capital
So, Spotify knows how many hours I spent listening to Taylor Swift. But only I know why
Every tech company from Monzo to my bank is crunching my data. All the results tell us is how dull it is to reduce human experience to numbers, says journalist Elle Hunt