AI trends vs all trends
For every trend we drew the straight-line path it followed from 2003 to 2022, then asked whether it has been running ahead of that path since 2023. Trends where AI could plausibly speed things up are in blue; everything else is in grey.
Running ahead of the old path, year by year
The typical trend's distance from its own 2003–2022 path, in units of its normal year-to-year wobble. Zero means right on track.
Every trend, one dot each
How far each trend has moved from its old path since 2023. Dots right of the line are clearly ahead. Tap a dot to open that trend.
The biggest movers among AI-exposed trends
Each tile shows the trend's real values, with its old path as a dashed line.
How to read this, and what to be careful about
The test. For each trend we fit a straight line to 2003–2022 (on a log scale where growth compounds, like prices or records), extend it forward, and measure how far the data since 2023 sit from that line, in units of the trend's own normal noise. More than two units ahead counts as "ahead of trend". Values are signed so that ahead always means faster progress: a cost falling faster than before counts as ahead.
Chance. Trends wander. Running the identical test at earlier dates shows how often a trend gets this far ahead by luck alone, which is the "by chance" figure above.
What "AI-exposed" means. It is a judgement, recorded for each trend when it was collected, of whether AI could plausibly move it in the next few years. The judgements were made by the research agents who gathered the data, so treat the split as a starting point, not a verdict.
Who built this. The trends were gathered, checked and cross-checked by a team of AI research agents (Claude) working from public sources, with a human editor. Every trend links to its source. Please check the source before citing a number.
Explore every trend
Search, filter and open any trend to see its full history, how it compares with its old path, and exactly where the numbers come from.
Request a trend
Know a long-running measure of progress we should be tracking? Tell us what it is and, if you know, where the data lives. We read every suggestion.