2024 is going to be an exciting year for AI

- Simplified AI -
Your gateway to discovering the world of Artificial Intelligence!

It's January again - the start of a new year! I can't wait to write the date incorrectly for the first 3 months. How long does it take you to adjust?

Exciting things coming this year that were announced in the intro of the last newsletter - stay tuned!

A sneak peek of what’s below:

• Top 5 AI trends to look for in 2024

• Top 5 AI news categories of 2023

• Top 5 Companies pushing for AI dominance

Top 5: AI trends to look for in 2024

Since late 2022, the AI race has been kicked off. 2023 showed some great improvements, but as Artificial Intelligence continues its rapid evolution, 2024 is poised to be a groundbreaking year for AI innovation. From personalized AI applications to AI's integration into various industries, here are the top five AI trends to watch out for in the coming year:

Personalized AI apps & agents

AI systems have become pretty solid at providing generalized solutions, but now AI is on the verge of becoming deeply personalized. Imagine an AI-powered fitness app that understands your unique fitness level, preferences, and goals, tailoring workouts and nutrition plans specifically for you. Imagine an AI-chef application that can scan your fridge and create a meal plan for the week or automatically order remaining ingredients for you. There so many possibilities where AI will deliver highly customized experiences and with the launch of OpenAI's GPT store, there will be a new marketplace for anyone to build personalized AI agents that can be general and fun to use, or specialize in a single task. Forget downloading things from Apple's App store and Google's Play store, the GPTstore is the next big thing.

Generative AI video

Up until now, AI has been able to help in the creation and editing of scripts and outlines, and text-to-image has been around for about half a year and getting better every day, but we're now getting into the stage where AI can actually bring your ideas to life through video. Pretty soon, anyone from your little brother to your grandma will be able to use AI to create video content using companies like Runway, Midjourney and Pika. You have to check out this video from Pika - it's insanely cool that you can type text and it will turn it into a video for you. This technology will allow anyone to become a storyteller and it's expected to continue to accelerate individual content creators.

Customized chatbots

We've all experienced frustrating interactions with chatbots that end with us typing "SPEAK TO A PERSON". We live in an age where people expect an answer instantly and if they don't get it, they'll seek out other means. Advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning are set to revolutionize chatbot interactions. Businesses will invest in chatbots that are not only more intelligent but also better at understanding context, leading to smoother customer support experiences and more effective virtual assistants. Smaller business and websites can take advantage of competition bringing the cost of purchasing a chatbot lower. Let's just hope the rise of new chatbots are better than the one Chevy dealerships were using.

https://twitter.com/ChrisJBakke/status/1736533308849443121?

AI in the workplace

AI hasn't yet revolutionized the corporate world - that's ok, it'll be more of a gradual shift because the rate of change for technology advancements usually outpaces the rate of acceptance by people. Large companies are starting to find a way to safely and effectively navigate AI solutions for their employees to use. From streamlining HR processes and automating routine tasks --> to enhancing decision-making through data analysis, AI will play a pivotal role in transforming how businesses operate. Expect budget sheets to look a little different in 2024 - you'll probably have a line item for AI subscriptions per employee. Take some time to learn about the AI tools you are using - approach the situation like you're back in school learning about a new subject…you need to learn how to effectively use AI and build it just like any other skill.

AI and robotics

Robotic automation has been on the rise, but 2024 will take it to the next level by combining it with AI. You may have seen a video of Boston Dynamic's robot doing backflips and parkour, and we talked about a robot discovering 300k+ new materials in a past newsletter, but get ready for seeing smart robots perform a wide range of tasks in various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics. Think bigger than the annoying Amazon Alexa device you have in your house, we will begin to see robots performing tasks ranging from flipping burgers in restaurants to assisting surgeons in delicate procedures. The fusion of AI and robotics will revolutionize the way we work and live.

Top 5: AI news categories 2023

Let's take a look at the top 5 AI news categories of 2023:

AI goes mainstream: Competition enters the market

OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 threw the world into an AI frenzy. Since then, everyone else has been playing catch-up. Large companies realized that AI was the hot topic and future, and they fought to release their versions of AI tools for consumers to get hooked on. Microsoft announced Bing Chat and Copilot, which uses OpenAI's GPT-technology; Google announced Bard, powered by their Gemini platform, and Amazon announced their AI tool called "Q". The major big one to be left out in 2023 - Apple - but surely they'll announce one soon enough.

AI in the classroom: Useful tool? Or easy to cheat?

The integration of AI in education is a double-edged sword. There is the potential to help teachers reduce their workload and focus more on individual attention, however, students have found ways to bypass traditional learning and AI-assisted cheating has become an unexpected challenge in classrooms - making it increasingly difficult for educators to distinguish between a student's work and machine-generated content. It doesn't help that AI-detectors touted themselves initially as accurate, but time and time again have proven to be false. Plenty of people fed historical writings like the declaration of independence or even professors own writings into the tool and it came back saying that they were 99% AI-written.

Free was too good to be true: Paid tiers and premium versions

Nothing is truly free - that holds true for AI tools. There are exorbitant costs to hosting and running a top AI model - (OpenAI burns through $700K a day.) So of course it wasn't going to be long before these types of companies would have to try to turn a profit to continue operating. While you can still use plenty of AI tools and services for free, several leading AI providers introduced paid tiers and premium versions of their offerings. The premium versions of the tools get first priority and free-tier users can be blocked out during busy times. It marks a significant transition in the AI industry's business model and raises questions about whether AI will become a tool for the wealthy to own or if open-source developers can keep free, competitive tools available.

Ethical AI: Frameworks Gain Prominence

The ethical implications of AI took center stage in 2023, with a growing emphasis on responsible AI development. Governments, organizations, and tech companies made substantial efforts to establish ethical frameworks and guidelines for AI usage. These initiatives aimed to address issues like bias, privacy, and transparency in AI algorithms. The year witnessed increased collaboration between stakeholders to ensure AI's responsible and equitable integration into various domains, setting the stage for a more ethical AI future. At the end of 2023, we saw that the European Union announced coming regulations they posed that look to set the gold standard for other countries and groups to follow in years to come.

Massive Layoffs - Tech gears up for the AI push

Major companies like Google, Microsoft, and others announced massive layoffs in 2023. While there were likely many contributing factors to the layoffs, it can't be ignored that pledges to invest huge sums into AI technology followed shortly after. When AI becomes sufficient enough, companies simply won't need the manpower to do all of the jobs they have today. You won't need 3 people to do a similar job, when one person assisted by AI can be just as efficient. Big companies would rather funnel resources into AI-related advancements - like Google and their Deepmind project or Microsoft's OpenAI partnership to build out their Bing/Co-Pilot platform.

AI Company Spotlight

Explore trailblazing companies that are shaping our digital future

5 Veteran Companies positioning for AI growth

Microsoft

Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI could prove as one of the greatest partnerships of our generation. OpenAI's tech bolstered Bing, which was pretty much dead in the search world, with ChatGPT's conversational prowess which led to a significant leap in Microsoft's stock price. If you haven't used Bing yet after it's revamp, I highly suggest it. This partnership is revolutionizing search capabilities, offering users an interactive and intelligent querying experience that rivals traditional search engines. It's clear that the future ahead for Microsoft is with Bing and Copilot, their AI experience that they want to bring into every aspect of the Microsoft suite of products.

Google

Google, known for its pioneering search engine, is working towards taken a leap into the future by integrating AI into their core services. This integration will enhance user experience by providing more intuitive search results and personalized features in applications like Maps and Gmail. Following the buzz from their AI developer conference, Google's stock prices soared, underscoring the market's faith in their AI trajectory. Google's cloud services are also expected to see exponential growth, becoming increasingly pivotal in the AI ecosystem.

Amazon

Amazon has long harnessed AI for personalized shopping experiences and is now extending this tech to storeowners, providing tools to transform retail operations. Their AI capabilities, especially through cloud computing, offer a competitive edge to smaller businesses, delivering enterprise-level technology at a scalable and affordable level.

Nvidia

Nvidia's supremacy in AI chips has been reaffirmed by significant investment in US chip production, aligning with US strategy to strengthen domestic tech manufacturing. Although there are talks about limiting Nvidia sales to China, which is a massive market just by the pure size of the country, their stock prices reached an all-time high, reflecting the market's response to their ambitious AI vision. As they close in on a trillion-dollar valuation, Nvidia is not just fueling AI, but is becoming synonymous with the industry's growth.

Adobe

Adobe stays at the forefront of the digital creative sphere with the introduction of Adobe Sensei GenAI. This leap in AI empowers creators with tools that redefine the boundaries of creativity and design. Leveraging their legacy in the creative suite space, Adobe is ensuring that their AI offerings are not just additional features but transformative elements that redefine how creative work is conceived and executed.

Get Creative with AI

Practice using AI and unleash creativity with your new collaborator

Copy the prompts below and paste them into ChatGPT, BingAI, Google Bard, or your generative AI tool of choice and let AI work its magic. Share your results with us…and take it a step beyond the initial prompts and see what you can create!

Text-based

• After 100 years, it's time to open a time capsule from 1924. A message that can be read from the outside says it contains 10 artifacts. Each artifact is from a different country of the world and from a different decade between 1824 and 1924. What items do you think are inside?

Visual-based*

• Envision an amusement park where the rides are based on different times and eras. There's a roller coaster zooming through a prehistoric landscape with animatronic dinosaurs, a Ferris wheel that rotates through different historical time periods at each level, and a merry-go-round with creatures from various myths and legends. Create two other imaginative rides that are visible in the picture!

Visit us on Instagram and Twitter to see how our examples turned out!

*Visual-based examples are for users of Dall-E, BingAI, or premium users of ChatGPT - may require paid subscription.