Across artificial intelligence (AI)’s journey of 2023, we have not only seen innovation, but some reshaping of businesses on a global scale.
McKinsey quite rightly dubbed it ‘AI’s breakout year‘, citing a 40% increase in global investment.
As we navigate this era of constant innovation and business expansion, we’re left wondering: how will the surge in AI adoption shape 2024?
This article dives into our AI predictions, exploring the top seven trends that will define AI in the year ahead.
7 AI Predictions For 2024
7. Next Generation of Generative AI
If there’s one standout discipline in AI for 2023, it’s Generative AI. This year witnessed a rapid rise in its prominence within the tech world as companies eagerly embraced the technology, forming dedicated teams to explore its vast capabilities.
At the heart of Generative AI’s expanding influence is the evolution of large AI models trained on massive datasets, enabling them to generate diverse things like emails, summaries, art, voices, and videos.
These models have transformed our interaction with technology and expanded AI’s influence into fields with limited data, including companies’ customer support documents.
Simultaneously, they’ve ignited creative revolutions in the realms of arts and gaming.
Despite their transformative impact, these models still face limitations in handling a broad range of tasks, as noted by Mustafa Suleyman, a cofounder of DeepMind.
According to him, generative AI is just a phase of interactive AI, enabling chatbots to execute assigned tasks by orchestrating other software and human resources.
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Looking ahead, the Economic Magazine forecast for 2024 suggests that generative AI is set to go mainstream. The magazine reports that the tech giants experienced substantial gains from AI in 2023, with a share-price index soaring by nearly 80%.
In 2024, non-tech companies are expected to join the AI wave, leveraging it to cut costs and enhance productivity. The journey of generative AI continues to be fascinating as it transforms how we work and play and influences businesses across various sectors.
6. AI in Cybersecurity
With the anticipated $10.5 trillion financial impact of cyber-attacks by the end of 2024, the role of AI is set to increase in cybersecurity. The field is witnessing an evolution in both offensive and defensive strategies, propelled by the rapid development of AI technologies.
Amidst this transformative landscape, Generative AI introduces new challenges, such as phishing scams and social engineering attacks. This development opens doors for cybersecurity professionals to enhance their threat intelligence and response capabilities.
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In the face of increasingly sophisticated threats, the integration of AI-powered real-time anomaly detection, intelligent authentication, and automated incident response emerges as pivotal in fortifying our defenses.
These advanced components not only enhance the agility and responsiveness of cybersecurity measures but also underscore the crucial role of artificial intelligence in adapting to and mitigating evolving cyber threats.
As we work through our AI predictions, the intersection of AI and cybersecurity takes center stage, offering challenges and unprecedented opportunities for strengthening our digital security posture.
5. AI Regulation
The exponential growth of generative AI and concerns about its potential misuse, such as deepfake content, malicious content generation, privacy violation, and automated cyber-attacks, have propelled the urgent need to regulate AI. If 2023 was known for generative AI, 2024 is poised to be the Year of AI Regulation.
A notable advancement in this direction is marked by the introduction of the EU AI Act in 2023 – a pioneering initiative by the European Union to establish comprehensive regulations governing artificial intelligence.
While many other countries, including the U.S., are yet to develop such regulations, there is a common consensus on the imperative need to establish clear laws to govern AI. As we approach 2024, the momentum for creating these rules is expected to intensify, with more countries actively participating in this regulatory journey.
Companies are also likely to work together to agree on these rules. The main goal is to find a good balance — letting AI be innovative while ensuring it’s used responsibly and ethically.
4. Progress Towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
As we step into 2024, the quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) remains at the forefront, aiming to elevate AI to a level of versatility comparable to human capabilities across a spectrum of tasks
Building on the momentum generated by the surge of multimodal AI models in the preceding year, we anticipate further amplifying recent advancements, empowering AI to adeptly navigate and process diverse types of information.
The linchpin to achieving AGI lies in rapidly acquiring skills across a spectrum of tasks, drawing inspiration from minimal examples. The paradigm of prompt-based learning, particularly evident in language models, stands as a beacon for this approach.
These strides are poised to elevate AI’s adaptability across many information domains in the year ahead.
Furthermore, the autonomous generation and improvement of code by AI will mark a significant stride in 2024.
This capability has the potential to catalyze a self-improving process akin to the incremental advancements witnessed in models like GPT or the Llama series.
This autonomous coding prowess may propel us towards realizing truly super-intelligent AI.
3. Sustainable AI
A significant shift towards sustainable AI is poised to become a key trend in the upcoming year.
Traditional AI research has predominantly concentrated on developing larger models, resulting in impressive advancements but concurrently raising concerns about energy consumption and resource constraints.
This poses challenges to sustainability and acts as a barrier to accessibility, particularly in resource-constrained environments.
A current trend is emerging in response to these challenges, focusing on creating smaller, energy-efficient models. Some notable developments in this direction include Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) and Microsoft’s Orca 2.
As we approach 2024, the sustainable AI trend is set to gather momentum. The strategic emphasis on crafting compact yet powerful models holds the potential to democratize the advantages of cutting-edge AI, especially for small businesses and resource-limited settings.
2. Ethical AI
As AI becomes more seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, we predict that ethical considerations take center stage in 2024. From the battle against misinformation to tackling biases and ensuring transparency, there is a growing emphasis on ethical methodologies and practices.
Odds are, at some point (whether it’s next year or another year), an unethical action will be tied to an AI and thrust this right at the forefront of the public eye.
Either way, the widespread adoption of AI across various sectors underscores the need for sustained vigilance and a steadfast commitment to addressing emerging ethical concerns.
1. Scientific Discoveries
The strides made in 2023 underscore the immense potential of AI in reshaping scientific discovery.
Whether revolutionizing biology through accurate predictions of protein sequences and functions or achieving once-thought-impossible tasks like forecasting earthquakes with an impressive 70% accuracy rate, AI has a lasting impact across various scientific domains.
The transformative power of AI is evident in drug discovery, exemplified by the identification of INS018_055 and abaucin.
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In astronomy, AI has elevated the detection of supernovae, showcasing its ability to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Additionally, AI’s capability to forecast weather, surpassing traditional methods with forecasts days in advance, highlights its practical applications.
As we enter 2024, the momentum from these remarkable achievements propels researchers to explore diverse avenues, pushing the boundaries of what AI can unlock in scientific exploration.
The Bottom Line
These are our AI predictions… Do you agree or disagree?
One thing is for sure: 2024 promises to be a defining chapter in the evolution of artificial intelligence.
From the continued development of generative AI to advancements in AGI, cybersecurity, regulation, sustainability, ethics, and scientific discoveries, the AI landscape is set to witness unprecedented growth and innovation.
As we embark on this journey, the transformative power of AI invites us to imagine a future where the boundaries of what is possible continue to expand.