It’s been just over a year since OpenAI’s ChatGPT hit the internet, and there’s been an explosion of interest in generative AI. In the months since, tech giants including Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and others have launched or announced they are working on their own generative AI chatbots and products.
But this is so 2023.
We’re interested in what we can expect from generative AI in the coming year. What surprises does 2024 hold for the tech industry and how will generative AI impact them?
“2024 will be a truly booming year because people are [AI]Bob O’Donnell, president of TECHanalysis, told Yahoo Finance:
Think computers and smartphones running generative AI programs and generative AI-powered video and audio platforms.
But that’s not all. According to experts, productive artificial intelligence will become more targeted. Systems like ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Microsoft’s Copilot (formerly called Bing Chat) are general-purpose platforms. They are basically designed to answer everyone’s questions. But they are not experts in individual fields.
Next year, companies will begin to launch models tailored to specific tasks rather than models for broad areas of use.
The idea is to transform generative AI from being a jack of all trades to being a master of one. Add to this the continued proliferation of more generalized AI models, and 2024 is shaping up to be another year dominated by AI.
Generative AI for consumers
Although generative artificial intelligence is the talk of 2023, there are still many areas in the world that do not use this technology. As generative AI continues to further penetrate the services and products we use, you can expect more people to access these platforms, said Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
“We are seeing a real democratization of AI and machine learning, with underlying models that work better and better,” Rus told Yahoo Finance.
“We’re really seeing a lot of people who have access to a phone or a computer now being able to take advantage of what technologies can do for them. And so I’m seeing more and more people using the tools for their own personal purposes,” he added.
One way for humans to access productive AI capabilities will be through new consumer hardware equipped with AI chips.
“2024 will see the launch of AI-equipped computers; Computers that can actually do some of the work that we’ve traditionally had to do in the cloud or on the device, and that’s going to make things very interesting,” O’Donnell explained.
Google is already making such moves. In October, the company launched the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones. Running on Google’s custom Tensor G3 chip, the devices have powerful artificial intelligence capabilities such as manipulating photos, removing background noise from videos and creating wallpapers.
Next year, companies from HP and Dell to Lenovo and perhaps even Apple should start integrating new AI functions into their devices.
Artificial intelligence is becoming more specialized
AI platforms like ChatGPT are designed to be general-purpose systems. Ask him a question about the 1997 New York Jets and he’ll give you an answer. Want to write a poem about leftover lasagna? He will do this too.
But 2024 will bring more specialized generative AI platforms aimed at specific topics and projects.
“I actually think we’ll see less general-purpose stuff,” said Hal Daumé III, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland.
“What I would say is go where the data is, because these models are all super data hungry. So… if I had to make predictions, I would start thinking about what are the other places where we have large amounts of data,” Daumé added.
Specific types of generative AI applications may include platforms designed to help improve weather forecasts, cybersecurity services, and medical research.
Meanwhile, chip competition is heating up
Nvidia (NVDA) is currently the most important chip company in the world. The company not only develops the AI accelerators that power some of the largest AI systems in the world, but also offers the software needed to develop them.
But Nvidia doesn’t have enough chips, so tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Google and others are developing and using their own custom AI chips. While this may not impact Nvidia’s profitability, increased competition from rivals AMD (AMD) and Intel (INTC) could.
“We’re going to see a bunch of other semiconductor companies go after Nvidia,” O’Donnell said. “The reality is the market is looking for more competition. It always does, right?”
But AMD and Intel aren’t the only ones eyeing Nvidia. Qualcomm (QCOM), known for its mobile chips, also aims to have a greater presence in the field of artificial intelligence.
Simply put: If you thought generative AI was huge in 2023, generative AI in 2024 might blow you away.
Daniel Howley He is the technology editor of Yahoo Finance. He has been interested in the technology sector since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter. @DanielHowley.
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