2023 will be a year filled with AI, and sometimes dozens of new developments will be announced in a single day. How can we tell what will really matter in the coming decades? Here are three things I think will really matter for 2024 and beyond.
Flywheel
For many people new to the field, the pace of new AI adoption can be incredible. But there is a reason for this pace. The flywheel, which was installed many years ago, is turning faster every day. What caused the AI flywheel? It was a perfect storm of three developments
- Ubiquitous computing. Cloud services have made significant computing power available to anyone with an email address, making it easy to build and create new AI. Even laptop computers can be used to build powerful AI, and smartphones can perform AI predictions for everything from facial recognition to avatar interaction.
- Open Source. Open source software didn’t start with AI, but much AI development is open sourced (meaning anyone can try out and build on new AI techniques).
- Data is everywhere. There are large public datasets that can be run on available computing using open source code.
What does this mean? This means that every time a new AI development is announced, a better version will soon follow and further improvements will be made. The flywheel rotates faster and faster.
AI literacy
AI literacy, or a general and broad understanding of AI across all aspects of human life, was being developed before 2023. However, with the advent of ChatGPT and similar tools, awareness of AI has become mainstream. AI literacy has gone from being a nice-to-have to a necessity. 2023 was the year the world realized that AI education is a must for everyone.
AI regulation and risks
Pervasive AI comes with risks, everything from misinformation to AI-related privacy risks, failures, and mistakes. 2023 saw an increase in regulatory flow, from the US AI Bill of Rights to the European Union’s evolution of AI legislation. Examples of AI risks are increasing every day, further recognizing the need for regulation and oversight.
What will happen in 2024?
All three of these areas will experience dramatic growth in 2023, and their growth will feed into each other. So all three will continue to be big trends in 2024. In the coming weeks, we’ll use this article to predict what major AI developments will be in 2024.
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