In 2023, artificial intelligence (AI) dominated discussions and developments in every industry, yielding significant results. However, as the calendar turned to 2024, this technology was adorned with important challenges that require attention beyond basic research.
As technology disrupts traditional models, uncertainty abounds. People are also concerned about the adoption of technology by employees and businesses. With upcoming elections in the United States and India, technology may also threaten political divisions.
Challenges persist, but so do narratives of possibilities. By gaining insights from industry insiders, one can understand the trajectory of AI's development in the coming year.
Here are six predictions that explain what AI means for businesses, investors, and researchers in 2024:
Sara Hooker, President of Cohere AI
Sara Hooker, President of one of Silicon Valley's hottest AI startups, predicts that the AI community needs to elevate its level in 2024. She points out an important issue: most AI technologies are made with a Western perspective, primarily in English-speaking countries. This overlooks many languages and cultures, especially in regions like Asia, where the majority of the world's population resides.
She also told Turing Post that 2024 will bring about a revolution in research. We will see more technologies not only focusing on one thing, such as language or vision, but combining different aspects like speech and images, all working together in multimodal AI models.
Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon
At Amazon Web Services' annual event re:Invent 2023, Werner Vogels, the CTO of the tech giant, announced his famous annual predictions. He said that in the coming year, the community will train AI models with a mix of different cultures to better understand humans and address global challenges.
These AI models will provide better answers across multiple topics, making them more useful. This change is not limited to one place or one group; it will bring about change that affects various people, both now and in the future.
In an exclusive interview with AIM, he shared his thoughts on how diverse countries like India are building their inclusive AI models.
Clem Delangue, CEO and Co-founder of Hugging Face
Clem Delangue, CEO of the open-source AI model hosting platform Hugging Face, recently shared some insights on what we might see in the AI landscape next year, particularly in language models.
He starts with a bold statement, pointing out that many hyped AI companies have already captured the attention of headlines and investors, but may face challenging times. He states that this is not just minor setbacks; some companies may face serious financial difficulties and could be acquired at valuations far below what they were once estimated.
On a more optimistic note, open-source will have some promising developments. He states that these open-source language models are on track to compete head-on with the best and most expensive closed-source models.
Bhasker Gupta, CEO of Analytics India Magazine
Bhasker Gupta, the head of AIM, recently adhered to his annual tradition of giving his followers a hint of what AI might look like in 2024. He points out that the risks associated with AI are substantial and may play an important, but not necessarily positive, role in upcoming democratic elections.
He also mentions that its ripple effects will be far-reaching, reigniting concerns and debates about "responsible AI."
Sridhar Muppidi, CTO of IBM Security
As AI pushes boundaries, discussions around security predictions become practical. Early adopters have already been using AI to enhance front-end, bringing productivity gains to security analysts. However, AI and cybersecurity may be on the cusp of something big.
The CTO of IBM Security bluntly states, "I don't think we are far from seeing generative AI have a transformative impact on the back end, reimagining threat detection and response as threat prediction and protection."
He believes the technology is mature and feasible, so the cybersecurity industry is preparing for a game-changing moment of "predicting at scale."
Erin Price-Wright, Partner at Index Ventures
As artificial intelligence continues to explode, it requires a significant amount of computing power and storage space. Looking ahead to 2024, Erin Price-Wright, a partner at Index Ventures, believes that data centers storing all this data will undergo a major transformation. She says we will see better ways of connecting computers, seeking new sources of energy, and cooling down overheating machines. In an interview with Fortune magazine, she focuses on the future of data centers.
