2024 - GenAI going mainstream?

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is not just an emerging technology, but a transformative force to redefine - how we interact with machines, process information and approach problem solving across industries. It's impact is vast and varied. From content development to language translation, from maintaining the crucial human touch in AI applications to the ongoing analysis of AI model performance, each aspect reflects a facet of the monumental shift that GenAI is bringing about.

The question is not if GenAI will go mainstream in 2024, but rather how swiftly and profoundly it will alter the fabric of our digital and real-world interactions. The future of AI is not just knocking on our doors; it’s already here, reshaping our world in ways we are just beginning to understand and embrace.?

New technologies benefit different groups at different times, as seen before. GenAI's first adoption was by developers via the use of Github Copilot, a code writing assistant. That was in 2021. The next year brought new tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 where all kinds of consumers used them to produce words and pictures. In 2023, tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia gained hugely in their share value. They either supplied AI models themselves or the infrastructure that powered and delivered AI. Even this week, the phenomenal rise of Nvidia has made it the third biggest company in value after Microsoft and Apple.

Now we are in 2024. The focus shifts to companies outside the tech sector. Companies in healthcare , military and financial services will be the big beneficiaries by adopting AI in earnest. Why? They see the benefit in reducing cost and boost productivity.

There are three reasons why this will happen.

1. The year 2023 was of experimentation with GenAI. Companies used it to create legal documents to marketing material. JP Morgan, for example, used GenAI to analyse Federal Reserve meetings to gain insight for its trading desk. They plan to deploy it in a large scale this year.
2. More AI products are hitting the market. Microsoft has inserted AI Chatbot into Word and Excel. Google is doing the same in Google Docs and Sheet. Eveen Google search reminds you of AI assisted search as an option to use. New products like Glean offers enterprise search and knowledge discovery process. Perplexity unlocks the power of knowledge with information discovery. Vantiq blends GenAI into real-time analytics for large enterprises. And there are many more start-ups. The venture capital industry poured $36B into AI startups, double that of 2022.
3. Talent. AI gurus are in high demand. But it's getting easier to hire AI talent. Colleges and Universities have stepped up offering AI courses and training.

Which firms will be the early adopters? Smaller ones will probably take the lead. That is what happened in previous waves of technology such as smartphones and the cloud.?Among larger companies, data-centric firms, like those in health care and financial services, will be able to move fastest. That is because poor data management is a big risk for deploying?AI. Data is the key commodity here. This week Reddit announced that Google is buying access to its trove of valuable data for $60m.

Yes, GenAI is going mainstream in 2024.