AI Trends for 2025

With 2025 underway, artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries, drive innovation, and challenge traditional ways of working. Soon, AI will no longer be something discussed and refined by only a select few, but the whole world will be using it, we will start to think of it like HTTP or electricity. While the AI landscape is ever-evolving, these are some of the following trends we expect to dominate and define the year ahead:

The Rise of AI Agents:

AI agents are increasingly becoming an integral part of our digital landscape, from virtual assistants and customer service bots to autonomous decision-making systems. As of 2025, this trend is expected to grow exponentially, not only in terms of their numbers but also in their complexity and capabilities. Mark Zuckerberg even mentioned in a video that one day there will be more agents than humans. With AI agents being such a hot topic, we'll break it down in the coming weeks, helping you understand and build your very own AI agent.

Multimodal AI: Bridging the Gap Between Senses and Data

Multimodal AI processes data from text, images, audio and video. Imagine a chatbot integrated with RPA that not only answers enquiries but also automatically processes and updates backend systems, like generating reports, and even sending follow-up emails, all in real-time. This can also be found in home use, such as summarizing a newspaper and giving answers to follow-up questions simply by reading online.

Multimodal AI will be an essential feature in consumer-facing technologies, enhancing the way we interact with devices, applications, and services. Virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant will become significantly more intuitive, able to comprehend not only voice commands but also contextual visual data and even facial expressions.?

Additionally, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences will see a huge boost from multimodal AI. Imagine wearing AR glasses that allow you to interact with the environment through voice commands while the system simultaneously analyzes visual data to provide context-aware suggestions or information.

LLMs: From understanding to reasoning

Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s PaLM, and others have already revolutionized how we interact with AI. These models have evolved to not just better understand language, but to reason, think critically, and make more sophisticated inferences.

In September last year, OpenAI revealed o1, 2 months later releasing o3, these latest versions represent a significant leap forward in the way LLMs generate and compile responses, pushing the boundaries of AI’s capabilities. Older models would come up with the first answer regardless of whether it is correct. The latest model is trained to work through their answers by breaking it down into simpler ones. This allows more accuracy in mathematics, physics and problems of logic.

Alongside this progress, Smaller Language Models (SLMs) are also gaining traction as an efficient alternative, offering specialized solutions with reduced resource demands. These models can be more efficient in certain contexts, requiring fewer computational resources and less training data, making them more accessible for smaller companies or specific use cases.

While LLMs will dominate areas where broad general knowledge and complex reasoning are needed, SLMs will excel in areas that require specialization and efficiency. Together, LLMs and SLMs will drive the future of AI innovation, balancing generalization with specialization to meet the diverse needs of businesses and consumers.

AI's Impact on Business Operations, Education, and Security

Artificial Intelligence will have firmly established itself as a cornerstone of the modern workplace, transforming not just how businesses operate, but also how they educate, serve, and protect.?

People can begin to use AI in their workplaces to perform HR, marketing, and production tasks. Customer service will be transformed with AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants offering real-time support, improving user experience and satisfaction.

As students gain access to advanced AI tools for learning, the role of teachers and traditional assessments will be increasingly scrutinized, sparking discussions on how education systems can adapt to these technological advancements. However, beyond these challenges, the education system must evolve to upskill the next generation, preparing them for a future where many current tasks and jobs may become obsolete. The focus will shift towards equipping students with skills that align with the new realities of business needs.

With attackers leveraging AI to breach defense models, it has become increasingly crucial to proactively enhance these defenses using AI. Manual tasks will be increasingly automated and response times reduced with advanced versions.?

The ongoing integration of AI into various sectors will undoubtedly shape the future in these areas.

AI Ethics & Regulations

The ethical ramifications of AI will continue to spark widespread debate, as its influence grows in both public and private sectors. Companies will need to address key ethical concerns such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the transparency of AI decision-making processes. Ensuring that AI systems operate fairly and without discrimination will be critical to maintaining trust and accountability.

Governments across the globe are concerned with the transparency of AI. One example is the rise of deepfakes—AI-generated content that can make people appear to say or do things they never did. To combat this, legislation is being introduced to prevent the spread of misleading AI-generated media, especially in political and social contexts, to protect individuals from harm.

Safety, fairness and accountability will start to take the spotlight in future AI discussions.?

Summary

Building on the advancements of the previous year, 2025 will see an even more intense and frequent wave of AI innovation. This ongoing progress will lead to more sophisticated applications across industries, further integrating AI into daily operations and driving transformative change in ways we’ve yet to fully experience.