The CRAZY AI Year 2023 12 Highlights, Month by Month

The content about AI that I provide reflects my personal viewpoints and is based on research conducted online or with the assistance of AI tools.

The advice and directions offered are based on my own experiences, and they might not always be applicable or beneficial in the same way for everyone.

Greetings, my dear LinkedIn readers, and best wishes for the New AI Year 2024! ;-)

I am delighted to start the New Year of 2024 with the first edition of my newsletter, Inhale AI, Exhale B2B Growth, which has experienced incredible growth. In just one day, I received over 450+ followers, and I truly thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart!

Your support inspires me to create more enjoyable content about AI, and I look forward to continuing on this journey together with you. As we begin a new year 2024, I thought it would be a great idea to summarize probably the most important AI highlights of the last year 2023, along with my personal thoughts and opinion. So let's move on!

1 - January. Microsoft's investment of $10 billion+ in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, represents a significant move in the technology industry.

This investment indicates Microsoft's commitment to strengthening its global AI power and positioning it as a major competitor against giants like Google, Apple, and Amazon. For the B2B sector, this move suggests a potential increase in the availability and advancement of Microsoft's AI tools and services across its stack of products and services. The downside for the B2B sector is that everything becomes centralized, increasing dependency on a single vendor.

2 - February. On February 6th, 2023, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, introduced an experimental conversational AI service powered by LaMDA, which they're calling Bard. You can try it here: Bard Chat

This demonstrates Google's active participation in the AI race.

3 - March. The Future of Life Institute, with its mission to guide transformative technologies toward benefiting life and away from large-scale risks, has made a significant call. As of March 22, 2023, they have gathered 33,709 signatures for their open letter, which urges a pause on the development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. The proposed pause, supported by figures like Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, lasting at least 6 months, serves as a global call to AI labs, reflecting a cautious approach toward the rapid advancement of AI technology. While there were concerns that it might have halted or slowed down AI technology development, in reality, there was no pause at all. :)

4 - April. OpenAI launched a Bug Bounty Program, offering rewards up to $20,000 for identifying security flaws in its software. This initiative is part of OpenAI's efforts to enhance the safety and security of its AI systems through community engagement. The program is managed in collaboration with Bugcrowd, a cybersecurity firm specializing in crowdsourced security solutions. You can check the exact paid amounts here: BugCrowd payouts

5 - May. Geoffrey Hinton, often called an AI godfather, resigned from Google after many years of work.

Fortunately, he also raised concerns about the risks of AI. He specifically warned about the dangers of AI chatbots and the impact of AI on jobs and society. Despite these worries, Geoffrey Hinton acknowledged the hard-to-ignore benefits of AI technology. So, what can we learn from it as the B2B industry? I think there is the bad the good and the ugly in this situation:

The Bad: AI brings challenges for businesses, needing extra steps for safety and following new rules. The Good: Still, AI offers more benefits than problems, so businesses need to use it. The Ugly: It's unclear how AI rules will work in real situations, which makes planning for the future so tricky.

6 - June. In June, McKinsey released a 68-page report titled The Economic Potential of Generative AI: The Next Productivity Frontier. The report highlights that approximately 75 percent of the value derived from generative AI use cases is concentrated in four main areas: customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and R&D.

Generative AI as a technology catalyst

This distribution underscores the significant impact generative AI could have in transforming these key business sectors. You can download the full report here: McKinsey - The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier

7 - July. Yann LeCun, Meta's Chief AI Scientist, announced on X (ex Twitter) Meta's release of Llama-v2, an open-source language model.

This model allows businesses to use advanced AI for various tasks like content creation and customer support without high costs. Llama-v2 is more accessible and can be customized to meet specific business needs, offering a new tool for innovation. Its partnership with Microsoft for integration into the Azure AI model catalog also provides SMBs with essential infrastructure and support. Overall, Llama-v2's launch offers SMBs in the B2B sector an opportunity to enhance their services and operations with cutting-edge AI technology.

8 - August. On August 31st, OpenAI released Teaching with AI, a ChatGPT guide for teachers. This guide includes real-life examples of how educators use ChatGPT in classrooms, suggestions for prompts, and information on ChatGPT's functionality and limitations. It aims to help teachers effectively integrate AI tools like ChatGPT in educational settings, providing resources for creating lesson plans, aiding non-English speakers, and teaching critical thinking. The guide emphasizes the responsible use of AI in education and addresses misconceptions about its usage.

Teachers, feel free to get it here: Teaching with AI

B2B companies can support the education sector by collaborating to develop and integrate AI tools and technologies, enhancing teaching methods and improving learning outcomes.

9 - September. Intel has announced the launch of its new Core? Ultra processors, designed with AI capabilities, to be released on December 14th.

These processors, featuring an integrated neural processing unit, are set to enhance AI tasks directly on personal computers, marking a significant development in computing efficiency and AI technology. This launch is part of the emerging "Siliconomy," an economy driven by advancements in silicon chips and software. For more information, you can read Intel's announcement here.

10 - October. IBM launched watsonx Code Assistant, a generative AI-powered assistant that helps enterprise developers and IT operators code more quickly and more accurately using natural language prompts.

The product currently delivers on two specific enterprise use cases. First, IT Automation with watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed, for tasks such as network configuration and code deployment. Second, mainframe application modernization with watsonx Code Assistant for Z, for translation of COBOL to Java. More info you can find IBM Launches watsonx Code Assistant .

The key idea here is that while large corporations are already capitalizing on the vast potential of generative AI, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) should also explore how they can benefit from this technology. SMBs have the opportunity to identify areas where generative AI can be applied in their operations, potentially enhancing efficiency and innovation. This approach can help B2B to stay competitive and relevant in an increasingly AI-driven business landscape.

11 - November. If you enjoy chess, you'll find the events of November 17th involving Sam Altman and OpenAI quite intriguing. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was fired on Friday and then rehired within a few days, a move reminiscent of a strategic chess play.

It was like witnessing a real-life chess maneuver in the corporate world.

12 - December. On December 9, 2023, the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act, a groundbreaking legal framework for AI. This Act categorizes AI systems based on their risk level and imposes obligations accordingly, from light transparency requirements for limited-risk AI to stricter controls for high-risk systems. Additionally, the Act aims to balance innovation with user rights protection, setting fines for non-compliance and providing support mechanisms for AI development within the EU. You might ask how it affects B2B? The answer is significant, there are huge fines.

Companies could face fines up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover

The impact of the new EU AI Act on B2B is significant, primarily due to the substantial fines for non-compliance. Companies could face fines up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover for using banned AI applications, €15 million or 3% for other violations, and €7.5 million or 1.5% for submitting incorrect information.

Despite the opportunities, threats, risks, and advantages of AI, remember to approach it as a human-centric AI tool or technology and prioritize critical thinking. Always consider AI's impact on people first, weighing its benefits and challenges thoughtfully.

To wrap up this first edition of the newsletter Inhale AI, Exhale B2B Growth, I'd like to quote Jordan Wilson , a well-known Everyday AI content creator from Chicago, USA:

"People think 2023 was the year of the AI wave, but it's not even a splash compared to what's ahead"

If you would like to support my free AI content creation, please consider purchasing the #1 product from Synthesia, for creating video avatars using my personal referral link Synthesia Video Avatars Creation from Darius . Your support is greatly appreciated and helps me continue to provide valuable AI insights each week!

Also, don't forget to check the very useful AI tools list for marketing people:

TOP 10 AI Tools for MARKETING

Thank you and see you soon!

Truly yours, Darius

How would you rate the content of my first newsletter edition?

1. Excellent
2. Good
3. Average
4. Below Average
5. Poor