What Generative AI Really Means For You

ChatGPT is leading the charge — here’s what you should know

Brace yourself, friends, because a new era of technology has been ushered in. Something is happening behind the scenes in every single tech firm in the world, even though it may not be apparent at first. Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI has started a snowball effect in AI being used in every one of our daily lives.

Soon, a number of Microsoft products and services are set to receive serious enhancements from either ChatGPT or its underlying Large Language Model (LLM), GPT. These are just a few examples:

• Microsoft Teams is going Super Saiyan. GPT-3.5 is being embedded to help summarize meetings and generate actions and meeting highlights. Can you imagine how much easier it’ll make project management for teams?
• GPT is also being added to the Microsoft Office 365 suite. Soon, it’ll be there to support you in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents.
• Sales reps, get excited! GPT is making its way into Viva Sales to give you a helping hand while you’re engaging with clients or potential leads.

But, I think ChatGPT teaming up with Microsoft’s Bing to create the world’s first AI-powered internet searcher might be the biggest news of them all.

Our lives are about to change in so many ways with GPT around, and who knows, this might just be the tip of the iceberg for what generative AI has in store for us, the beginning of a future where generative AI becomes a permanent fixture in our lives.

But what exactly is generative AI, you might ask?

Well, it’s a fascinating field that has the potential to revolutionise the way we research, use information, and even communicate with each other.

In fact, models like ChatGPT could completely transform the business model of search, and change the way we access content online.

Did you know generative AI, deep learning, and predictive AI have been around for a while? I just found out, it’s the thing that finishes your sentences when writing an email! I've been using that for years and never knew it was AI.

However, something truly exciting has been happening in recent years. There’s been a mind-boggling increase in the size and complexity of models! We now have?Large Language Models (LLMs)?that are so huge, they can analyze massive amounts of data sets. However, this kind of analysis or “training” requires a massive amount of computing power. Thankfully, advances in computing techniques such as Central Processing Units (CPUs) and cloud computing have made it possible for customers to access thousands of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) from the cloud. As a result, creators of these models are making them more “human friendly” and accessible through public applications. The amount of available data is also skyrocketing, creating the perfect conditions for AI to begin to thrive on our planet.

Soooo GPT stands for Generative Pretrained Transformer...

What’s a Transformer in AI, anyway?

They’re deep learning models that use something called self-attention mechanisms to weigh the importance of each part of input data.

These models have been a game-changer for Natural Language Processing (NLP), which is a branch of AI that focuses on helping computers understand natural human language. By using transformer models for NLP, AI can be more efficiently trained, which dramatically reduces the cost of training compared to other models.

In fact, the CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, said in 2022,

“Transformers made self-supervised learning possible, and AI jumped to warp speed.”

Microsoft has been the team quickest to react in the tech space. Their partnership with OpenAI (which kinda feels like an acquisition at this point) has shaken the industry big time.

But, who and what is OpenAI?

A Brief History of OpenAI

This organisation started as a research lab back in 2015. With the goal to research and develop AI, they have since created three amazing generative AI models — ChatGPT, Codex, and DALL-E.

What’s so special about these models is that they’re trained to understand human language and can create all sorts of content — from text and code to images and even new data/insights from a training set. The release of these models has been a turning point in generative AI because they’re so good at what they do — thanks to improvements in computing power, more data available, and the public’s ability to test and refine the models.

ChatGPT, launched in November 2022, and you can't deny, it is seriously impressive. It’s designed to be a human-like AI platform that can answer prompts and questions in a conversational style. That means instead of just giving you links to suggested sites, it actually talks to you!

And people are loving it — it’s already become the fastest-growing consumer application in history! Can you believe it? It reached 100 million Monthly Average Users by January 2023, breaking the previous records held by TikTok which took 9 months.

Sub-note: OpenAI started as an open-source non-profit to challenge Google, but it has since become a for-profit company controlled by Microsoft…

Elon Musk, who is the co-founder of OpenAI and was involved with the company from the beginning even called this out recently!

AI-powered search

The impact of the Microsoft x OpenAI partnership has been so significant that it’s forced Google to speed up its own AI plans. It might just explain why Google stumbled when naming their ChatGPT rival, which they ended up calling ‘Bard.’ I guess they were too busy feeling the heat to come up with a cool name!

Think about it, how often have you found yourself searching for quick answers to simple questions on Google?

When you have a burning desire for knowledge what do you do? You Google it! It’s become our go-to move, our reflex action. Can you imagine how many times you’ve Googled in your lifetime? It must be some insane number, so imagine the sheer number of Google searches happening at any given moment.

99,000 per second, my friend.

Per day? That’s?8.5 billion?searches, and that’s just Google.

But what does that mean for humanity? Well, it means we’re a curious bunch, always searching for answers, and that now our trusty search habits are about to be revolutionized. Get ready for a whole new way of finding information online.

Google realized that people preferred a direct response rather than a list of links, which is why they have the “People also ask” section. But, while Google’s search algorithm provides optimized links, ChatGPT goes above and beyond by providing unique, tailored answers.

The specificity and complexity of ChatGPT’s responses surpass what Google search is capable of today, and that’s what sets it apart.

According to Microsoft, this is because people are using search for purposes it wasn’t originally designed for. While search is great for finding websites, it often falls short when it comes to more complex questions or tasks.

Here are some other intriguing stats and context from Microsoft that highlight the need for a “new approach” to search:

• 40% of search queries result in someone clicking back, indicating dissatisfaction with the results.
• The majority of searches (more than 50%) consist of three keywords or less.

Generative AI solutions are poised to dramatically change our lives, regardless of our opinions. It feels like Microsoft has been lurking in the background waiting for this moment for a long time.

Low-Code, No-Code, and Intelligent Developer Technologies

Let me tell you about the exciting future of low-code/no-code AI. These platforms have already proved their worth by allowing businesses to create custom applications without the need for expensive software engineers. And the best part? Non-technical professionals can use them! In the coming years, no-code platforms are set to become even more sophisticated and will offer a wider range of features, capabilities, and integrations.

Picture this: AI algorithms are set to integrate into no-code platforms, analyzing user behavior and predicting user needs to suggest the best course of action. This means businesses can automate tasks and streamline processes, making more informed decisions that drive growth and innovation.

Now imagine a lawyer or doctor creating AI solutions using their expertise without needing technical skills. This is a game-changer and it wouldn’t be surprising if Microsoft releases a no-code data preparation software soon. Get ready for a whole new digital era!

Another exciting trend is the integration of voice and gesture control, which means we’ll be able to interact with our applications using natural language, making the experience more intuitive and convenient. And that’s not all; voice and gesture control will also play a significant role in the development of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, which are set to explode in popularity in the coming years.

But as with any new technology, businesses need to be mindful of the challenges that come with adopting no-code and AI. Ensuring that applications are secure is a significant concern, particularly for businesses dealing with sensitive data such as financial or personal information. But the good news is that no-code platforms will offer improved security features to help protect this data.

Overall, it’s clear that no-code and AI will have a significant impact on the future of software development. And the best part? It’s also set to have a positive impact on the job market, creating new opportunities for software developers with expertise in AI and machine learning. So get ready, my friend — the future is looking bright! Low-code/no-code platforms are becoming increasingly popular, with 65% of business software expected to be developed this way.

Things are about to get crazy.

We’re closing in on Bladerunner territory people!…ok maybe not quite that…yet.

What do you think about the integration of AI into our daily lives? Join the conversation and stay tuned! ??

Thanks for reading my article, you can stop here if you want to. Below is just some extra, slightly irrelevant, data for you to nerd out to if you want.

Some extra, slightly irrelevant, data for you nerds out there

• According to International Data Corporation (IDC) reports, the conversational AI market is expected to grow at an incredible compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37% from $3.3 billion in 2021 to just over $16 billion in 2026.
• However, it’s worth noting that IDC made these predictions back in July 2022, four months before the launch of ChatGPT. So, this forecast will most likely be a conservative estimate and underestimate the future growth potential of conversational AI.
• In February, OpenAI announced its latest technology, GPT-3.5, which has 175 billion parameters. This is over 100 times the number of parameters used in GPT-2, which had only around 1.5 billion.
• This increase in parameters also means a significant boost in computing power. Plus, the newer model is capable of performing tasks it wasn’t even trained on. Kinda scary, right?
• Of course, there’s always a chance for incomplete answers, inconsistent feedback, or biased behavior, but ChatGPT is still a promising and user-friendly application of LLMs.
• And of course, ChatGPT-4 is already in the works. It’s forecasted to use a staggering 100 trillion parameters! This just shows that LLM technology is ramping up at a rate that even “exponentially” sounds like an understatement. Who can imagine what other mind-blowing innovations we’ll see in the near future with AI advancing this fast?