Top 5 Trends to Look Forward to in 2024 for Generative AI

As we bid farewell to 2023, we reflect on a pivotal year in generative AI, significantly shaped by the emergence of tools like Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. From breakthroughs in natural language understanding to significant strides in AI-driven personalization, the power and potential of AI have never been more evident.  

Generative AI has been gaining steam throughout every industry and region worldwide. It is a powerful tool that can save incredible amounts of time in everyday tasks around the office in creating content and revolutionizing productivity, innovation, and creativity. Our team has created prompts that do everything from summarizing meeting notes into useful summaries, social media posts, drafting emails and scripts, and even chatting with Santa Claus.  

Enterprises of all varieties are getting on board by making the most of Generative AI by training it with company data, which could add as much as $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually across 63 business use cases, according to McKinsey & Company.  

As we stand on the brink of a new year, it is time to cast our gaze forward and explore what 2024 might have in store for us. Here are the top five trends we can anticipate in the ever-evolving field of generative AI. 

1. More Than Just Text – Voice Interactions Amplify 

Generative AI is transforming from text-based interactions to more complex and dynamic voice-based interactions. Juniper Research predicts voice assistant usage to triple. The ability to understand and respond to human speech will take AI from chatbots to fully interactive digital assistants. Businesses across industries will leverage voice AI to offer more engaging, intuitive, and accessible services. 

This transition is attributed not only to advancements in AI’s ability to comprehend and respond to human speech, but also to improvements in response time, and the development of technologies like Whisper, an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. Such progress propels AI beyond the realm of simple chatbots, ushering in an era of fully interactive digital assistants. These assistants, equipped with Whisper’s ASR capabilities, can understand and respond to voice commands quickly and accurately, making AI a more natural and seamless part of our daily lives. 

Businesses across various industries are beginning to leverage voice AI to offer more engaging, intuitive, and accessible services. For instance, in the retail sector, voice AI can be used to provide personalized shopping experiences, guiding consumers through product selection, and simplifying the checkout process. In the healthcare industry, voice AI can assist in scheduling appointments, providing medication reminders, and even offering basic medical advice. 

2. Modality Expanded 

While 2023 brought amazing chat experiences and text-to-image creation, 2024 will be the year of video and audio. 

We are seeing tremendous leaps with companies like Pika Labs, experimenting with incredible text-to-video experiences and image-to-video that can make entire videos in hours instead of weeks. While it is easy to spot imperfections today, the quality improves dramatically each month. 

Video generated by AI will be able to make professional quality commercials, social content, educational and training materials – democratizing quality video production.  

The downside will be the overwhelming amount of video content, especially around election time. With voice cloning, quickly made images and videos, countless people could fall victim to fakes. Most companies do not have adequate Social Engineering training to cover these recent technologies, but this should be a priority in 2024. The voice cloning technology is why we built an Identity Verification module, so companies can stay one step ahead. 

3. AI Planners 

Does your company send out emails asking for timesheets, or other routine tasks?  

It is routine, but countless companies have that person who sends out that weekly message. AI Planners can be trained to see who has not completed that task, then remind. On top of that, it can also find errors within their submitted timesheets and ask them for revisions.  

But that’s just a simple example. Complex projects, like product development, engineering, or construction, for example, have many layers of people and tasks from different departments with varied skillsets.  

AI Planners allow for stringing together multiple smaller tasks and logic, to complete complex tasks yielding higher value typically thought only a human could perform.  

4. Rise of Autonomous Agents 

The dawn of autonomous agents, driven by generative AI, is poised to redefine the digital landscape. According to a forecast by Business Insider, this transformative technology is set to witness exponential growth. By 2024, it is predicted that global consumer retail spending via chatbots will catapult to a staggering $142 billion, marking a monumental increase from a comparatively modest $2.8 billion in 2019. 

These advanced agents, powered by the capabilities of Generative AI, custom tools, tailored plans, and knowledge bases, will not only automate routine tasks but will also master complex operations. Their potential extends beyond mere automation, as they are designed to perform intricate tasks with a degree of autonomy that minimizes the need for human intervention. 

The rise of autonomous agents signifies a significant leap forward in AI evolution, promising a future where digital interactions are more streamlined, efficient, and intelligent. 

5. Vector Databases and Embeddings  

Vector databases and embeddings will play an increasingly vital role in the Gen AI landscape. Vector databases enable semantic search over vast amounts of information, which is crucial for many AI applications.  

I expect the cost of vector databases and embeddings in AI to decrease significantly. The key reason for this is the continuous advancement in technology and increasingly efficient embedding models, which are making things faster and more cost-effective. 

Given the competitive nature of the AI market, the money invested, and the open-source community making incredible gains will naturally result in more competitive pricing. 

Looking ahead to 2024, these factors should make vector databases and embeddings much more affordable, making them a realistic option for a wider range of applications. I expect many companies will benefit from chatting with all their documents, transcripts, and emails. 

The coming year promises to be an exciting time for Generative AI. From enhancing natural language understanding to fostering responsible AI, these trends underscore the transformative potential of this technology. As we embrace these advancements, it is crucial to ensure that AI is used responsibly, considering the ethical implications while striving to positively impact society.