“2024 has been a yr of serious developments, with AI cementing its position as the defining expertise of the decade. Whereas many predictions got here true, the velocity and depth of some modifications — particularly in accountable AI and greener tech — highlighted each the promise and challenges of this transformative yr.”
That is how ChatGPT responded when requested if the tech predictions made in these columns final yr (The Indian Express, December 29, 2023) had been any good.
Our predictions for 2024 had been that Synthetic Intelligence (AI) would develop into all-pervasive, with a transfer towards accountable AI; extra Made in India tech merchandise; greener tech; a extra personal Web; and digital actuality (VR) including a digital layer over actuality.
We acquired it broadly proper — although we did overestimate the impression of a cookieless world, which appears to have been largely postpone. Additionally, on prolonged actuality changing into extra prevalent, India appears to be holding off for now — at the same time as this expertise positive aspects floor in different components of the world.
AI has certainly entered lives in a giant method — and has opened up existential points for each the expertise and its customers. Everyone seems to be adopting AI, however discovering returns on these heavy investments has not been simple.
In 2025, there’s going to be some recalibration of the precise use instances of AI — with plenty of giant companies anticipated to chop down on the scale of deployment, limiting it to areas the place the expertise has had seen impression. Corporations which were early adopters have realised that whereas there is no such thing as a future with out AI, this isn’t the one reply to all their issues, at least not but.
For customers, it’s changing into more and more clear that this new expertise is extra of a copilot than a alternative. People might want to work on top-of-the-line specialised stuff that differentiates us from computer systems as increasingly below-the-line stuff may be handed over to AI for processing — and even decision-making. Deal with elevated pondering may assist develop game-changing concepts, and maintain those that are in a position to do that, forward in the race.
So with all the caveats that the fast-moving applied sciences of our instances warrant, listed here are our predictions for what to anticipate in the world of tech in 2025.
Takeover by AI brokers
The adoption of AI brokers that may carry out sure duties with none steerage, study from their errors, and even make selections on these duties, will develop into the extra fashionable solution to undertake AI for enterprise in addition to client makes use of.
It’s simple to create AI brokers for a wide range of use instances, and to coach them to maintain mundane processes that don’t want human intervention, although alerting people when one thing wants their consideration. As of December 2024, customers have created greater than 3 million customized GPTs on ChatGPT, solely about 5% of that are publicly accessible by way of the GPT Retailer.
Quickly, plenty of work on the Web, on apps, and software program may be executed by these personalised brokers, though we’re nonetheless ready for corporations to launch consumer-facing brokers that clear up particular issues that customers may need. One impression of this can be a shift past the chat-driven paradigm that GenAI processes are actually depending on — these brokers can be pre-programmed, and won’t want prompts to get on with what they’re imagined to do.
This may also elevate some moral questions — as an illustration if you get an agent to answer to emails despatched by human contacts anticipating you to reply. Banks may already be utilizing particular AI brokers to judge mortgage purposes on particular standards earlier than they attain the desk of a supervisor, and hospitals might be utilizing brokers to spotlight important factors in blood reviews to docs earlier than they go on their rounds.
Loss of life of dashboards
AI has began to make information extra accessible, eradicating hurdles of talent behind analysing giant information units. This may step by step result in dashboards being changed by GenAI instruments that reply particular information questions with visualisations, development traces, and even predictions primarily based on their visibility.
You possibly can see merchandise that present analytics transfer to this format by the finish of 2025, although the prices concerned in dealing with these queries would possibly restrict the conversational information analytics to enterprise merchandise for a while.
At the identical time, information itself should transfer to codecs that assist the necessities of those new instruments. As person queries will now not be restricted by the headers on a spreadsheet, information assortment might want to develop into extra complicated and detailed to be able to seize all the metrics that might probably be summoned.
Rise of not-so-social media
Social media platforms are in the midst of a disaster. TikTok is staring at an unsure future regardless of its large recognition in the United States and different markets. X customers sad with the method Elon Musk is utilizing the platform are shifting en masse to Bluesky. Facebook struggles to search out youthful customers, and Threads any severe engagement. Instagram continues to develop, although — with some assist from dodgy content material and much more questionable content material moderation.
All this might produce a complete new platform that may sweep up audiences — although such makes an attempt haven’t been profitable in the previous. Apparently, plenty of localised platforms, even in India, have died down over the previous yr or so, having realised that engagement induced by Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns was not one thing they might maintain when customers produce other issues to do.
Making issues worse, youthful customers have discovered methods to socialize on not-so-social platforms the place closed teams make extra sense than the bulletin board codecs of the now archaic platforms of the desktop period.
Unmatched computing energy
So much is occurring in the world of computing. Google Willow quantum chips have proven the potential to take customers to a complete new degree, and NVIDIA’s new GPUs can energy AI to resolve the largest issues of our instances a lot sooner than we may ever think about. All that is occurring as the new Apple M4 processors convey professional-grade processing energy to even moveable PCs like the Mini.
With a brand new wave of units anticipated quickly, processing instances might be minimize like by no means earlier than, opening up new potentialities on what computer systems can do. However at the same time as computational energy scales up, questions can be requested on whether or not the information fashions are good or complicated sufficient for these computer systems to place to good use. The ‘information wall’ with maxed-out computing capabilities may begin pushing AI fashions to their limits and probably set off a pivot to new trajectories of reasoning.
AI meets {hardware}
The primary few AI-led {hardware} merchandise akin to the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit r1 have been disasters. That is the place corporations have realised once more that being an early mover will not be at all times a bonus, particularly when the expertise is nascent.
In the new yr, anticipate a brand new wave of merchandise that use AI at their core, and possibly clear up extra particular issues as a substitute of attempting to be a smartphone equal. It’s tough to foretell what these units can be. A few of them might be unveiled at the CES in early January.
Count on some experimentation on getting AI platforms to take the lead on smartphones and laptops — how about an OpenAI telephone stuffed with brokers that exchange apps or a Perplexity laptop computer that replaces the OS with an AI chat?
The chances are countless — anticipate all attainable paths to be trod.
Nandagopal Rajan is Chief Working Officer, The Indian Categorical Digital
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