As 2023 draws to a close, most people will have noticed just how deeply artificial intelligence (AI) has worked its way into everyday life. According to the latest data, four out of every five internet-using children aged 13 to 17 in the UK are now using generative AI tools and their services.
When AI first began appearing in various forms, many people used these tools mostly out of curiosity. Today, however, people use them for a much wider range of purposes — writing, brainstorming ideas, researching information, writing code, and even generating images, video, and audio files — which is exactly why AI has been steadily working its way into daily life.
Because of this, so-called “prompt whisperers,” or prompt engineers, aren’t just crafting the best AI prompts — they’re also regularly sharing guides on how to generate surprisingly good output across different AI services.
In 2023 alone, we’ve been able to explore AI tools not only from major tech companies like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, but also from many other companies. As AI technology keeps advancing at a pace that’s hard to keep up with across every category, it’s exciting to think about what kinds of AI technology will emerge and how things will change in the year ahead — 2024.
Given how rapidly AI technology is advancing, AI experts and technologists are predicting that 2024 will be an “extremely important period” for AI technology. They also note that while AI adoption has never moved this fast before, generative AI has become nothing short of a massive revolution and continues to develop rapidly.
The question generating the most interest heading into 2024 is simply this: will an emotionally intelligent, next-generation AI emerge in 2024? Technologies like this will depend on researchers’ research and development funding, training programmes, and other investments. At the same time, whether generative AI already on the market is being used for fun, for study, or for work, users will still need to approach these technologies responsibly, accountably, and with careful attention.