Artificial intelligence made a big splash with consumers and regulators alike in 2023, with experts believing the continued development of the technology will reach even greater heights in 2024.
"I think that in 2024, AI will move a little closer to what is in the public imagination, but we remain years from AI being autonomous in the way people are imagining it," Christopher Alexander, chief analytics officer of Pioneer Development Group, told Fox News Digital.
Alexander's comments come after 2023 saw a noticeable leap in the development and availability of AI tools, with popular language learning model (LLM) platforms such as OpenAI's ChatGPT gaining huge popularity and energizing other tech giants to come along for the ride.
A NEW TECH ERA QUIETLY DAWNED IN 2023
Microsoft was one of the first companies to follow the leader of OpenAI in 2023, announcing a large investment in the AI company while also launching its own chatbot that will be used on both its Bing search platform and another AI bot compatible with Windows 11. Google, Amazon and Meta also announced AI initiatives of their own early this year, setting up a new arms race among many of the tech giants.
But the growing technology also has the potential to be a boom industry for startups, experts believe, a trend that could really begin to show in 2024.
"In 2024, I expect the momentum we saw from this past year only to increase," Samuel Mangold-Lenett, staff editor at The Federalist, told Fox News Digital. "Corporations have found solid footing, startups are learning how to customize it to fill various niches, and the public has realized that in some critical ways AI technology is a net positive."
Mangold-Lenett also believes 2024 will be the year that, like other technologies, AI will become much more customizable to individual users.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
"I expect this will be the year that we see a lot more customization and niche AI companies to pop up while massive LLMs continue to aggregate and process vast sums of data," Mangold-Lenett said. "Hardware will likely become increasingly integrated with AI as well, like smartphone digital assistants. Largescale AI manufacturing is still a ways out, we're waiting for the robotics to catch up, and I doubt an AGI will come online."
Phil Siegel, the founder of the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS), shared a similar sentiment, telling Fox News Digital that custom AI models could "explode" in 2024.
"This will be the year corporations realize they have an enormous amount of data to build more custom models to improve processes and efficiency," Siegel said. "The use of LLMs will increase but will maybe disappoint except in pockets – things like sales, marketing and customer support and tech development will explode. Other uses of LLMs may not move as quickly, but custom models tailored for company use will explode in 2024."
With the excitement about potentially useful developments in AI in 2024 looming, experts also noted that such changes will also have to be paired with realistic regulation and expectations of the newly booming industry.
While first steps were taken to regulate the industry in 2023, including a Biden administration agreement with leading tech companies to safely develop AI tools in July and an executive order signed by President Biden in October on AI safety, experts believe more will have to be done in 2024.
"I do think it is crucial that we begin creating a social framework that takes AI into account for those jobs that are the most likely to be replaced the soonest," Alexander said.
Aiden Buzzetti, the president of the Bull Moose Project, shared similar thoughts, noting that the U.S. will have to continue competing with China on AI development while building upon 2023's regulatory framework.
"Startups have used LLM models to proliferate AI relationship building, craft essays, develop internal company tools; all things that could displace parts of life humanity is used to," Buzzetti told Fox News Digital. "The regulation thresholds are still being developed but are now shaped by the Biden executive order. Any policy suggestions will have to compete with those documents for safety standards and best practices."
