Caution and optimism: Projections for AI landscape in 2024

Reflecting on the past, 2023 emerged as a pivotal year for artificial intelligence (AI), witnessing substantial transformations across industries, employment landscapes, and policy frameworks within a short span. As we step into 2024, the trajectory of this technology holds both promising prospects and notable concerns. Here, we list the top areas for AI in 2024.

Domain-specific and localized models

AI models have been around for a very long time; however, they gained massive popularity in the last year. All the major consequential companies have launched their own models, both open source and otherwise. However, the capabilities of these models and their potential to perform specific tasks, pertaining to sectors like banking, medicine, legal, and government services, are now being recognized. This trend is expected to accelerate further in 2024.

Lately, a number of Indian companies have begun developing localized language models. Examples include Ola’s Krutrim, Tech Mahindra’s Project Indus, and Sarvam AI’s OpenHathi. This showcases a shift towards building models suited for India’s use cases with elements of contextuality and language.

“The trend of leveraging use-case-specific large language models (LLMs) will pick up pace, with more and more enterprises understanding the shortcomings of generic LLMs. India will see significant investment in developing multilingual LLMs to break language barriers and promote accessibility,” said Raghu Ravinutala, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder of Yellow.ai.

According to a senior spokesperson from Accenture, while most organizations have been experimenting by consuming foundation models 'off the shelf,' the biggest value will come when they customize or fine-tune models using their own data to meet their unique needs.

AI’s impact on work and employment

Changa Reddy, the vice president of retail at Tredence, notes that generative AI is inching towards greater maturity, and as a result, companies are quickly adopting it for larger use cases. “Moving beyond individual use, Generative AI (GenAI) is increasingly integrating into larger business settings. Originally explored on a smaller scale, there is now a genuine demand for the application of GenAI in larger business contexts," he said.

The fact that most companies are investing in training their employees in AI-related skill sets (at varying degrees and levels) corroborates Reddy’s prediction. There are now AI-based productivity and efficiency enhancement tools for several job roles, including coding, customer support, and business processes.

Anil Kumar, the chief technology officer at Exotel, said that AI innovation is set to revolutionize executive workflows and personal productivity. “This includes the rise of GenAI-based assistants in roles requiring personal assistance, such as an AI Chief of Staff for a CXO or a personal assistant that filters phone calls, focusing only on urgent matters."

While the need for upskilling would persist, so would the fear of job loss due to AI. There are two schools of thought on this topic – a few believe AI would usurp many existing jobs, while others think that newer roles will emerge due to AI, thus maintaining the balance. In the last few months, companies like Google, Flipkart, Paytm, and others have reportedly conducted AI-related layoffs.

Responsible AI

As AI tools and models become more powerful, along with their widespread adoption, the focus on responsible and ethical AI is set to grow. This is further buoyed by the emergence of newer threats such as deepfake, hallucinations, and cybercrimes.

Last year, the European Union released the EU AI Act, touted to be the first of its kind regulation framework for AI. Since then, many countries and international bodies have committed to or are planning to have their own versions. “In India, policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers are actively working towards establishing robust frameworks and guidelines for ethical AI development and deployment. This includes efforts to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI systems, particularly in sectors like healthcare, finance, and education," said Jai Ganesh, VP and GM – Technology, HARMAN DTS.

In December, the International Standards Organization (ISO) published ISO/IEC 42001:2023, which lays down a framework for developing, providing, or using artificial intelligence (AI)-based products or services.

“In 2024, developments on building AI security and responsible AI guardrails will gain significant momentum. Businesses will implement technological safety measures for safe AI use. Like ISO, commercial standards for AI will emerge, creating a new industry for auditing/certifying AI," said Balakrishna D. R. (Bali), Executive Vice President – Global Head of AI and Industry Verticals, Infosys.