Key takeaways
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is our main technology investment theme for 2024, as it was in 2023.
- Even though the public has become aware of the powers of generative AI in 2023, many real-world applications of this technology are still to come.
- According to iShares, 70% of executives plan to increase AI resources in 2024.
- AI appears to be advancing faster than regulation, making it important for businesses to self-regulate and use AI responsibly.
- Companies can create a host of new AI-related roles to monitor political, ethical, legal and other concerns.
- AI-based cobots could emerge in 2024 and quickly replace automated assistants like Siri and Alexa.
This may have been a landmark year for generative artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023. But in 2024, technology will likely reach untold heights and affect almost every area of the investing world, according to technology experts.
AI emerged into the public consciousness in 2023, but many business leaders expect it to grow and proliferate dramatically in 2024. According to iShares, 70% of executives plan to increase resources in AI next year, primarily driven by cost-cutting efforts.
Indeed, many technology companies have already integrated AI into pre-existing offerings, such as that of Microsoft (MSFT) Office 365 co-pilot. But some experts say this is just the beginning of AI adoption in the business world.
Emerging AI-Driven Roles
By 2024, AI has the potential to impact Fortune 500 organizations and businesses down to the regional or local level. Cliff Jurkiewicz, technologist and vice president of global strategy at human resources (HR) technology company Phenom, said a host of AI-driven roles are likely to emerge across industries and sectors.
New AI-driven positions could include internal AI ethicists, curators, policy makers, legal advisors, trainers, auditors and interpreters, among others, Jurkiewicz says. Creating an entirely new team dedicated to these and other AI-related considerations could result in major changes to a company’s finances and structure.
Companies that fail to create these roles could find themselves facing legal action and regulatory obstacles. Germany, France and Italy are the latest examples of countries taking steps to implement new AI regulations.
Trust issues
Even though government regulation of AI is only just beginning to emerge, the technology itself appears likely to overtake the legislation. This means that companies will need to convince their customers and investors that they can be trusted to manage AI responsibly themselves.
Jurkiewicz added: “Investors would do well to look at organizations that keep humans in charge. In the absence of federal legislation, organizations must self-regulate. » A company that creates roles around AI ethics and curation can demonstrate to investors that it takes this responsibility seriously.
The rise of the personal co-bot
Jurkiewicz also sees AI-based generative personal assistant robots as inevitable in the near future, adding that they will become “as common an accessory as a phone.” These co-bots are expected to quickly replace automated assistants like Siri and Alexa.
New companies could emerge as the fight for dominance continues in this field, and co-bots will likely have an immediate impact on HR. According to Jurkiewicz, “recruiters, hiring managers, employees and candidates will use a co-bot to easily navigate a multitude of recruiting tasks.”
AI-augmented software development to accelerate
Software developers, including Ipek Ozkaya of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, are skeptical about the ability of AI tools to facilitate the development process. “Despite the availability of potentially improved tools, it will be humans who use and guide these tools in their targeted application,” Ozkaya noted.
Others believe AI could transform the tech space, especially in 2024, by streamlining much of the development work done by humans. It is perhaps more likely that companies that position themselves to harness the power of AI to speed up traditionally slow processes while maintaining control over humans will reap the greatest benefit.
Investors in technology companies may want to monitor not only whether these companies are using AI in their software development, but more specifically how AI and humans interact to improve the process.
Real-time language translation
AI technology has the potential to make real-time language translation truly useful in the business world. Jurkiewicz acknowledges that even the most popular language translation software on the market today is, at best, “only 60% accurate.”
However, with natural language processing and machine learning tools, automated translation capabilities are likely to accelerate rapidly. “Imagine colleagues from around the world, university professors and students, researchers and doctors, able to truly collaborate simultaneously in any language,” Jurkiewicz said.
AI-powered investing
AI could revolutionize the way individual investors make and execute their investment decisions. Jeff Shen, co-CIO and co-head of active systematic equities at BlackRock, said he believes “the AI investor who blends big data and big models with human insight …(is) the future of asset management.”
As with software development mentioned above, transforming everything investment decisions switching to AI can backfire. The most successful investors in the short term will likely be those who are able to harness the immense power of AI to analyze and sort data while retaining a human touch.
The essential
ChatGPTone of the first generative AI systems to be widely used globally, launched just a year ago, on November 30, 2022, and reached 100 million users in just a few months.
Even in just a short time, AI has evolved at an astonishing pace. This is unlikely to change in the new year, and investors in the technology sector as well as the broader market should prepare for how AI is likely to affect businesses of all types.
