Emotional AI could overtake generative AI and space technology could save humanity. Euronews Next looks at what we can expect from technology in 2024.
ADVERTISEMENTArtificial intelligence (AI) has exploded into the tech sphere in 2023 with the growing popularity of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot. But will AI continue to grow exponentially or, like the Metaverse, will it burst its bubble?
Euronews Next looks at what we can expect from technology trends in 2024.
AI of emotions
Generative AI – the technology behind ChatGPT that learns data patterns and generates new data in text or image form – was all the rage in 2023.
But next year, emotional AI, which detects and interprets human emotional signals, will take over, according to Federico Menna, CEO of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Digital).
“Emotional AI is the next trend after generative because, in addition to being able to generate content based on user interaction or request, emotional AI is able to react and understand the emotions of the user. human in front of the machine and react accordingly,” he said. told Euronews Next.
Menna said he expects this to be critical for the healthcare sector as well, as it would enable people with chronic illnesses, age-related issues or mental health issues to live better lives.
He expects emotional AI to also thrive in the mobility sector.
“In the inner-city environment, emotional AI could play an important role. Someone, for example, might be nervous because the city is also too dark and an algorithm can turn on some lights,” he said.
The final sector where emotional AI could also play an important role is finance, as Menna points out. It’s “where people’s emotions are, because when you touch their money or their wealth, of course they’re very sensitive.”
But he added that because it is a heavily regulated sector, use of this technology could start with a very specific application rather than the big banks.
The responsibility of AI
Generative AI will remain important and “revolutionize” businesses from software development to daily operations, said Jitendra Putcha, executive vice president of data, analytics and AI at technology consulting firm LTIMindtree.
He believes that all sectors, from travel to media, will benefit from this technology, which not only improves creativity, but can also reduce costs, improve training and growth, and enhance privacy and security.
“What’s exciting is that AI is becoming more accessible, moving beyond big tech companies through the convergence of cloud and open source,” Putcha told Euronews Next.
But, quoting Spiderman, he said: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
“We have a magic wand in our hands that can do wonders, but as advisors, evangelists, technologists and adopters, we have a responsibility to use it in the right context for the right thing and with the right guardrails in place. place,” he said.
To be able to scale AI, a solid database is necessary. So we will see more and more companies focusing on data trust, which includes quality and governance for better results, Putcha explained.
Regulation will also become a major topic for AI companies, as at the end of 2023, Europe and the United States agreed on new AI legislation on their continents.
“As technologists, we must take a cautious path while maintaining momentum toward the vision of responsible AI,” Putcha said.
ADVERTISEMENTAs the Formal adoption of EU AI law expected in 2024it will impose specific rules on suppliers and deployers of AI systems in areas such as transparency, documentation and testing.
“It is inevitable that AI regulation will create obstacles, and larger companies will certainly get there faster, while smaller companies will need more patience,” Putcha said.
But he said organizations that advocate for ethical solutions will stand out, highlighting models that can filter out misinformation and use ethically sourced data for training.
Space technology
Although AI is still on the horizon, it may have reached its peak and space technology could be the next big thing in 2024.
“I am convinced that 2024 will bring an even greater breakthrough in space technology. Just like today everyone is starting a conversation with AI, people will be talking a lot more about space technology because of the many trends happening,” said Adam Niewinski, co-founder and general partner of the European company venture capital firm OTB Ventures.
ADVERTISEMENTAI topics will continue over the next decade, but in terms of momentum and growth, the space will be even bigger as there is already “quite a bit of hype around AI”, did he declare.
As for what type of space technology will be the star of 2024, it won’t be space travel but satellites.
Technology allows humans to spot what is happening on our planet, such as weather disasters, but we can also predict weather conditions and better understand melting ice and how we should manage water resources.
“In the coming months and years, people will be able to manage many activities, from logistics to watering, based on data from space. It’s not going to be complicated, it’s just going to be integrated into our lives,” Niewinski said.
Other spatial data that will be essential concerns agriculture. How water and energy are used for crops can be observed from space. Satellites can also document environmental damage caused by cleaning ships and oil tankers at sea.
ADVERTISEMENTAs for which companies will generate the most hype, Niewinski said SpaceX will have similar influence to OpenAI.
“SpaceX is a company that is leading a change and this change is going to be bigger and bigger because people will start to understand and see the importance of space technology, which will allow us to better understand everything that is happening on Earth,” he said.
But he also stressed that it was important for new companies to enter the sector, rather than traditional companies like Boeing, which he said were never forced to innovate because they were in a comfortable position and monopolized the market.
“The only way to change this is to allow new space companies to enter the market more dynamically, and to enable, or even support, these companies to compete with incumbents. We’re starting to see this happening, but we need more effort,” Niewinski said.
Quantum and cybersecurity
2023 has been a big year for quantum computing, with IBM poised to find a way to minimize data errors.
ADVERTISEMENTBut how quantum computing can protect us online will be a major topic in 2024.
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is expected to release final post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards in early 2024, marking the end of an eight-year global project for the cryptography community, said Dr. Axel Poschmann: Head of Product Innovation and Security at PQShield, a UK cybersecurity startup specializing in quantum security solutions.
“With this announcement, it will mark the start of the biggest cybersecurity transition in a generation as we work to protect our data and digital infrastructure against attacks from quantum computers,” he told Euronews Next .
He said he expected a steady stream of announcements touting the improved performance of quantum computers.
“Each proclamation raises the urgency of adopting post-quantum cryptography. With these advancements, there is increased potential to harvest now and decrypt attacks later.
ADVERTISEMENT“Cybercriminals will recognize the additional potential value of collecting, storing and selling this encrypted data within the cybercriminal ecosystem,” he warned.
