The impact of generative AI on business 2024

Artificial intelligence is here to say – that much should be obvious. The runaway success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has left rival big tech powerhouses like Google and Apple scrabbling to recover the initiative in what looks set to become the defining tech gold rush of the 2020s.

It’s incredible to consider how completely generative AI has taken over the tech and business discourse over the twelve months. Cast your mind back and you may well remember a time when NFTs were all the rage, and even the most reticent analysts were expecting the metaverse to break like a wave over the global society, catapulting us into the VR age.

Now, NFTs have fallen away, collapsing under the weight of their own speculative bubble, but the tech that drives it – the blockchain – the same that the $1.75 trillion dollar crypto industry is built upon is still going strong, despite numerous high profile setbacks. As for the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg is keen to impress upon all who will listen that Meta’s $36 billion investment in the future of the internet is still a sound bet – and this may yet still prove to be true.

The real thing holding VR back at the present is the cost and availability of hardware, but with Apple finally wading into the space with the imminent launch of their Vision Pro headset, one can safely assume influencers across the world will soon find themselves bedecked in mixed reality tech.

But the real reason AI so decisively took over the conversation is that its utility, value and disruptive nature were all immediately apparent. In leveraging the collective data of the entire internet, this new generation of machine learning has already caused a huge stir, and there’s a sense that the genie is very much out of the bottle with this technology, where it’s heading, and what this means for businesses of all scales.

As we move into 2024, expect to see virtually every digital product, service or tool you interact with proudly announce the roll-out of GenAI features. This widespread reconfiguration of the e-commerce and business sectors will have a range of surprising impacts. Let’s explore some key examples below.

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In a world where AI can instantly solve complex problems, write content and create novel artworks, the value of human curation is, in some quarters, only growing. This is especially true when it comes to sectors that place an onus on cultivating a sense of trust and expertise for their customers and patrons.

For example, while AI may be the perfect tool to help you select songs to put on your workout playlist, people may think again when it comes to something subtle and subjective – like recommending a wine with a good bouquet. We are even seeing it become common in entertainment sectors, with the online casino market in particular experiencing a refocusing on human curated lists of recommendations for the best online casinos in South Africa and the like.

Why this matters is that in such circumstances, people want to know that human eyes and expertise have influenced the resources they’re looking at. In light of this, dedicated platforms like CasinoReviews.com have cropped up to address this need while also ensuring prospective gamers can avail themselves of competitive welcome offers and sign-up deals in the process.

At the heart of why AI is proving so valuable to businesses is that it enables people to accomplish work tasks much quicker and with greater capability than if they were to do it on their own. This is particularly true when it comes to mundane administrative tasks that need to be done, but generally hold employees back from focusing their time and energy on adding value to the company and being creative. AI is helping employees channel their energy in directions that are more productive and effective for companies of all scales.

This process is familiar throughout history – from the industrial revolution and the rise of factories, to the advent of the computer – technological leaps of this kind massively compress the man-hours required to achieve specific tasks. This will also, undeniably, lead to restructuring and lay-offs as AI decreases the intrinsic value of low-skilled work roles.