After a breathless 2023 on her beat, we caught up with the FT’s Artificial Intelligence editor Madhumita Murgia to ask what breakthroughs she is expecting in the year ahead.
Generative AI will go mobile
Her first prediction was easy: AI will start to transform smartphones.
“Google has already said it plans to integrate its AI model Gemini into its Pixel phones,” said Madhu. “You will be able to ask your phone for stuff like, ‘Can you find me that picture of me on that date?’”
Meanwhile, Apple is not too far behind. “They have hired quite a few people in France who are shrinking these AI models and making them low latency and low power [so they can work on phones],” she said.
Big Tech will help other industries roll out AI
Until now, AI has looked interesting, but few companies have found ways to integrate it into their businesses. Now Madhu says the Big Tech companies are on a mission to help business develop AI tools.
“Microsoft is doing a really big push and has made law firms a top priority. Allen and Overy is going to introduce its first AI contract writer, and Microsoft is also working with LexisNexis,” she said. “And Google has just done a partnership with Hiscox, the insurer.”
“The tech companies need to work with other companies to get them up to speed. This is much more than just selling them a package, they have to show them uses and get them to adopt them.”
There will be another big jump in technology
“Everybody is predicting artificial general intelligence in the next 5-7 years,” said Madhu. But before then, she is expecting to see more AI models that can behave autonomously rather than having to wait for prompts.
“For example, you could see AI being capable of long-term planning and chains of reasoning; working out the steps to doing something and reasoning, planning and executing that action,” she said.
As an early taste of what’s on the way, Madhu pointed to an event where she saw Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, ask AI to find ten people in the audience who had spent a certain amount of time on ChatGPT and pay $500 in computer credit into their accounts.
