With 2024 now well under way, we feel it’s a great time to review the advancements, debates, regulations, and milestones that shaped the landscape of AI in 2023. From groundbreaking innovations to regulatory leaps, here’s a month-by-month summary of pivotal moments that defined the year of AI.

January

• ChatGPT’s valuation skyrocketed to a staggering $29 billion, highlighting the immense commercial value placed on language AI models.
• Brainomix showcased the e-stroke system, demonstrating significant improvements in outcomes for stroke patients, hinting at the profound impact of AI in healthcare.

February

• Google’s Bard was unveiled, breaking barriers by accessing information beyond 2021, marking a paradigm shift in data accessibility for AI.
• Detect GPT was released, boasting a 95% accuracy rate in discerning essays written by language models, raising questions about authenticity in content creation.
• Evaluations of Language Models (LLMs) in healthcare underscored the necessity for robust evaluation frameworks to enhance their reliability.
• AI’s persuasive abilities to sway opinions on contentious issues came to the fore, sparking discussions on the ethical implications of such influence.

March

• OpenAI’s launch of GPT-4 revolutionized natural language processing, emphasizing creativity, transparency, and ethical considerations in AI.
• Concerns arose regarding potential harm from hallucinated citations in clinical fields, shedding light on the challenges of AI-generated content credibility.
• Studies highlighted the difficulty in identifying AI-generated content, raising concerns about its impact on information credibility.
• OpenAI alleged that ChatGPT was able to score top marks on medical and law exams, stirring debates on AI’s capabilities in specialized fields.

April

• The European Parliament’s AI Act sets a regulatory framework, classifying AI applications based on risk and emphasizing different risk levels in AI use.
• Climate AI secured a substantial $22 million funding, expanding its AI-driven initiatives to combat the climate crisis.

May

• Microsoft’s collaboration with OpenAI integrated ChatGPT with Bing’s AI-powered search, granting access to post-2021 knowledge, breaking limitations.
• Projections by Goldman Sachs suggested that AI could potentially replace up to 300 million jobs, raising concerns about the future workforce.
• The Biden-Harris administration took strides in promoting responsible AI innovation to safeguard Americans’ rights and safety.
• A paper is published that argues the emergent capabilities of AI are a mirage.
• AI detectors, that are used to determine if a written piece of work was created by AI, are found to be biased against non-native english writers

June

• Legal battles ensued as OpenAI and Microsoft faced allegations of data theft for AI development, highlighting ethical concerns and data privacy.
• France invested 500 million euros to bolster AI innovation.
• Amendments to the European AI Act expanded its scope, covering foundational models and high-risk AI systems, while prohibiting certain AI uses.
• A new Beatles song is released with the help of generative AI.
• The World Economic Forum Launched AI Governance Alliance which focused on the responsible use of generative AI.
• The UK announced its plan to host the AI Global Safety Summit in November.
• Southeast Asian countries set ‘guardrails’ on AI with new governance code.

July

• Llama 2’s release sparked debates on the definitions of open-source in AI, raising questions about scalability and licensing models.
• ChatGPT’s exceptional performance in clinical care exams ignited discussions on AI’s potential in specialized medical fields.
• Concerns peaked about AI’s potential to replace numerous white-collar jobs, echoing societal anxieties about automation.
• New rules governing generative AI in China are introduced.
• AI’s usage in film and TV production contributed to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, raising questions about its impact on entertainment industry jobs.
• Study of honeybees and their rapid decision making is studied with the hope of this helping to design more efficient robots and autonomous machines.
• It’s predicted that generative AI will generate trillions for the global economy.
• Fears of AI being used to bring film stars back from the dead emerged.

August

• The Biden-Harris administration launched the AI Cyber Challenge, focusing on AI’s role in cybersecurity.
• AI used by Californian firefighters to help spot wildfires, showcasing its practical applications in crisis management.
• IBM delved into creating more environmentally friendly AI by developing energy-efficient, brain-like chips.

September

• Mistral AI revealed Mistral 7B, a powerful model for handling vast textual data, expanding AI’s capabilities in information processing.
• Tech leaders convened to discuss AI safety, emphasizing the importance of ethical and responsible AI development.
• The UK’s anti-trust regulator outlined AI principles, laying down guidelines for ethical AI use.
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation granted $44 million to support AI-assisted ultrasound technology, showcasing AI’s potential in healthcare.
• Generative AIs are shown to be able to improve our creativity and productivity.
• China’s industry ministry began work on setting standards for the Metaverse.

October

• The White House presented a blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, emphasizing principles guiding the design, use, and deployment of automated systems.
• The Foundation Model Transparency Index emerged, aiming to assess the transparency of foundational AI models.

November

• The UK hosted the inaugural global AI safety summit, fostering collaboration on AI safety research and showcasing AI’s positive global impact.
• France, Germany, and Italy reached an agreement on AI regulation, advocating for self-regulation through codes of conduct.
• There was a leadership crisis at OpenAI as Sam Altman was ousted as CEO only to be reinstated 5 days later due to pressure from investors as well as staff resignations. New details have emerged which allege that there were tensions between Sam and several board members.
• Humane officially launched the AI Pin, a new, wearable AI-assistant.

December

• Mistral AI achieved Unicorn status, reaching a valuation of approximately €2 billion, signifying its meteoric rise in the AI industry.

2023 was definitely the year of AI. From technological breakthroughs to ethical considerations and regulatory advancements, we’ve seen so much occur over these last 12 months.

But where do we go from here? What does 2024 hold for AI? We have some predictions, but as they are predictions, please take them with a grain of salt.

Our Predictions for 2024

We anticipate that 2024 will serve as a pivotal year for AI advancements, focusing prominently on practical implementation. A significant part of this will involve attention to policy and regulation, particularly in response to EU legislation combatting copyright infringement and governmental concerns surrounding defense.

In both industry and academia, we predict a sustained emphasis on reinforcing sequence modeling across diverse domains, including language, code, audio, visual, and genomics. The primary outcomes of these ventures are poised to materialize in heightened efficiency and cost reduction. Notably, we foresee the emergence of more open-source multi-modal models. While these models may not surpass the overall capabilities of GPT-4, they are expected to assert their prowess based on benchmarks that may not fully represent their capabilities.

We also anticipate significant enhancements in running and training open-source models, potentially creating a growing appeal for entities to train and host their own models. It’s also worth noting that bespoke models are predicted to outperform GPT-4 in specific tasks that hold particular significance for individual users.

Furthermore, we anticipate a persistent integration of generative AI features into existing products and platforms. This integration will unfold gradually, reflecting the slow wave of implementation and adoption. As the AI landscape evolves, we foresee 2024 as a dynamic period marked by a concentrated focus on translating theoretical advancements into practical applications and fostering a more robust and diverse AI ecosystem.

Final Thoughts

We’re very aware we may have missed some crucial stories that shaped the year of AI. Your insights matter! Share any we may have overlooked.

Looking ahead to 2024, we’re eager to hear your thoughts. Do our predictions resonate with you? Do you have unique insights into the evolving AI landscape? The conversation continues, and your perspective is a vital part of shaping the narrative for the next chapter in AI innovation.