So far, 2023 is shaping into the “Year of Artificial Intelligence.” Since ChatGPT was released into the mainstream, AI technology has transformed enterprise—or even daily life—as we know it. Of course, AI is not exactly new.
Tools such as machine learning, virtual assistants, augmented reality, and voice search have been around for a while at this point. But now, the AI industry is branching out like never before with all sorts of exciting innovations for marketers, entrepreneurs, organisations, and consumers to tap into.
Based on the latest global projections, $154 billion will be spent on AI integration in 2023—that’s nearly a 30 percent increase from 2022. As such, companies that avoid this technology will slip through the cracks.
AI can be used to implement valuable marketing solutions, synthesise data metrics, automate repetitive workflow, bolster online security measures, personalize customer interactions, and much more. So whether you’re a business owner or just an internet user, here are a few emergent AI trends on the horizon that you need to follow.
Emotional Intelligence Chatbots
In a recent survey of more than 19,000 consumers, most ranked emotional attachment as the main factor in their decision to support a business. Customers are more likely to trust a brand that can sense their needs, then offer a helpful solution to satisfy them, forming an emotional connection in the process.
And thanks to a new program called Emotion AI, it will soon be easier for brands to facilitate that experience. While still in the infancy stages of development, Emotion AI is a chatbot mechanism that will detect how a user feels through the analysis of speech (audio), facial (video), or semantic (text) signals.
This enables the chatbot to deliver a more empathetic, intuitive, and meaningful interaction.
Multimodal Learning Functions
Previously, AI software has been unimodal, which means it will process information from one source to perform a particular function. For instance, Siri and Alexa use auditory cues to generate a response, whereas Google Lens uses visual stimuli to produce results.
But with the launch of multimodal learning, now AI systems can collect, interpret and utilize data from many different sources to perform a seamless range of cross-functional tasks.
This allows a user to obtain information in various formats simultaneously. One example of multimodal learning is MURAL, a translation tool which can retrieve accurate images of a search query based on a written description (or vice versa) in 100+ languages.
Bias Identification and Mitigation
As more AI innovations find their way into business sectors all over the map—from e-commerce to healthcare and everything in between—the companies who use this tech must learn how to manage AI bias.
Since it’s the product of human creation and oversight, bias will undoubtedly creep into these systems. A recent study in The Lancet reveals that an AI medical program could identify a patient’s race 93 percent of the time, even when shown anonymous datasets.
Without responsible mitigation, bias can cause discrimination against some consumers, but tools like AI Fairness 360 from IBM will spot and resolve any potential bias within AI metrics, algorithms, or features in order to promote ethical use.
Digital Twins and the Metaverse
A “digital twin” is a virtual model that identically simulates a product, service, system, or process. With the use of AI design applications and the existence of the metaverse, a business can now create fully functional 3D prototypes to mirror objects or logistics in the real-world.
They can also monitor these digital twins at each phase of the entire lifecycle, from wireframing to production to marketing and delivery. AI allows it to run actionable beta tests, trace the end-to-end supply chain, or even predict consumer reactions—all within the highly immersive, experiential metaverse.
This could transform how brands conceptualize and manufacture products, manage daily operations, and create customer value.
Automated Cybersecurity Tools
By 2025, all devices with an internet connection will generate an estimated 79.4 zettabytes of total data, most coming from online security surveillance. That number is insurmountable for human IT departments to comb through manually.
However, there still needs to be a mechanism to monitor and ultimately prevent breaches within this massive amount of data. That’s where AI-powered cybersecurity tools come in. These solutions will automatically track sensitive business, customer, and personal data access points to block real-time threats.
Moreover, AI cybersecurity takes proactive measures well before a threat can even occur by learning the user’s normal behaviors to detect suspicious anomalies.
Be On the Lookout for these AI Trends in 2023
This list only begins to scratch the surface of all the new AI innovations rolling out, but these are certainly some of the most exciting AI trends to keep your finger on the pulse of in 2023.
From intuitive chatbots that can sense your emotions to multimodal searches that can gather data from various inputs to digital twins that can transform the metaverse into a titan of industry, the future of AI will change business forever—in fact, it already has.
