Generative AI: How Your Business Can Leverage It
Jump started by the uber popularity of ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM) developed by OpenAI, artificial intelligence is entering a new phase. It’s changing the way we communicate, create, and work daily. The excitement is centered around the generative ability of computers, or generative AI – a subset of machine learning. Generative AI models can be used to create new ideas, content, and 3D models from natural language prompts and training data.
As of November 2023, 23% of global CEOs and 32% of global CMOs surveyed by Statista said they’d already adopted AI into their operations with 43% and 39% of CEOs and CMOs, respectively, saying they plan to explore options for adoption in the future. The most popular AI use cases included service operations optimization at the top. It was followed by the creation of new AI-based products and solutions. With ChatGPT taking generative AI mainstream throughout 2023, the development and adoption of new generative AI tools to augment human capabilities will only increase.
What Is Generative AI?
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that creates something new and original from existing data using a machine learning model. It represents a significant advancement in AI capabilities. GenAI uses deep learning models that can learn from data automatically without being programmed to do so.
LLMs, such as OpenAI’s GPT series (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) and the conversational AI application ChatGPT, are a type of generative AI specifically designed for natural language generation. These models are trained on massive volumes of data and use deep learning to generate human-like text. The latest models are impressive for their range of abilities from drafting emails to generating code.
In addition to text, today’s generative AI solutions can create new images, music, simulations or computer code. DALL-E, also from OpenAI, is an AI tool that generates entirely new and realistic images from natural language descriptions using a combination of natural language processing and computer vision techniques.
What Can Generative AI Do?
The uses of generative AI are far reaching, touching all industries including robotics, music, travel, medicine, agriculture, and more. Its potential applications are still being explored and developed. Generative AI’s major appeal is in its ability to produce high-quality new content with minimal human input. Companies outside of tech are already taking advantage of generative AI tools for their ability to create content so good it sometimes seems human made. For example, clothing brand Levi’s announced they will use AI-generated virtual models for clothing image generation to provide its customers with more diverse shopping experiences.
When it comes to language, all industries or job functions that depend on clear and credible writing stand to benefit from having a close collaborator in generative AI. In the business world, these can include marketing teams that work with generative AI technology to create content such as blogs and social media posts more quickly. Tech companies can benefit from coding generated by AI, saving time and resources for IT professionals so they can pursue opportunities for creating greater value for their businesses.
The customer service industry, in particular, is poised for incredible gains from this technology. By 2026, conversational AI will cut the labor costs of contact centers by $80 billion, according to Gartner. Conversational AI will make agents more efficient and effective with one in 10 agent interactions set to be automated by 2026. AI models will allow support agents to dedicate themselves to different and better work.