Are Chatbots The Extent Of AI Hype?

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In this edition, we answer the question about what's in store for the future of AI revolution.

Since OpenAI publicly released its AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, to the public in November 2022, the world as we know it, hasn’t been the same. Big tech companies like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc. — all started playing catchup, and soon after there was a flurry of chatbots in the market for users to pick. 

From ChatGPT to Anthropic’s Claude, Microsoft Bing AI, Google Gemini, Meta’s Llama, xAI’s Grok, Inflection AI’s Pi, and so many more. However, these different-names-but-almost-identical chatbots race have started raising a big question: is this the extent of AI hype? If not, then what’s next? 

Frankly, the world has started getting a bit bored with only the more advanced version of just a basic chatbot assistant.  

Here’s What ‘Godfather Of GPU’ Thinks

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang has played a pivotal role in accelerating and shaping the AI revolution. What Huang says and thinks carries a lot of weight, and according to him, we are just getting started. 

The Nvidia CEO thinks there’s big money in the AI industry, pegging the value at $100 trillion. One of his important partners, Sam Altman, the co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, also thinks “compute” will be the “currency of the future.”

Huang is also thinking way beyond AI chatbots. According to him, “AI factories” will one day take over the world and data will be the raw material of the future. 

What Experts Have To Say

Humayun Sheikh, CEO of Fetch.ai and an early investor in Google's DeepMind AI unit told Benzinga, that in the current tech landscape, the pace of usage of AI is “not slowing down.” 

When asked about what’s next for the AI revolution, he said, “While initial excitement and hype often wane over time (as we're currently experiencing), the true phase of widespread adoption and utilization is yet to commence.”

He then admitted that currently, the tech landscape is witnessing a surge in the development of AI-centric applications. “With SDKs readily available, companies can create applications more efficiently, attracting a wave of innovation.”

Sheikh also highlighted the role of AI Agents becoming more prominent. “Agents, along with the ability to structure granular applications and facilitate their search and discovery, will define the next phase of AI integration."

Now, What Are AI Agents And AI Factories?

Last year, in his notes, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wrote about what the industry commonly calls "AI Agents." These agents are basically systems or programs that use AI to help us do things on our own. 

For instance, while a chatbot will only help with basic searches like finding hotels in your budget, an agent will do more homework, like finding destinations based on your preferences, recommending activities you might like, and even booking restaurants for you. 

This means that in the future, we might talk to our computers like we talk to each other, and this will become a common way of interacting with them as AI agents improve and become more widespread.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also spoke about the transition from chatbots to AI agents. “An agent is going to do is, you give it an intent or a goal, then it goes off and probably actually performs many queries on its own in the background in order to help accomplish your goal,” he said. 

Meanwhile, AI Factories are unlike conventional data centers. They are tailor-made to cater to the specialized requirements of AI and streamline the creation, processing, and distribution of advanced intelligence. 

Simply put, AI Factories meticulously process vast volumes of data to produce cutting-edge generative intelligence.

What Big Tech Companies Are Dreaming Big For The Future Of AI

Elon Musk’s Tesla says it spent $1 billion on AI infrastructure in the first three months of 2024, increasing its compute capabilities by 130%. But that’s just a drop in the bucket – Musk says Tesla will spend $10 billion in training and inference AI in 2024.

He also wants Tesla to be looked at as an AI or robotics company, instead of just a car maker.

Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms wants to double down on this path, with his $1 billion bet on Nvidia’s AI chips. Last month, he also announced a shift in Meta’s AI strategy, which is now focused on “agents” instead of chatbots, aligning with Sheikh’s perspective that these agents will “define the next phase of AI integration.”

Meta also has a plan in motion to make money from AI, while its “Mag 7” peer Amazon has hit a “multibillion-dollar” revenue run rate with its generative AI offerings.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives thinks AI is the “fourth industrial revolution” following “robust” results from Microsoft and Google.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks the company’s Copilot stack is “orchestrating a new era of AI transformation” while improving the business outcomes for everyone involved.

Google, which has lagged behind its peers and rivals when it comes to AI, is “now in the party,” according to Ives. CEO Sundar Pichai says he is satisfied with the development progress of Gemini AI, despite recent controversies.

For now, Apple is focused on bringing on-device large language models tailored for small devices like iPhones. As a stop-gap solution, it is in talks with both Google and OpenAI to license either Gemini or GPT for iPhones.

The Tim Cook-led company is also reportedly poaching Google’s top AI talent as it races against time to build out its AI solutions.

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