Listen to this article 3 min
As 2024 draws to a close, local tech experts share their expectations for AI trends in the coming year.
With a buzz continuously increasing around artificial intelligence, companies of every industry and size are hoping to jump on the AI train.
Artificial intelligence remains a key focus for both prominent organizations and young startups, with companies in nearly every industry honing in on the surging technology.
Major AI developments in 2024 include OpenAI’s release of its ChatGPT-4o model, characterized by increased up-to-date information gathering and summarization capabilities, as well as improvements of Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini models.
However, local business leaders say these improvements seem to be hitting a temporary plateau as newer models haven’t made as formative innovative leaps as previous models.
“These models have not been quite as big of a leap forward as previous models … that said, they are still better than anything that has come before them, and companies should use the latest and greatest,” said Will Blackburn, co-founder of DevClarity and AI information group Birmingham AI. “In 2025, we expect moderate base model improvements with more investment in alternative innovations.”
Blackburn’s role with Birmingham AI allows him a close look at how local founders and professionals are implementing artificial intelligence into their businesses.
“Birmingham is past the “enthusiast” stage and into the “user” stage,” he said. “As I talk to leaders and operators of Birmingham-based companies, I hear stories of AI teams inside their companies. I hear about the different tools they have access to, such as ChatGPT for teams and GitHub Copilot for developers.”
Although many large corporations are starting to implement AI capabilities into their business model, one of the biggest challenges surrounding AI is still accessibility of use for normal-sized companies.
“The biggest challenge continues to be connecting the latest models with the context that the business has. This is a technology, security and compliance challenge wrapped up in one,” Blackburn said.
He said 2025 will likely bring an increase in businesses adopting AI solutions and tools that will allow their employees to use them for everyday tasks.
In addition to an uptick of employee use, Blackburn also said he expects 2025’s AI ecosystem to be focused on AI agents, which are able to solve a problem holistically.
“Companies will begin to use AI agents that solve an entire problem from top to bottom,” he said. “Think of an AI agent that reviews a project plan and provides a report or an agent that updates a sales pipeline automatically based on emails from your sales team.”
Many local AI-focused startups have launched over the last year both locally and nationally, leading to a saturated market. To differentiate themselves, new businesses will need to make sure they’re solving a specific existing problem and making it clear what the return for the customer is.
Blackburn’s final piece of advice is for business professionals to continue using and becoming familiar with different AI tools to help narrow down the ones that best help day-to-day tasks.
“Continue to lean on AI. Explore AI agent solutions in 2025 that have been specifically built for a challenge your business faces,” he said. “You will find out what AI is good at and where it can help your business.”
© 2024 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated August 13, 2024) and Privacy Policy (updated December 17, 2024). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals.
Français 
English