However, the influence of AI will not end here. As this emerging technology has continued to develop throughout 2023, more innovative opportunities have been unlocked for technology companies. We spoke with some experts on how AI will continue to disrupt the technology landscape and beyond in 2024.

Balancing Act: Guiding, safeguarding and maximising AI’s potential

This year, conversations took place around ensuring AI is used safely and effectively, especially as the technology continues to advance. One particular advancement of AI is ‘Embodied AI’, which Daniel Langkilde, CEO and Founder of Kognic predicts will be very influential in 2024, especially in the automotive space.

“We’ve seen the explosion of generative AI and LLMs this year whilst at times showing hugely impressive capabilities, it is by no means faultless. When producing marketing copy, a mistake may be something you can look over and for a legal document less so, but in the context of autonomous vehicles such mistakes are unacceptable in any circumstance.

As AI moves into more applications and more complex scenarios the importance of AI alignment to ensure AI systems achieve intended and desired outcomes will be paramount over the next 12 months.

As AI moves away from a purely virtual setting, as driven by GenAI, entering our physical world will be a real gamechanger. We can expect AI in 2024 to bridge the gap between mind and matter - get ready for Embodied AI.

Automated and autonomous driving is one of the first, major applications of Embodied AI. But that is just the beginning. Robots are still mostly confined to fulfilment centres and manufacturing plants but we are on the brink of seeing them entering human space. With Embodied AI set to become more common in 2024 - AI Alignment will become even more integral to ensure the safe and ethical development of AI systems.”

The media has been filled with concerns that AI will make countless jobs redundant, however, Ed Boal, Head of Legal at Shieldpay believes that human intervention is extremely important. Ed told Startups Magazine about why the legal sector is an important part of AI’s development, how AI is being used in the legal sector and the importance of human intervention in using AI safely and effectively:

“The legal sector's role is to inform and challenge, as well as think about ethics and standards which together will help create a predictable, and therefore effective, legal framework.

While AI can automate legal tasks such as processing simple agreements, maintaining the human touch is crucial as it adds value and is vital to understanding clients’ needs. AI can be used to take care of some of the more monotonous tasks, and surface knowledge in areas which aren’t especially context-specific, but society isn’t ready to completely abandon the human element – you only have to look at the pushback against high street banks closing branches when digital banking has been around for more than 20 years.”

Aside from legal and automotive professionals, PR and marketers are also beginning to utilise AI in their roles. Jason Weekes, Commercial Director at CARMA discussed how this technology is being used and the risks associated with it:

“AI will continue to develop at pace. From an analysis perspective, AI is increasingly valuable for PRs as a tool to crunch data but it is not yet able to understand content context or offer insights. That’s where the risk lies. With ChatGPT still making things up, media will have to pivot their content strategies with care and consideration to take advantage of the innovative technology whilst mitigating serious reputational consequences.”

AI altered realities and using AI to defend against emerging cyber threats

AI has without a doubt unlocked a world of opportunities for businesses. However, as the technology has become increasingly accessible, threat actors have also started to utilise the technology to launch more sophisticated attacks. As businesses try to fight AI-powered threats, the best way to do so is by using AI against the attacks. Paul Holland, CEO at Beyond Encryption believes that AI threats will become more prevalent next year as the technology has advanced massively throughout 2023:

“As AI has become increasingly accessible to the general public, cybercriminals have started to leverage the technology to engage in voice and video-generated fraud.

Previously, cyber criminals mainly created deep fakes of public figures, as the process required large amounts of audio and video data. Alarmingly, this is no longer the case. In 2024, we will see a drastic rise in deep fakes that imitate ‘everyday people’, as the latest pre-trained algorithms can replicate voices using just a three-second clip of speech.

Holland continued saying that “businesses should not take this advancement lightly and must put plans in place to safeguard their customers and employees. They must educate all employees and customers about the rise in deep fakes,  the risks they pose, and invest in advanced cybersecurity tools to help detect and prevent AI-based attacks.”

Frank Krieger, CISO at Mambu, predicts that in 2024 we will inevitably see a rise in AI-powered cyber attacks, but equally an increase in ways AI can help to prevent them.

“We’ve already seen neobanks like Monzo start implementing AI technology to help their customers recognise in real-time if someone from Monzo is really calling them. This in-app feature neutralises the risk of deep fake phone calls we’ve seen consumers previously fall victim to when being asked to give up sensitive information. In 2024 we can expect more tools utilising AI entering the market, and an increasing number of current  players incorporating AI into their products, making them more secure and ultimately safer for the end user.”

Krieger continued: “It’s clear that there are benefits that can be obtained from using AI within the security product space. But with the emergence of any new technology, there will be an increasing threat and risk from AI-powered cyber-attacks. By its nature, the more it is used, AI will continue to reduce the complexity of performing attacks which in turn increases the risk for financial providers. Ultimately, 2024 will be a pivotal year for both AI-powered defence and attacks.”

How AI is reshaping the financial services space

AI has changed the way businesses operate forever, and the financial services industry is no exception. It has expanded far beyond banks, and with many innovative challengers and emerging technologies like AI on the scene, 2024 is set to be an exciting year for financial services.

Ivo Gueorguiev, co-founder at Paynetics says: “2024 is set to be a big bang for AI and machine learning. No industry will be left untouched. It will be the year of truly testing the extent of AI’s sophistication in the financial services rulebook. Expect to see an increase in exploring different AI and machine learning models. Whether that’s levelling up chatbots, speeding up data analytics or AI-powered product recommendations. Not only that, but businesses will continue to invest in streamlining processes with AI. That said, while AI is set to be a huge focus for 2024, the effects of tech developments will be felt later in the decade.”

As businesses begin to plan their activity for next year, AI and its evolution should be taken into consideration as this will have a huge effect on how businesses operate, just as it has in 2023. However, companies must remain cautious and ensure AI is being implemented and used safely and effectively - after all, AI is still an emerging technology. All businesses must emphasise the importance of human intervention when using AI and treat it as an extension of their business, rather than a human replacement or the full potential of this technology will not be unlocked.