Are you thinking of integrating AI into your business? Wondering if you should cut headcount or increase expected output of your staff?  In this article, we’ll explore how to adopt AI inside your business. Why Should Businesses Consider Taking Advantage of AI? Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the capabilities of businesses across industries, especially […]

The post Adopting AI Inside Your Business: Getting Your Team Ready for Change appeared first on Social Media Examiner.

In 2013 I thought that the ugly shoe trend was a brief fad. And I was so horrified that I wrote an article about this trending fashion aberration’s upcoming demise. 

But I was wrong! 

It was not a short term fad but has become a trending long term disease. 

In 2023, the Croc shoe that was made popular by an animated mouse (Minnie Mouse of Disney fame) is persisting. And flourishing. 

The color range is now extensive, but sorry to say, the design is still offensive. 

Beauty and fashion sense has obviously lost out to raw functionality (you can clean them with a high pressure hose) and to many people’s bad taste. 

The ugly trend piles in

To add to the visual ugly shoe pain is the rise of the Birkenstock. 

It is a sandal that allows men (and some women) to put their bad toenails on full display. Sorry, but despite many people visiting nail salons in the hope that their nail beauty will lead to fun fondling and maybe even sex, the Birkenstock nail exposure is a turnoff and not a turn on. 

But, I am told they are comfortable despite the possibility that they maybe haven’t worn loafers. 

So….the ugly shoe short term fad has become a long term trend and it’s become contagious. 

And I got it all wrong. 

That hasn’t deterred me from looking at predicting more trends. 

With that said, let’s look at some AI trends. 

8 AI trends

AI, and its young upstart offspring, ChatGPT, are the leaders of a generational tech trend that overwhelms us with vast amounts of data and noise. Trying to make sense of it is trying to hold the world in your hand. Or drinking from a firehose.

One example of this is that there were over 24 billion visitors to the top 50 AI platforms in the last 12 months, according to some recent research by WriterBuddy.

That is 3 times the world’s population. Either everyone has checked into the platforms three times in 12 months or there are some people that have been hogging the websites.

Why should we care? 

AI is a technology that not only challenges what we think the future looks like but it will change it. Also it is confronting the existential crisis of what it means to be human.

Humans are creators and they have always been tool makers. Innovating their art and technology to make life more beautiful, easier and more comfortable.

On the creative side there are many questions and some answers are emerging. The transition will be painful but the ones that adapt will have a new world at their feet.

The creators existential crisis

So what creative and artistic endeavors are being questioned and what is the answering echo?

• Writers are questioning their future as AI takes over the menial writing tasks. But writers who are storytellers will thrive. ChatGPT can provide information but it cannot create human stories. 
• Graphic designers are worrying that they will be cannon fodder for the AI image generator platforms. But those that adapt will thrive.
• Movie producers are concerned that the AI video apps will sweep them under the AI bus. 
• Hollywood actors are concerned that avatars and clones will steal their million dollar paypackets.
• Artists are concerned that AI will destroy their industry. Those that adapt will thrive but there will be collateral damage. 

The disruptive trends of AI

So how do we make sense of this unprecedented revolution? Data is one of the ways to unearth the top trends.

And we kick the top trends off with an insight into the rise of AI and how it is disrupting “and” amplifying creativity.

Let’s chase the numbers and discover the AI trends.

Trend 1: The AI Creative Trend

In looking at the top seven categories for the trending AI platforms that attracted over 24 billion visitors in less than 12 months, the evidence is clear.

Five of the seven categories are disrupting human creativity. Now disruption doesn’t mean extinction. But these new tools are augmenting and accelerating the creative process and production. 

And artists are adapting. 

One of the most innovative is Refik Anadol who has had residencies at Google and NVIDIA.  He uses data and AI to create a flow of ever-transmogrifying images.

Source: Artnews.com

1. AI Chatbots – Top AI Chatbot tool is ChatGPT with 14.6 billion visitors. The thing to keep in mind here is that Chatbot tools like ChatGPT are mainly used for writing. That is a creative use of AI
2. AI Writing – The top AI writing tool is QuillBot with 1.1 billion visitors in just 12 months – Creative 
3. AI Image Generators – Midjourney tops this list with 500 million visitors. – Creative
4. AI Design – Hotpot muscles the others aside at 125 million website hits.- Creative
5. AI Video Generator – Capcut attracted 203 million visitors. – Creative
6. AI Voice and Music – Vocalremover.org had over 165 million visitors. Otter AI came in at 70+ million. – Creative
7. Miscellaneous – This catch all category that cleans up the stragglers sees Hugging Face which is a data and science tool with 316 million people hitting their website in the last year. 

Trend 2: The AI Productivity Trend

Data evidence: AI is expected to contribute a significant 21% net increase to the United States GDP by 2030, showcasing its impact on economic growth according to Statista via Forbes.

This is not something we have viewed from a distance but up close. We have used AI and ChaGPT to be more productive with our content production and replaced 2 writers with content produced by ChatGPT. 

Trend 3: AI Marketing Trend

Data evidence: 75.7% of digital marketers now use AI tools for work.

Marketers are among the fastest AI adopters. They are also weaving it into their email writing, ad copy, creating content, editing and creating videos.

Trend 4: AI Chip Technology Trend

AI and ChatGPT require vast computing power and at the forefront of this is the graphics chip producer NVIDIA that powers generative AI.  Nvidia’s GPUs (Graphic Processing Units) are the backbone for AI computing. And the company’s market value has now soared past $1 trillion, according to AIbusiness.com.

Maybe investing in NVIDIA is a good idea.  The opportunity has also spurred the rise of new competitors. But they have a lot of catching up to do. 

Trend 5: AI Web Hosting

Data evidence: Microsoft has invested over $13 Billion in OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) which funds and provides the hosting for giving you the answers to your prompts on ChatGPT. 

AI requires not only vast computing power but the cloud based data centers to host them. So cloud computing data centers are booming. The other players that will benefit from this AI trend are Amazon’s AWS and Google’s Cloud platform (GCP).

Trend 6: The Virtual  Reality AI Trend

Data evidence: Facebook (Now called Meta) is intending to spend over $100 billion in its goal to dominate virtual reality. And AI is the technology that would allow them to build these vast virtual reality worlds. 

Creating the environments for VR was an expensive investment that held back the takeup of virtual reality for the last decade but AI now offers a fast and far cheaper alternative to creating virtual worlds.

Trend 7: AI Misinformation Trend 

Data evidence: Over 75% of consumers are concerned about misinformation from AI according to Forbes research.  

If you thought that misinformation and bad actors were amplified by technology and social media then AI will take it to a new level. AI can create avatars that will impersonate anyone at scale. Deepfakes will make the false look true and the virtual real. And Intel labs is using AI to fight back.    

Trend 8: AI Careers

Data evidence: The rise of AI is opening up new career opportunities in AI. One of those roles is prompt engineering. And these are commanding salaries of up to $335,000 according to the Guardian.

Prompt engineering is a new career trend that didn’t exist a year ago but now they are in high demand. As businesses have used ChatGPT they have realized that asking better “prompts” (that’s AI code for better questions) produces better answers. 

Last words

In amongst the revolution, chaos and noise of AI and ChatGPT there lies many opportunities and threats. 

Trends rise and mature, and AI is maybe the biggest opportunity and disruption to humanity we have ever seen. It is asking the big questions such as “What does it mean to be human?”

Humans are also good at adapting and that superpower is being tested right now.

 If we have an idea of what we are dealing with then we have the best chance to rise above the challenge and thrive. 

The post The Top 8 AI Trends Set to Disrupt the World in 2024 appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

In 2013 I thought that the ugly shoe trend was a brief fad. And I was so horrified that I wrote an article about this trending fashion aberration’s upcoming demise. 

But I was wrong! 

It was not a short term fad but has become a trending long term disease. 

In 2023, the Croc shoe that was made popular by an animated mouse (Minnie Mouse of Disney fame) is persisting. And flourishing. 

The color range is now extensive, but sorry to say, the design is still offensive. 

Beauty and fashion sense has obviously lost out to raw functionality (you can clean them with a high pressure hose) and to many people’s bad taste. 

The ugly trend piles in

To add to the visual ugly shoe pain is the rise of the Birkenstock. 

It is a sandal that allows men (and some women) to put their bad toenails on full display. Sorry, but despite many people visiting nail salons in the hope that their nail beauty will lead to fun fondling and maybe even sex, the Birkenstock nail exposure is a turnoff and not a turn on. 

But, I am told they are comfortable despite the possibility that they maybe haven’t worn loafers. 

So….the ugly shoe short term fad has become a long term trend and it’s become contagious. 

And I got it all wrong. 

That hasn’t deterred me from looking at predicting more trends. 

With that said, let’s look at some AI trends. 

8 AI trends

AI, and its young upstart offspring, ChatGPT, are the leaders of a generational tech trend that overwhelms us with vast amounts of data and noise. Trying to make sense of it is trying to hold the world in your hand. Or drinking from a firehose.

One example of this is that there were over 24 billion visitors to the top 50 AI platforms in the last 12 months, according to some recent research by WriterBuddy.

That is 3 times the world’s population. Either everyone has checked into the platforms three times in 12 months or there are some people that have been hogging the websites.

Why should we care? 

AI is a technology that not only challenges what we think the future looks like but it will change it. Also it is confronting the existential crisis of what it means to be human.

Humans are creators and they have always been tool makers. Innovating their art and technology to make life more beautiful, easier and more comfortable.

On the creative side there are many questions and some answers are emerging. The transition will be painful but the ones that adapt will have a new world at their feet.

The creators existential crisis

So what creative and artistic endeavors are being questioned and what is the answering echo?

• Writers are questioning their future as AI takes over the menial writing tasks. But writers who are storytellers will thrive. ChatGPT can provide information but it cannot create human stories. 
• Graphic designers are worrying that they will be cannon fodder for the AI image generator platforms. But those that adapt will thrive.
• Movie producers are concerned that the AI video apps will sweep them under the AI bus. 
• Hollywood actors are concerned that avatars and clones will steal their million dollar paypackets.
• Artists are concerned that AI will destroy their industry. Those that adapt will thrive but there will be collateral damage. 

The disruptive trends of AI

So how do we make sense of this unprecedented revolution? Data is one of the ways to unearth the top trends.

And we kick the top trends off with an insight into the rise of AI and how it is disrupting “and” amplifying creativity.

Let’s chase the numbers and discover the AI trends.

Trend 1: The AI Creative Trend

In looking at the top seven categories for the trending AI platforms that attracted over 24 billion visitors in less than 12 months, the evidence is clear.

Five of the seven categories are disrupting human creativity. Now disruption doesn’t mean extinction. But these new tools are augmenting and accelerating the creative process and production. 

And artists are adapting. 

One of the most innovative is Refik Anadol who has had residencies at Google and NVIDIA.  He uses data and AI to create a flow of ever-transmogrifying images.

Source: Artnews.com

1. AI Chatbots – Top AI Chatbot tool is ChatGPT with 14.6 billion visitors. The thing to keep in mind here is that Chatbot tools like ChatGPT are mainly used for writing. That is a creative use of AI
2. AI Writing – The top AI writing tool is QuillBot with 1.1 billion visitors in just 12 months – Creative 
3. AI Image Generators – Midjourney tops this list with 500 million visitors. – Creative
4. AI Design – Hotpot muscles the others aside at 125 million website hits.- Creative
5. AI Video Generator – Capcut attracted 203 million visitors. – Creative
6. AI Voice and Music – Vocalremover.org had over 165 million visitors. Otter AI came in at 70+ million. – Creative
7. Miscellaneous – This catch all category that cleans up the stragglers sees Hugging Face which is a data and science tool with 316 million people hitting their website in the last year. 

Trend 2: The AI Productivity Trend

Data evidence: AI is expected to contribute a significant 21% net increase to the United States GDP by 2030, showcasing its impact on economic growth according to Statista via Forbes.

This is not something we have viewed from a distance but up close. We have used AI and ChaGPT to be more productive with our content production and replaced 2 writers with content produced by ChatGPT. 

Trend 3: AI Marketing Trend

Data evidence: 75.7% of digital marketers now use AI tools for work.

Marketers are among the fastest AI adopters. They are also weaving it into their email writing, ad copy, creating content, editing and creating videos.

Trend 4: AI Chip Technology Trend

AI and ChatGPT require vast computing power and at the forefront of this is the graphics chip producer NVIDIA that powers generative AI.  Nvidia’s GPUs (Graphic Processing Units) are the backbone for AI computing. And the company’s market value has now soared past $1 trillion, according to AIbusiness.com.

Maybe investing in NVIDIA is a good idea.  The opportunity has also spurred the rise of new competitors. But they have a lot of catching up to do. 

Trend 5: AI Web Hosting

Data evidence: Microsoft has invested over $13 Billion in OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) which funds and provides the hosting for giving you the answers to your prompts on ChatGPT. 

AI requires not only vast computing power but the cloud based data centers to host them. So cloud computing data centers are booming. The other players that will benefit from this AI trend are Amazon’s AWS and Google’s Cloud platform (GCP).

Trend 6: The Virtual  Reality AI Trend

Data evidence: Facebook (Now called Meta) is intending to spend over $100 billion in its goal to dominate virtual reality. And AI is the technology that would allow them to build these vast virtual reality worlds. 

Creating the environments for VR was an expensive investment that held back the takeup of virtual reality for the last decade but AI now offers a fast and far cheaper alternative to creating virtual worlds.

Trend 7: AI Misinformation Trend 

Data evidence: Over 75% of consumers are concerned about misinformation from AI according to Forbes research.  

If you thought that misinformation and bad actors were amplified by technology and social media then AI will take it to a new level. AI can create avatars that will impersonate anyone at scale. Deepfakes will make the false look true and the virtual real. And Intel labs is using AI to fight back.    

Trend 8: AI Careers

Data evidence: The rise of AI is opening up new career opportunities in AI. One of those roles is prompt engineering. And these are commanding salaries of up to $335,000 according to the Guardian.

Prompt engineering is a new career trend that didn’t exist a year ago but now they are in high demand. As businesses have used ChatGPT they have realized that asking better “prompts” (that’s AI code for better questions) produces better answers. 

Last words

In amongst the revolution, chaos and noise of AI and ChatGPT there lies many opportunities and threats. 

Trends rise and mature, and AI is maybe the biggest opportunity and disruption to humanity we have ever seen. It is asking the big questions such as “What does it mean to be human?”

Humans are also good at adapting and that superpower is being tested right now.

 If we have an idea of what we are dealing with then we have the best chance to rise above the challenge and thrive. 

The post The Top 8 AI Trends Set to Disrupt the World in 2024 appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

Success is a suitcase word. 

MIT Media Lab professor Marvin Minsky’s observation is that a suitcase word “Means nothing by itself, but holds a bunch of things inside that you have to unpack.”

He saw the need to unpack and analyze these words as they often contain multiple and expanding meanings. And “Success” is one of the words that has many meanings.

The “success” word and its suitcase of many meanings

Society can tell us what success means and our heart can tell us something else. Our capitalist, media-centric, and consumer society will tell you it’s fame and fortune.  

But your heart may tell you something different. It may tell you “success is not all about money”.   

Here are some of the range of meanings that sit in the word bag that is success:

1. Achieving goals – These can range from succeeding at achieving sporting goals, business goals, or academic achievements. I felt I was successful when I got second in the class for spelling in grade 5. My father wasn’t so sure as he asked me “Why didn’t you come first?”
2. Personal Fulfillment – Inside this sits another bunch of meanings; for some, it may be success as a parent and raising a happy family or it could be writing a successful novel. A fulfilled life can be a successful life. And don’t let the world tell you anything different if you already feel successful.
3. The achievement of wealth, prosperity, and fame – These are often seen as the measure of modern success. But for many people, the burden of excess success comes at a price. And that might mean anxiety and loss of privacy. In a recent Robbie Williams documentary the desperate need for attention and affirmation was what he craved. He saw that as “success”.
4. Overcoming life’s challenges and obstacles – Rising above physical and emotional challenges is often seen by many as success in itself and to be applauded. Some of us have many of these obstacles and others seem to sail through life unscathed. We all admire a wheelchair athlete who has succeeded in life despite the odds. And Richard Branson rose above his dyslexia to become a billionaire.
5. Longevity and consistency – A business person who has maintained a profitable company for a long time. One extreme example of this is Warren Buffet and his company Berkshire Hathaway which has been trading since the 1960s and is the 6th largest publicly trading company in the world valued at over $700 billion. 
6. Positive impact on the world. – Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela can be seen in this light. Along with this came fame. But it wasn’t sought after and wasn’t needed for them to feel they had succeeded. 
7. Personal growth – Just acquiring new skills or evolving as a person for some people is success. This may also include the ability to maintain and nurture a healthy network of relationships and friends.  

Last words

I think the fun about this suitcase word is that you can choose for yourself which one suits you (no pun intended). 

Success may be living a simple life with no debt and just traveling.

For others, maybe success is about having the freedom to go surfing or sailing or create art.  

Choose yours and own it. 

For me, success doesn’t mean anything unless it comes with deep happiness.

And that is the next “suitcase word” we will take a look at. The recipe for happiness is different for all of us.  

The post 7 Types of Success – Are You Successful and Don’t Know It? appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.