2023 will almost certainly go down in tech history as the year of AI. 2023 has seen the emergence of AI as the next big thing, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its offspring DALL-E image creator, plus Google’s Bard AI creating much interest and discussion. However, if you think 2023 has been a big year for AI, wait until you see what’s in store for 2024.
Gemini: Google’s Enhanced AI
Google introduced its Bard AI in direct competition with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but it is no secret that Bard has not been all that well received. Google has recently announced the imminent introduction of its new enhanced AI dubbed “Gemini” which the company claims is far in advance of any AI to date:
We designed Gemini to be natively multimodal, pre-trained from the start on different modalities. Then we fine-tuned it with additional multimodal data to further refine its effectiveness. This helps Gemini seamlessly understand and reason about all kinds of inputs from the ground up, far better than existing multimodal models — and its capabilities are state of the art in nearly every domain ~ <source>
Google intends to integrate Gemini into most, if not all, of its services:
Starting today, Bard will use a fine-tuned version of Gemini Pro for more advanced reasoning, planning, understanding and more. In the coming months, Gemini will be available in more of our products and services like Search, Ads, Chrome and Duet AI ~ <source>
New AI-Driven Windows
Rumors of a new version of Windows have been circulating for quite some time and the consensus among those in the know is that a new version will almost certainly be released during the second half of 2024. Most pundits are also suggesting that, to limit Windows operating system fragmentation, this new version is unlikely to be named Windows 12 and will more likely be delivered as an upgrade to Windows 11.
Regardless, one thing is certain… the new Windows will integrate AI at its very core. However, this dependence on AI creates a new issue… the need for an NPU.
What Is An NPU?
NPU stands for Neural Processing Unit – a specialized type of processor for accelerating machine-learning tasks. In other words, it’s a dedicated AI chip specifically designed to reduce load on the computer’s CPU and GPU when running AI-related workloads. NPUs work with AI in much the same way as GPUs work with graphics.
Now, unlike the ridiculous TPM, which is a mandatory Windows 11 requirement, NPUs will almost certainly not be a mandatory requirement. But, of course, minus the NPU chip, users will not be able to take full advantage of the integrated AI.
Microsoft has been investing heavily in machine learning, working with silicon vendors to support running AI models on PCs as soon as possible. In short, NPUs are set to become ubiquitous, with the next generation of PCs certain to come with NPUs built-in.
So, if you’re thinking of purchasing a new PC anytime in the not-too-distant future, I would suggest holding off until NPUs become standard equipment.
BOTTOM LINE:
There is no doubt that AI is the way of the future and the not-too-distant future at that. Some are going to love it, others will almost certainly hate it. What are your thoughts on AI? Let us know via the comments.
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Even the creators of a couple of AI creations have declared that AI is a disaster and dangerous. BUT I saw an article that said M$ has what appears to be an ‘AI’ Kill switch in Win 11 either now or upcoming, SOOOOOO!
Hey Charles,
The AI component (called Copilot) in Windows 11 is not integrated and plays no role unless manually initiated by the user.
The totalitarianism AI will bring upon humanity will probably be no worse than the totalitarianism humanity would bring upon itself without the help of this final invention. Our freedom will be gone in the very near future. For many, it is already gone. If AI eliminates the species, it will be what it will be.