Content creation at the push of a button? The end of marketing as we know it? Tech pundits raving about the revolutionary power of generative AI would have you think so. And if you follow tech closely, you can't turn an internet corner without bumping into another list of 1,000+ prompts for ChatGPT that will "revolutionize" the way your business works. Is that really all there is to it?
Generative AI is still in its stages of development. And there is still much to learn about how it works and how to use it. Data leaks, for example, are a sobering reminder of the possible downsides. On the upside, it's hard to ignore the cost optimization and sheer scale of a technology that promises automated on-demand content generation. So, let's take a quick look at what generative AI is, how it works, and what other businesses already use it for.
What is Generative AI?
Generative AI is a type of AI that enables computers to produce content that is similar to what humans create. Gartner defines generative AI as “. . . AI techniques that learn a representation of artifacts from data, and use it to generate brand-new, unique artifacts that resemble but don’t repeat the original data.”
Generative AI relies on foundation models to learn patterns from massive datasets, allowing it to take the leap from simple pattern recognition and classification to generating entirely new content, whether text, images, video, or other media that closely resembles human-generated material.
At its core, generative AI operates as a virtual creative force, inspiring new possibilities and reshaping the way we interact with technology. It transforms the ways of content creation and discovery, research, customer service, and developer efficiency, leading to innovative outcomes that were once thought to be solely within the realm of human imagination.
