The year 2024 will be remembered as a turning point for artificial intelligence, with groundbreaking advancements reshaping industries and everyday life. The case of this technology is different — from self driving cars to reasoning AI models, this technology seamlessly integrated into search engines, smartphones and even healthcare system.
PBS NewsHour technology editor Reed Albergotti and Jeffrey Brown discuss the year’s biggest milestones in AI, including ChatGPT and OpenAI’s response to the new obsession. Together, they unpacked how artificial intelligence has not only transformed how we live and work but also what lies ahead in 2025 and beyond.
Self-Driving Cars Make a Major Leap
One of the most notable achievements in artificial intelligence this year was the rapid progress in autonomous driving technology. But after successful trials in San Francisco and Arizona, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, began expanding its self-driving robo-taxi services in new cities. However, Tesla’s Full Self Driving (FSD) software took big steps forward, bringing us one step closer to fully autonomous vehicles.
Because 2024 was a breakthrough, self driving cars seemed to have stalled in previous years. AI powers these advanced systems using advanced algorithms to navigate complex traffic scenes to make a safer and more efficient transportation possible. The rollout of AI powered vehicles is set to accelerate as plans for 10 more cities next year.
Text-to-Video Models and Reasoning AI Emerge
Another major development in artificial intelligence was the rise of text-to-video models. OpenAI first introduced these models, and more recently Google picked them up, and instead of creating the text prompt for these models you can generate realistic videos. This innovation could change the ways that content gets created, and amplify the pace at which we create video in a way that we’ve never seen before.
Advancements in reasoning AI were also equally transformative. These models did so by using the technique known as ‘chain of thought reasoning,’ whereby they fragmented complex prompts into many bite-sized aspects to analyze. With this approach, we were able to manage the limitations in earlier AI systems and improve the accuracy and reliability of the results. While they are still expensive, experts say the cost will come down and reasoning AI will become a common tool across many industries.
Challenges Facing Artificial Intelligence
Despite its rapid growth, artificial intelligence faced several hurdles in 2024. Some technological developments were, however, slowed by high infrastructure costs and limitations on what technologies could be adopted. For instance while the promise of AI was to fundamentally change how we work with computers from typing and clicking to voice commands, we are nowhere near this yet.
There’s still the issue of trust. But users and developers alike are wary of handing off critical tasks to AI for fear of errors or accidentally doing something terrible. But with more affordable infrastructure and more improved reasoning models, these obstacles fade away over the coming years.
AI’s Role in Politics and Global Competition
Artificial intelligence also played a growing role in politics and international relations in 2024. With an incoming U.S. administration focused on the AI race against China, the future would inevitably focus on innovation, not regulation.
Policies that would allow for accelerated AI development included investments in infrastructure, for example, and clean energy to support large scale data centers, policies encouraged by leaders like Elon Musk. And it reflects the geopolitical importance of AI. This is while governments balance fostering innovation with how to deal with ethical disputes like data protection and biased calculations.
What’s Next for Artificial Intelligence in 2025?
Looking ahead to 2025, experts predict further advancements in robotics and scientific research, driven by artificial intelligence. Reed Albergotti described a glimpse into how robots might problem solve, both taking on tasks they weren’t expressly trained to do that might lead to ‘general intelligence.’ These breakthroughs may first become observed in a laboratory or industrial system, yet could eventually serve as input for consumer products.
Moreover, AI is predicted to reinvent scientific discovery. AI systems that can process huge amounts of data in minutes are enabling accelerations in fields such as biology, physics, material science. These powerful tools help bring researchers closer to finding major breakthroughs by 2025.
How to Stay Informed About AI’s Impact
For many, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence can feel overwhelming. Top researchers admit they can’t predict all eventualities from this fast moving technology. But to understand its implications it still pays to stay curious and engaged.
So AI grows up, it will only be fair that people and businesses adapt to what it is, and what it is not. Whether it’s trying out the latest AI powered tools, or simply following the news, you have to embrace this technology if you want to make it in the future.
