Jan Balatka, a partner at Behind Inventions, is unequivocally associated with areas of new technologies, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI). He currently serves as the Managing Director at Semantic Visions. At Behind Inventions, he is responsible for identifying innovative technologies, assessing technology companies from a business potential and customer needs perspective, and for the development of the portfolio in technology and services related to artificial intelligence. Therefore, we asked him what he predicts for 2024 in these areas.
What did 2023 teach you?
Well, 2023 hasn't yet said its last word, as we have many crucial meetings in December that will shape projects for the coming years. But generally, 2023 showed me that it's absolutely normal in business to feel like you're on a swing. A very fast swing. In one day, many things can go wrong or even fail. At the same time, a lot can go right, or numerous new opportunities can emerge that fill you with optimism.
It also reaffirmed that what matters most in people is their motivation. Their ability to keep their word and meet deadlines. Knowledge can be learned, and experience can be gained. But the main thing is to work with people who share the same motivation and level of work habits. 2023 helped me to distinguish the important qualities in the people around me and around our companies.
What will 2024 be like for AI and machine learning?
In the coming year, I expect further significant advances in language models, where the emergence of LLMs (Large Language Models) has triggered global enthusiasm and the search for all sorts of useful and utterly unnecessary applications of these models. Realistically, this will increase the efficiency of specific areas such as programming or marketing activities, but the real shift will be the widespread democratization of advanced algorithms. That is, the availability of applications and systems that allow ordinary users to perform advanced automation or develop new applications without having to write code. It's like self-service with a self-checkout system for computer systems.
Information overload, often with falsehoods, will lead to an urgent search for better ways to verify various information and their sources. GenAI is more likely to exacerbate this problem, so it will be necessary to return to the good old discipline of verifying everything one sees or hears.
Increasing involvement of automated systems will bring new phenomena, such as machine customers. And with every new technology come new challenges in security and resilience.
And what does this specific prediction look like as AI art?
Expanding with Czech Know-How: Behind Inventions Helps Its Companies Succeed on the Global Market
