Since the debut of OpenAI ChatGPT in late November 2022, the GenerativeAI landscape has evolved rapidly, revolutionising not only digital publishing but all areas of business.
The initial enthusiasm for text-based models such as ChatGPT has paved the way for more sophisticated tools, including advanced image generators such as Dall-E 3 and video synthesis platforms such as Synthesia or Sora, which deliver not only more realistic but also multimedia results.
Generative AI Tools
These advances in the field of GenerativeAI (GAI) will have a significant impact not only on digital publishing at BurdaForward in the coming years, but also on all areas of business. The entire field of content creation will be redefined by using machine learning algorithms to create new content in large quantities from existing digital assets (images, videos, text) while maintaining high quality standards. This revolution goes beyond traditional content creation and impacts sales, marketing, finance and product development.
But the impact on major technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta is also profound. Microsoft's continued investment in OpenAI, underlined by a multi-billion dollar deal in 2023, demonstrates the strategic importance of generative AI in their ecosystem, influencing everything from Bing's AI-powered search capabilities to the new development tools in Azure. Google and Meta are also making great strides in this area, investing heavily in their own AI initiatives like Gemini or LLaMA to improve services such as Google Cloud or the Meta ecosystem to ensure they can survive in tomorrow's rapidly changing world. Last but not least, Apple has also realised how important this element is for its platform ecosystem.
It can be assumed that a possible democratisation of these technologies could enable broad access for everybody to powerful AI tools that were previously only available in the research and development labs of these leading technology companies. This broad access could be a catalyst for innovation and at the same time level the playing field across the technology industry.
However, it is important to recognise the potential drawbacks of this technology. Issues such as the creation of deepfakes, biases in AI algorithms and the impact on the world of work remain a concern. The ethical implications and the need for a robust governance framework will become ever more apparent as these technologies become more integrated into societal functions.
For all the excitement about the potential to create anything imaginable, the exact outcome of GAI still needs to be controlled by the still inexperienced user - be it as an editor, controller or even developer. Perhaps this will be the last task of human content producers in the future!
