There is little doubt that artificial intelligence will continue to be the most talked-about technology of 2025. From the boardroom to the classroom and the hospital to the home, it’s only going to become more deeply interwoven into our lives.
As the influence of AI grows, so does the urgency of addressing the ethical issues surrounding its impact on humans and society. Many questions are still unanswered — how will it affect jobs? Will it replace human creativity? And what does the growing need for harvesting personal data in order to feed algorithms mean for privacy in the digital age?
2025 may be the year we start to answer some of these questions. It’s also likely to bring further mind-blowing breakthroughs that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. So here’s my rundown of what I believe will be the hottest topics and talking points around AI and automation over the next 12 months.
Augmented working
This year has seen just about every major software tool hastily integrating generative AI functionality. No one wanted to miss the boat on this one. In 2025, I predict that there will be more thoughtful consideration of how humans can work hand-in-hand with AI to augment our technical abilities while freeing up our time to apply our creative and interpersonal skills to jobs that machines still can’t manage. Rather than simply adding chatbots to everything, this will be the way smart businesses begin to generate real value from AI in the coming year.
Real-time automated decision-making
With businesses beginning to get to grips with the challenges of using AI strategically, those with more mature AI strategies will move toward end-to-end automation of entire business processes. This is likely to take place across logistics, customer support and marketing, where algorithms will make decisions such as how to manage inventory or how to respond to customer inquiries with minimal human intervention. This will lead to greater efficiency and the ability to react more quickly to changing customer habits or market conditions.
Read More: 18 Generative AI Tools Transforming Customer Service
Responsible AI
In 2025 there will be a growing awareness of the importance of developing and deploying AI in a way that’s ethical, secure, transparent, reliable and respectful of intellectual property rights. Though some of this will be driven by legislation (more on this below), there’s also a growing awareness of the harm that can be caused by the irresponsible use of AI. Many of us are now aware of the dangers of AI bias and hallucination and understand that mitigating this takes concerted effort. Businesses that choose to ignore this or cut corners in 2025 can expect bad publicity, heat from regulators and short thrift from their customers.
Generative video
Imagine being able to type the outline of a movie – or a short section of video, anyway – and see it brought to life in front of your eyes. Think ChatGPT but for moving images. OpenAI demonstrated proof-of-concept with its Sora model this year, and 2025 could be the year it starts to become available. While I doubt anyone will be creating movies from prompts that will give Disney a run for their money just yet, it’s a fascinating glimpse at where generative AI is heading, and what it could be capable of in the near future.
Next-gen voice assistants
AI voice assistants (think Siri or Alexa) have been a part of our lives for many years now, but their conversational capabilities have traditionally been quite limited. This year, OpenAI demonstrated a new “interruptable” advanced voice mode for ChatGPT, capable of holding a remarkably human-like conversation. And Google has already begun integrating its Gemini chatbot into mobile devices, replacing the now-dated “Hey Google” functionality. In 2025, I think we will see these capabilities appearing in an ever-growing number of devices, enabling more natural and useful voice-to-voice communication.
AI legislation and regulation
It’s fair to say that governments and lawmakers have so far struggled to get to grips with the challenges of regulating AI. This year, laws were passed in the EU and China that attempt to limit its potential for causing harm. Measures include criminalizing uses such as making deepfakes and regulating its use in sectors like finance and law enforcement. In 2025, we can expect more regulations to follow, with a focus on prioritizing human rights and mitigating the potential for discrimination and disinformation.
Autonomous AI agents
Most AI tools we see in use today work on the basis that they carry out simple tasks, such as generating text or interpreting data in order to make predictions. AI agents are tools that are able to operate without being given precise instructions, stringing together numerous tasks and adjusting their behavior based on the outcomes they achieve. This could be seen as an important step towards achieving “general” AI that’s able to apply itself to many different types of tasks. However, it also raises complicated questions about the need for AI oversight and accountability.
Navigating a post-truth world
Dealing with the explosion of fake content and false news that can now be generated thanks to AI will be a major challenge for society as a whole during 2025. This year attempts at electoral interference have already been made on a global scale. Some say this means we’ve reached a “post-truth” era where we’re no longer able to trust what we see with our own eyes. In 2025, I expect to see society begin to adapt to deal with this challenge. The change will be driven by governments through legislation (such as China’s AI laws, which make it an offense to create deepfakes of real people), but also through education and at a grassroots level as we learn to become more critical of the information, we’re presented with.
Quantum AI
While still in its infancy, quantum computing – which leverages the strange properties exhibited by materials at a sub-atomic level to perform certain computational tasks at unprecedented speed – could revolutionize AI. Enabling algorithms to work at speeds hundreds of millions of times faster than is possible using standard computers won’t just make AI faster. It could also become capable of tackling entirely new tasks, opening up new possibilities in fields ranging from vaccine and medicine development to the creation of new materials and energy sources. Expect excitement to start growing around the mind-melting potential of this during 2025!
AI in cybersecurity and defence
Cyberattacks will continue to become increasingly frequent and sophisticated during 2025. This means that AI systems will become even more essential when it comes to detecting potential breaches, identifying anomalies, and automating cybersecurity systems to deal with threats before they cause critical damage. It won’t all be about invisible, behind-the-scenes algorithms, though. With a growing number of threats taking the form of phishing or social engineering attacks, chatbots will play a part by simulating phishing attacks and teaching us how to spot and avoid attempts to trick us into becoming victims.
Sustainable AI
There are two elements to this one. First, there’s a growing awareness of the huge power consumption of cloud-based AI systems, and I think we will see a concerted effort to switch to sustainable and renewable energy sources in data centers. Secondly, there’s a huge potential for AI applications designed to improve sustainability and reduce the environmental footprint of other industries. From algorithmically minimizing water and pesticide use in agriculture to more efficiently routing traffic around cities in order to reduce pollution caused by vehicle emissions, 2025 will see AI continue to establish itself as a powerful tool for environmental protection.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
