AI

From the moment most of us wake up and ask our phone for the weather, to the way we text, shop, scroll, and even talk to customer service, artificial intelligence has already worked its way into our lives. But something changed this year. It got closer. Softer. Friendlier. Almost… human. The jump from “cool technology” to something that actually feels personal is what made 2025 stand out. AI isn’t just in the background anymore—it’s in your corner.

It’s not a gimmick, and it’s not just for people who code or build robots. It’s for regular folks with regular lives who’ve started noticing their daily routines getting smoother, their options getting smarter, and their technology paying a little more attention.

When Smart Became Intuitive

Up until recently, AI mostly felt like a helpful assistant. You had to ask it for things. It would listen and respond, sure, but it didn’t really know you. That’s changed. The newest generation of artificial intelligence systems can now understand your habits and tone in ways that used to be pure science fiction. They learn what you like, what you don’t, when you’re stressed, when you’re bored, and even what kind of music feels right in the middle of a long Monday.

It’s not just the big things either. Think about how your phone now organizes your photos by event or automatically curates your playlists based on your mood. These tiny touches may not scream “breakthrough,” but they make daily life feel easier and more connected. And when machines start adjusting themselves to you, instead of the other way around, it stops feeling like a cold transaction and starts feeling like a real relationship.

Trust Got A Makeover

A lot of people used to feel uneasy about AI, and understandably so. It was distant. Mysterious. Sometimes it made headlines for things that went wrong. But 2025 brought a noticeable shift. People began seeing the good it was doing firsthand, and that made the difference.

For example, AI started quietly stepping into healthcare conversations. It didn’t replace doctors, but it helped patients understand their own symptoms better, guided them through wellness apps with less confusion, and made access to support a little less intimidating. The tone became softer, more reassuring, less like clicking buttons and more like being heard.

That shift in tone—combined with more transparency about how data is used—made people less guarded. And when AI met them with clarity instead of chaos, the relationship changed. Trust wasn’t just built. It was earned.

Subscribing to reputable tech blogs​ is a great way to stay updated on the changes happening behind the scenes, because what used to be niche is now shaping the tools we all touch every day. The better we understand the human side of artificial intelligence, the easier it becomes to welcome it in.

A Face, A Voice, A Presence

Another reason AI felt more personal this year: it finally showed its face. Or, to be more accurate, its many faces. In 2025, there’s been an explosion in digital characters—avatars that talk, listen, react, and remember. They don’t look like stock robots either. They look like us. Some are casual and expressive. Some are animated and bright. Some are soft-spoken and calm.

And it’s not just a novelty. These digital voices are helping people learn languages, practice interviews, talk through rough days, or even read bedtime stories when a parent is traveling. AI videos have become a quiet revolution here—short clips where a relatable face talks directly to you, teaching, calming, advising, or just keeping you company. There’s something about being spoken to instead of spoken at that makes the interaction feel alive.

It turns out that when people can see a personality, even a digital one, they feel more at ease. The awkwardness disappears. What’s left is a gentle form of companionship that doesn’t feel artificial at all.

Small Screens, Big Impact

Even though most people interact with AI through their phones or laptops, the effects stretch far beyond those small screens. AI has begun changing how people schedule their time, how they shop, how they deal with stress, and how they learn. For many, the most unexpected part has been how emotionally supportive it can be.

A teenager struggling with school might find encouragement from a custom tutor that doesn’t judge or rush. An older adult who feels lonely might have a daily routine built around a voice that remembers their name and favorite topics. A small business owner might manage their entire operation from a single smart dashboard that adjusts to their workflow without being told.

That kind of support, once considered a luxury, now fits in your back pocket. It’s thoughtful, responsive, and often invisible—but it’s changing lives in ways that feel surprisingly human.

Where We Go From Here

If 2025 was the year artificial intelligence stopped feeling like a machine and started feeling like a friend, it sets the stage for something even more exciting: a future where technology doesn’t just respond to us, it resonates with us.

And maybe that’s the real milestone—AI didn’t just get better this year. It got closer.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is transforming industries at a pace few could have predicted. Nowhere is this shift more exciting than in video creation. AI is making it faster, easier, and more accessible for people to produce high-quality content that once required expensive equipment and specialized skills. From personalized digital hosts to instantly generated visuals, AI-driven tools are making professional-grade video production available to anyone with an idea. And the best part? The technology is only getting better.

AI Puts High-End Video Production in Everyone’s Hands

Not long ago, creating a professional-looking video required a serious budget and technical know-how. That’s all changing. AI-driven tools are making it possible for anyone to generate stunning visuals, edit footage effortlessly, and create engaging content with just a few clicks. What used to take hours—or even days—can now be done in minutes.

The rise of automated video editing means that even beginners can put together seamless, polished clips without struggling through complicated software. AI can handle everything from trimming footage to adjusting lighting and color correction, ensuring a professional finish. But the real game-changer is how AI is making it possible to create video content from scratch—without even picking up a camera.

Creating Video from a Single Image? It’s Now a Reality

One of the most groundbreaking advancements is the ability to generate video content from just a single still image. An AI video generator from image tools can take a static picture and bring it to life with movement, depth, and realistic animations. This is a huge deal for content creators, marketers, and educators who want engaging visuals without the need for elaborate filming.

These tools use deep learning to analyze an image and predict how elements should move, creating a natural flow that feels like real footage. Whether it’s a dynamic background shift or subtle facial expressions, the results are often indistinguishable from traditional video. It’s not just about making static images move—it’s about creating entirely new content with AI handling the heavy lifting.

AI-Generated Faces Are Getting More Realistic

With AI’s ability to create ultra-realistic faces, digital media is heading into an entirely new era. Whether it’s for entertainment, marketing, or virtual assistants, AI-generated humans are looking more lifelike than ever. And while there have been concerns over deepfakes, the same technology that powers them is also being used for legitimate and beneficial purposes.

Imagine a world where a virtual instructor can deliver a lesson in any language or where a personal AI assistant can appear on screen with a completely natural presence. These advancements are making digital experiences more immersive and interactive, bringing AI-powered communication to an entirely new level.

AI-Powered Digital Hosts Are the Future of Content

Perhaps the most exciting development is AI’s ability to create digital hosts that can speak, interact, and even express emotions in an incredibly human-like way. With the right tools, businesses, educators, and influencers can generate a fully AI-driven presenter to engage with audiences—without needing to step in front of a camera.

These AI-powered hosts aren’t just static characters reading from a script. They use advanced deep learning models to replicate natural speech patterns, facial expressions, and even subtle human gestures. Whether it’s for news updates, customer service, or online tutorials, AI hosts can be tailored to fit any brand or style. And thanks to improvements in voice synthesis, they sound just as real as they look.

In one of the most advanced applications of this technology, companies are now using AI to create digital versions of real people. By feeding an AI model with existing footage and voice data, they can generate a talking avatar that looks, moves, and speaks just like the original person. This is opening up incredible possibilities, from virtual influencers to AI-driven spokespeople. The ability to have a digital version of yourself that can appear in videos, deliver presentations, or engage with audiences 24/7 is nothing short of revolutionary.

The AI Video Revolution Is Just Beginning

As AI continues to evolve, its impact on video production will only become more profound. The days of needing expensive cameras, lighting setups, and editing teams are quickly fading as AI-driven tools take center stage. Technology is making it easier than ever for anyone—regardless of experience—to create high-quality video content that captures attention and tells a compelling story.

What’s next? As AI’s capabilities grow, we’ll likely see even more sophisticated digital humans, smarter AI-driven editing tools, and interactive video experiences that blur the line between reality and artificial intelligence. One thing is certain: the way we create and consume video content is changing forever, and AI is leading the charge.

Alina Timofeeva, a renowned Technology and AI advisor with experience advising major financial institutions including HSBC and JPMorgan, discussed On the Business Today show on the BBC News Channel, how DeepSeek had taken over ChatGPT to become Apple’s most popular free app in the US.

Tech stocks had fallen sharply on Monday as advances by Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek cast doubt on whether the US could maintain its leadership in AI by spending billions of dollars on chips. Timofeeva cautioned that the market reaction might have been overdone, noting the hype around technologies such as Bitcoin’s recent price surges and sharp fluctuations, as well as the recent sharp falls in quantum stocks. She suggested that people might have been creating hype too quickly and that stock prices could experience a correction in the future.

DeepSeek has attracted increasing attention from investors since the company last week released its latest large language AI model showing a comparable performance to those of US rivals OpenAI and Meta. This comes straight after Donald Trump’s announcement of a 500 billion dollar private investment into AI. DeepSeek hold an unprecedented number of the highest-powered NVIDIA H100 chips (est. 50,000). They have more chips than people think; and they are not limited by chip controls and export controls.

They have a “multi-token” system, e.g. It’s like having a huge team but only calling in the experts you actually need for each task. This means that they found a way to move beyond the traditional, energy-intensive methods of LLMs to more optimized approaches. They outperformed or matched state-of-the-art models; their training models use far fewer Nvidia chips than US competition and their plans include improving multi-language capabilities.

Timofeeva comments:

“The real game-changer isn’t the technology itself, where the current hype is. What truly matters is how we build use cases and applications that deliver value for our customers like you and I. I anticipate the shift of the conversations from technology to value creation for customers like you and I.”

“We see over the years that the technology revolutions work in a way that we tend to overestimate the speed of the revolution & underestimate the size of the revolution. In the past we were given the prophecies that we will be shopping online or watching movies online, which did indeed happen – but it didn’t happen at the speed that was promised, it took a bit longer. When the revolution did happen, it was much bigger than what we thought. AI will take a little longer in many respects to really demonstrate the growth with the significant investment required upfront, and AI is anything but cheap.”

“The AI industry has a critical responsibility to highlight the significance of ongoing advancements, especially given the likelihood of rapid progress on the horizon. As we navigate this pivotal moment in technological history, collaboration, responsibility, and adaptability are key. The alchemy of great people working together is at the core of creating not just groundbreaking technology, but also sustainable solutions for society. It’s key for younger generations to cultivate knowledge in technology and critical learning skills.”

Lexsoft Systems announced that its Lexsoft T3 GenAI platform has been named “Knowledge Management Platform Of The Year” at the 5th annual LegalTech Breakthrough Awards. This recognition highlights the platform’s ability to make generative AI and knowledge management accessible and cost-effective for law firms of all sizes. The awards, organized by LegalTech Breakthrough, honor innovative legal technology solutions worldwide.

Launched this year, T3 GenAI has harnessed the power of generative AI and cloud computing to transform the legal KM landscape. T3 GenAI enables smaller firms (up to 100 users) to adopt KM, a previously affordable function only for larger legal organizations with dedicated KM and IT resources. Today, firms only require a Microsoft OpenAI tenant to deploy T3 GenAI. The solution is implemented over the industry-leading document and email management platform, iManage Work in the cloud, in the highly secure Microsoft Azure environment.

“T3 GenAI is a game-changer for growing law firms and the solution makes enterprise-level capability accessible for any firm that wants to adopt knowledge management for competitive advantage and business growth,” said Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director, LegalTech Breakthrough. “T3 GenAI is truly worthy of this award.”

The mission of the annual LegalTech Breakthrough Awards program is to conduct the industry’s most comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the top technology companies, solutions, and products in the legal technology industry today. This year’s program attracted thousands of nominations from over 12 countries worldwide.

“We are delighted to receive this award from LegalTech Breakthrough,” said Carlos García-Egocheaga, CEO of Lexsoft Systems. “The technological possibilities that generative AI offers are endless, and we will continue to make strides in delivering innovative solutions that help make knowledge management accessible and affordable for firms of all sizes.”

Set against the iconic Hockenheimring in Germany, Avantra—a global leader in AI-powered SAP operations automation—revealed its latest and most ambitious advancements at the 2024 Global Summit. The event featured the launch of Avantra AIR, an advanced AI copilot for SAP operations, along with the announcement of Avantra 25, the upcoming enhanced version of its well-regarded AIOps platform.

“As the demands on IT operations teams continue to grow, our mission is to empower them to work smarter, not harder,” said John Appleby, CEO of Avantra. “With Avantra AIR and the upcoming Avantra 25, we’re giving our customers a competitive edge, enabling them to automate the routine and focus on innovations that drive their business forward.”

Changing Gears Across SAP Operations with Avantra AIR

At the heart of the company’s latest innovation is Avantra AIR, an AI copilot that redefines the possibilities of automation for SAP environments. Designed to act as an autonomous assistant, Avantra AIR leverages over 20 virtual agents to monitor, detect, and address system issues proactively. From real-time performance analysis to automatic alert generation and resolution through platforms like ServiceNow, Avantra AIR minimizes downtime and empowers IT teams with actionable insights.

“The complexity of modern SAP environments calls for an intelligent, responsive system,” said Andreas Vermeulen, Head of AI at Avantra. “Avantra AIR provides just that – a system that can think critically about what it is seeing and respond autonomously, delivering support that goes beyond human capabilities.”

Key features of Avantra AIR include in-depth root cause analysis, preventive maintenance recommendations, and executive summaries, allowing teams to stay focused on strategic goals rather than firefighting day-to-day issues.

Powering Forward With Avantra 25

One of the most anticipated events at every Avantra Summit is undoubtedly the product showcase of the latest platform release. This year, customers and prospects were able to preview Avantra 25, the latest upgrade to the AIOps platform, set for release on 27 November 2024. Building on the foundation of Avantra 24, which enhanced automation capabilities, Avantra 25 introduces robust cloud integration, tailored specifically to support hybrid and cloud-native SAP systems.

“At Avantra, we’re committed to staying ahead of the curve, particularly when it comes to cloud integration,” said Bernd Engist, Chief Technology Officer at Avantra. “Avantra 25 offers the flexibility, security, and scalability needed to support today’s dynamic cloud environments, ensuring seamless integration across on-premise, public, and private cloud infrastructures.”

Key Features of Avantra 25 Include:

• S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition Support: Automatic deployment of standard checks, enhanced remote monitoring, real-time and daily system diagnostics, specifically in the security space.
• Business Technology Platform (BTP) Integration: New managed objects for automated setup of global accounts, sub accounts, and cloud foundry deployed applications, which offer real-time and daily monitoring of costs, quotas, security, and application runnability. New automation workflows for management of quotas and start/stop of applications.
• Customizable Ansible Integration: Enhanced for ease of deployment and operational consistency, allowing users to create and run Ansible playbooks, offering enterprise grade source code control and deep integration of Avantra managed objects to Ansible inventories

Avantra Customers On Track For Success

With the launch of Avantra AIR and the upcoming release of Avantra 25, Avantra underscores the platform’s role as a trusted partner for SAP automation, offering scalable, innovative solutions that meet the demands of the modern enterprise.

In the rapidly evolving financial sector, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming traditional practices by introducing innovative solutions and significantly enhancing efficiency across domains like banking, investment, trading, and risk management. Chandrasekhar Karnam‘s in-depth exploration reveals how AI technologies, such as algorithmic trading, predictive analytics, and AI-driven compliance systems, are revolutionizing operations and decision-making processes. By enabling real-time data analysis, AI is improving fraud detection, refining credit scoring, and streamlining risk assessments. This article unpacks the groundbreaking innovations driving this transformation, highlighting AI’s growing influence and its profound implications for the future of the financial industry.

Revolutionizing Banking with AI

AI’s integration into banking has brought remarkable advancements in fraud detection and credit scoring. AI-powered fraud detection systems analyze vast datasets in real-time, significantly reducing the time required to identify and prevent fraudulent activities. Through continuous learning and behavioral analysis, these systems adapt to new fraud patterns, flagging unusual transactions and identifying complex schemes previously undetectable by human analysts. This heightened accuracy has not only improved banking security but also safeguarded customers’ assets more effectively. In credit scoring, AI has enabled the use of a broader range of data points, leading to more accurate assessments of creditworthiness. AI-enhanced models process alternative data sources like utility bill payments and rental history, providing a more comprehensive financial profile of individuals. This dynamic and objective approach minimizes biases associated with traditional credit scoring methods, promoting financial inclusion for those with non-traditional financial histories.

AI in Investment and Trading: A New Era of Decision-Making

AI has significantly transformed the investment and trading sectors through algorithmic trading, predictive analytics, and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Deep learning systems enable nanosecond-level trade execution and simultaneous analysis of multiple markets, continuously learning and adapting to changing conditions for nuanced decision-making. This leads to enhanced market data interpretation and the ability to capitalize on fleeting opportunities. Predictive analytics offers real-time, data-driven support for investors by processing vast structured and unstructured data, identifying complex relationships for robust strategies. NLP further enriches this landscape, extracting insights from textual data such as financial news, providing personalized investment recommendations, enhancing customer interactions, and empowering financial advisors.

Enhancing Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management

AI has become a vital tool in regulatory compliance and risk management within the financial industry. AI-driven compliance systems monitor transactions in real time, ensuring adherence to evolving legal standards by recognizing complex patterns that may indicate non-compliance, reducing false positives, and enhancing the accuracy of detecting genuinely suspicious activities. These systems’ adaptability ensures financial institutions stay compliant with new regulations and emerging risks. In risk assessment, AI offers comprehensive evaluations by incorporating a wider range of data points, including unstructured data from social media and news sources, allowing for real-time updates to risk profiles and simultaneous simulation of multiple risk scenarios. This dynamic approach provides a nuanced understanding of risk exposure, supporting strategic decision-making in capital allocation, investment strategies, and overall risk management.

Future Prospects and Challenges

As AI technologies evolve, their impact on the financial industry is set to grow further, with quantum computing poised to revolutionize risk modeling and portfolio optimization by enabling complex calculations currently beyond reach. The development of explainable AI (XAI) aims to enhance transparency in decision-making, particularly in regulatory compliance, by addressing the need for interpretability. However, this rapid advancement brings ethical considerations and regulatory challenges, including the risk of perpetuating existing biases if historical data used for training models contains inherent biases. Therefore, there is a pressing need for robust frameworks to ensure the responsible use of AI in finance, emphasizing transparency, fairness, and accountability.

In conclusion, the integration of AI in finance has introduced a new paradigm of innovation and efficiency, as explored by Chandrasekhar Karnam. While AI offers immense potential in improving decision-making, risk management, and customer service, it also presents challenges in terms of ethics, regulation, and the need for human oversight. The future of finance will likely hinge on a collaborative approach, where AI augments human expertise rather than replacing it. This balance between AI-driven innovation and human judgment will be crucial in navigating the complexities of the modern financial landscape and fostering a more efficient, fair, and stable financial system.

Vineeta Dsouza, a researcher in AI, explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing business efficiency and automation across sectors. Her research delves into the technological advancements that have enabled AI’s rapid development, focusing on its transformative potential in optimizing operations and decision-making processes.

Revolutionizing Data Processing 

The digital age has overwhelmed businesses with data, but AI, especially machine learning (ML) and deep learning, has transformed data processing through rapid, accurate analysis of large datasets. AI models like Large Language Models (LLMs) interpret unstructured data, such as customer feedback and social media, to provide actionable insights. These systems conduct sentiment analysis, generate reports, calculate metrics, and prepare presentations, reducing manual effort and improving decision-making. Ultimately, AI empowers businesses to adopt more data-driven strategies and enhance operational efficiency. 

Simplifying Complex Processes

AI streamlines complex processes in data-intensive industries like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing by simplifying workflows, reducing errors, and boosting efficiency. In healthcare, AI improves patient care, diagnostic accuracy, and resource allocation, with studies showing diagnostic errors reduced by up to 85%. In manufacturing, AI enhances supply chain management by predicting maintenance needs, optimizing inventory, and improving production schedules. These AI-driven solutions reduce costs and significantly improve operational efficiency across various industries.

Automation: AI’s Driving Force

Automation is at the heart of AI’s transformative power. From customer service to financial operations, AI-driven automation solutions are reshaping the way businesses operate. By automating routine tasks, businesses can shift human resources toward more strategic and creative work.

The deployment of AI-based automation is typically done through A/B testing and other validation methods to ensure accuracy and precision. In industries like finance, AI is revolutionizing processes such as fraud detection, credit scoring, and investment management. Research suggests that AI-driven automation could reduce banking industry operating costs by 22% by 2030.

However, for AI automation to be effective, it requires continuous performance monitoring and refinement. By using feedback loops, AI systems can adjust and improve, ensuring that they remain efficient and accurate over time.

Continuous Improvement through Feedback Loops

AI’s ability to learn and adapt over time, driven by continuous feedback loops, is one of its strongest features. AI systems collect data, analyze it, and adjust algorithms to enhance accuracy and efficiency. In e-commerce, AI recommendation engines refine suggestions through user interactions, improving customer relationships and boosting sales. A study from MIT Sloan Management Review found that organizations with robust AI feedback mechanisms saw a 73% performance improvement, compared to 30% in those without such mechanisms, highlighting the power of iterative AI learning processes.

AI’s Hardware Revolution 

Advancements in AI are driven by improvements in hardware, particularly Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and specialized AI chips like Neural Processing Units (NPUs), which have significantly boosted computational power for complex AI models. The shift from CPUs to GPUs marked a turning point, enhancing parallel processing for neural networks. Looking ahead, technologies like neuromorphic and quantum computing promise to further revolutionize AI by reducing processing times and increasing model complexity, paving the way for even more sophisticated AI applications across industries.

The Benefits of AI-Driven Efficiency 

Integrating AI into business processes brings significant benefits, including increased productivity, accuracy, scalability, and cost reduction. By automating repetitive tasks, employees can focus on higher-value activities like strategic planning. Studies show AI can boost labor productivity by up to 40% by enhancing human capabilities. In healthcare, AI’s superior data processing improves outcomes, such as outperforming radiologists in cancer detection, reducing false positives and negatives, and leading to life-saving advancements. These benefits span multiple industries, improving efficiency and outcomes.

AI’s scalability is another critical advantage. Businesses can handle increasing workloads without needing to proportionally increase their workforce. In industries like e-commerce, AI-powered chatbots and customer service tools enable companies to manage customer inquiries 24/7, offering personalized experiences at scale.

In conclusion, Vineeta Dsouza highlights the transformative role of AI in enhancing business efficiency and automation. Through innovations in data processing, process simplification, and automation, AI is driving operational improvements across industries. Continuous learning via feedback loops and advancements in hardware are key to AI’s growing capabilities. The benefits of AI integration, including scalability, cost reduction, and increased productivity, position it as a powerful tool for businesses seeking to optimize their operations and stay competitive in the evolving digital landscape.

SmartHelio, a Swiss solar software developer, is launching its AI-powered Suite, offering up to 98.5% accuracy in forecasting Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and wind resources, as well as 95% accuracy in predicting system failures. This technology helps minimize risks for solar investments, whether for new photovoltaic (PV) plants or existing ones. The Suite includes two key tools: SmartHelio’s predictive Autopilot solution, which provides advanced analytics, and the Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) tool, which uses meteorological and climatic data to support investment decisions. SmartHelio will showcase its AI Suite at RE+ 2024, scheduled for September 9-12 in Anaheim, California.

“Managing PV plants is often inefficient due to fragmented data and outdated reporting, leading to delayed decisions and significant financial risks for investors. Overcoming these issues is essential for boosting performance and profitability,” said Govinda Upadhyay, CEO of SmartHelio. “While many tools offer performance improvements, plants using SmartHelio’s AI-powered solution have reported up to sixfold returns on investment.”

Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) Tool

The CRA tool uniquely integrates socio-economic data such as urbanization trends, aerosol concentration, and other microclimatic factors. By analyzing over 100 variables, including real-time and historical weather data, environmental elements like proximity to natural features, and global climatic indices like El Nino/La Nina, the tool forecasts solar irradiance and wind conditions for solar farms. It also considers human factors such as pollution and urbanization to offer highly accurate predictions.

Autopilot Platform

The Autopilot platform provides actionable recommendations for optimizing solar plant operations, helping operators maintain maximum capacity at the lowest cost. By preventing downtime and cutting operational and replacement costs by up to 80%, the platform supports both future development and ongoing plant management.

AI-powered Suite

For the first time, users of SmartHelio’s AI-powered Suite, which combines the Autopilot and CRA tools, can see how climate change will affect the future performance of their PV plants and adjust current decisions accordingly. The solution also includes a component selection feature, allowing operators to choose the most suitable equipment for their installations to ensure compatibility, safety, and cost efficiency. This flexibility optimizes resource allocation, lowers costs, and enhances system performance without locking customers into a single provider.

By utilizing the AI-powered Suite, companies can streamline operations, improve decision-making, and avoid financial risks. The system processes time-series data like current and voltage, even in unstructured formats, feeding it into physics-based algorithms to predict failures such as inverter downtime or tracker malfunctions.

Case Study #1: Climate-Resilient Asset Design

A client with a 500MWp solar site in Spain struggled with inaccurate forecasts and underperformance. SmartHelio conducted a detailed climate study and probabilistic analysis, using climate change models and Deep Learning to increase forecasting accuracy to 95-98% over 25 years. This precise forecasting helped the client redesign the solar system, making it more resilient to climate dynamics and boosting annual energy output to 1.18 MWh/m², generating millions in additional revenue.

Case Study #2: PV Plant Acquisition Using CRA and Diagnostic Tools

A major oil company faced challenges when acquiring a portfolio of underperforming PV plants due to poor-quality data. SmartHelio’s One-Time Diagnostic tool enriched the chaotic data, streamlined due diligence, and provided comprehensive health reports. The CRA tool also forecasted realistic future cash flows, helping the client make an informed acquisition decision. Additionally, SolarGPT, SmartHelio’s conversational AI model, facilitated fast and accurate reporting. This approach reduced the initial data review time to 10 days and led to a final decision within 1-1.5 months, offering critical financial insights tied to technical performance.

Named Start-Up of the Year at RE+ 2023 in Las Vegas, SmartHelio will exhibit at RE+ 2024 in Anaheim. Visit SmartHelio’s booth (MP101) in the Platinum Exhibition Area at the Anaheim Marriott to learn more.

AI is the buzzword on everyone’s lips. As it continually develops, it is changing the landscape of many industries.

Individuals and companies voice fears about the negative effects of AI, including job loss and replacement, ethical concerns, and a loss of human interaction.

However, AI is providing positive changes and opportunities in a growing number of industries. Routine tasks are being automated; supply chains optimised, and data-driven decision-making enabled, as well as possibilities for enhanced customer experience. With this comes new roles and functions being created in workplaces.

Comprehensive roadmaps for the productive, responsible, and positive use of AI will be required, argues Tim Levy, AI entrepreneur. In the film and entertainment industry, this is of utmost importance to allow AI and human creatives to work together for the betterment of the industry. Taking this measured approach will allow companies across all sectors to capitalise on the opportunities presented by AI developments.

Here is a rundown of the top 5 industries which are being revolutionised by AI:

Healthcare

Healthcare is arguably one of the industries that need AI innovations the most. AI has the power to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and address workforce challenges, which are a major problem in this sector. The main uses currently focus on diagnostics and personalised medicine.

AI can aid medical practitioners in detecting early signs of diseases or conditions, including cancer and neurological disorders. This allows them to stage early intervention, resulting in better outcomes for patients.

Tailoring personalised treatment plans is easier than ever before. AI can analyse genetic information, medical histories, and other patient data.

Transportation and Logistics

AI systems can optimise delivery routes, reduce fuel consumption, and improve delivery times.

One of the most dramatic innovations in the transportation world is the invention of self-driving cars. In San Francisco, Waymo has rolled out its autonomous taxi service powered by AI. The service is accessed through an app, much like Uber or Lyft.

Finance

AI has been significantly transforming the finance industry for some time. It is helping to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and personalisation.

One of the biggest areas this is making an impact on is Fraud Prevention. AI can analyse transactions in real time to detect unusual patterns which could indicate fraud.

AI can also increase operational efficiency by automating routine tasks, including compliance checks, data entry, and reporting. This speeds up processes and reduces operational costs.

Financial Times recently reported that JPMorgan has plans to use Generative AI to guide investment decisions. The technology will be capable of flagging questionable decisions by portfolio managers.

Film and Entertainment

Despite backlash from creatives who see it as a severe threat, AI has the potential to drive positive impacts in the film and entertainment industry.

Tim Levy, founder of Twyn, a novel AI-powered entertainment content platform, is encouraging the media and entertainment industries to welcome AI as a positive. While many fear that AI could begin to make human talent redundant, Tim disagrees. He believes that AI can be used to enhance human-made content rather than replace it.

AI holds the potential to create enhanced viewer experiences and interactive content that will revolutionise the film industry.

Retail

Technology has been changing the retail landscape for a while. According to Forbes, 20.1% of retail purchases are expected to take place online in 2024.

Recent AI developments allow retailers to go beyond e-commerce and innovate to enhance their customer experience.

Ikea is one such retailer. The Swedish multinational launched its ‘Kreativ’ experience which allows customers to design and visualise their own living spaces, from their smartphone.

In conclusion

While many people remain apprehensive about AI’s effect on our lives, it is indisputable that AI is transforming many industries for the better. Capable of increasing efficiency and enabling innovation that enhances customer experiences, AI developments will continue to drive improvements across the sectors detailed here and many others.

Adapting to these changes will, however, require companies to be proactive and strategic to upskill their workforce, reevaluate current processes and implement robust ethical frameworks.

While there has been a lot of discussion around artificial intelligence (AI) in the last year or so, it still hasn’t greatly affected the daily lives of the majority of people. What are some of the current projects that could change this and make AI a bigger part of our lifestyles?

Playing Casino Games

Casino slots have been changed recently thanks to new technology. The latest releases on the online casino at Paddy Power include Eagle of Wealth and Squid Game, where interesting bonus features are added to the basic gameplay. Free spins and jackpot prizes are amongst the most commonly used bonuses that can be randomly triggered in these games. Could AI be the next big move that makes these games more immersive and personalised?

The introduction of AI technology may help developers continue to explore new themes while allowing players to adapt the layout or features. It’s becoming easier to imagine a future in which each casino game we play is individually created based on aspects such as our tastes, skill level and feedback. Added to the use of augmented reality and virtual reality, this should mean a new era for this genre.

Searching for Answers on Google

Following its launch in 1998, Google quickly became the most popular internet search engine. It soon became so widely used that people started to use ‘google’ as a verb when searching online for information and it was named as 2002’s most useful word by the American Dialect Society. The Google Guys by Richard L. Brandt is an informative book from 2011 about how Larry Page and Sergey Brin made this search engine the industry leader by keeping things simple

Part of their success has been in adapting to the changing world around us and making sure that Google brings back the most accurate results every time. Recent news reports suggest that Google may add AI searches as a premium level of service. With an estimated six million searches carried out every minute in early 2024, this move would be about protecting their number one position in the industry while potentially creating a new revenue channel and helping users refine their searches.

Creating Spotify Playlists

Music streaming services like Spotify have introduced a new way of listening to songs and podcasts. At the time of writing, Spotify has over 230 million subscribers amongst its 600 million+ user base. Part of the reason for its success is the algorithm that sits at the heart of the service. Spotify currently uses AI to help users find new songs that they’re likely to enjoy as effortlessly as possible.

The latest news from Spotify takes their use of the latest technology a step further by giving listeners the chance to use AI to create playlists based on written prompts. It’s initially being rolled out as a beta model for mobile devices for British and Australian users and has been designed to let users type in a wide range of requests that lead to them discovering new tracks.

Making the Public Services in Our Cities Easier to Use

The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh could be the site of the world’s first AI city, with plans announced to create a modern city in Lucknow. But when will the majority of our cities use AI? A poll carried out in 2023 by Bloomberg Philanthropies led to a report called State of Cities: Generative AI in Local Governments. In it, they reveal that 96% of city mayors around the world are interested in using AI to improve their cities. However, only 2% of the cities included in the report are currently using it.

Looking more closely at the details, we can see that 69% of the cities are currently testing or in some way exploring AI. 22% of them have got a Gen AI lead in position while 13% of them have created guidelines and policies about their use of the technology. All of this means that city services such as public transportation are likely to be affected by the move towards AI in the near future.

These developing areas show us the different ways that AI will soon affect our lives. The changes won’t always be noticeable at first sight but it seems certain that more parts of our lifestyle will be powered by AI in the next few years.

Artificial Intelligence – Resembling Hum” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by deepakiqlect