Have you heard about a word “inflection points?” Tech pundits often talk about it and particularly when new technology changes everything and creates new opportunities as well as new threats. It seems such moments are happening now. The best example is OpenAI’s recent announcement of a new AI-powered search product or the next-generation model GPT-5.
OpenAI introduced a new free flagship model GPT-4o a couple of months ago. It is impressive as it can interact with humans through text, speech and vision as well. It is disturbingly natural. It has playful and emotionally expressive nature equipped with vast knowledge. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman summed up using a single word on X platform and it was simply “Her,” which refers to a movie where a man falls in love with an AI.
In a demo its chatbot scanned a scene with a camera and another chatbot asked it questions. The second chatbot was humorously critiquing the fashion and decor choices of OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman. It even taunted him with songs.
The next day of the announcement Google announced major AI advancements at its annual I/O developers conference. One was Gemini Pro, which is said to be a powerful AI model. The other was Project Astra, a multimodal chatbot and it is similar to OpenAI’s GPT-4o. It can process visual and aural information continuously. It can even provide sophisticated answers about anything it observes.
The Google’s demo was capable in finding misplaced glasses by recognizing location. It is hinted that Astra might be integrated into smart glasses. This means it is paving a future where AI can assist in everyday life.
However, everyone seems not convinced with the innovations. Some argues the progress of large language models (LLMs) has plateaued stating that recent advancements are mere smoke and mirrors. Critics claim AI developments may not improve significantly and people should not worry with respect to job risks. Some even are dismissing the AI revolution stating it is overhyped as current models are still struggle with basic tasks.
