AI making great strides, surpassing humans in some areas

(ANSA) – ROME, APR 17 – Artificial intelligence has advanced to the point of having surpassed humans in some areas, according to a new report.
The AI ;;Index Report of Stanford University every year photographs the development and diffusion of the new technology.
"AI systems – the report states – have made great strides in generating high-quality videos and, in some situations, the agents of the linguistic model have even surpassed humans in programming tasks with limited time budgets".
More advanced, but also more integrated into everyday life, AI is increasingly used in various areas, from healthcare to transportation.
"Companies are banking on AI, fueling record investment and adoption," experts say, noting that private investment in AI in the United States reached $109.1 billion last year, nearly 12 times China's $9.3 billion and 24 times the UK's $4.5 billion.
"Particularly strong momentum" is seen in generative AI, which attracted $33.9 billion in private investment globally, up 18.7% from 2023.
AI use in businesses is also accelerating: 78% of organizations said they will use AI in 2024, up from 55% the previous year.
Meanwhile, a growing body of research confirms that AI increases productivity and, in most cases, helps close skills gaps in the workforce.
The US continues to lead the way in producing high-level AI models—40 relevant AI models—with a wide lead over China, which has produced 15, and Europe, which has only three.
China is rapidly closing the gap, while it continues to lead in AI publications and patents.
Global AI optimism is also rising, but regional divides remain deep.
In places like China (83%), Indonesia (80%), and Thailand (77%), strong majorities believe that AI products and services do more good than harm.
In contrast, optimism remains much lower in places like Canada (40%), the US (39%), and the Netherlands (36%).
However, sentiment is shifting: since 2022, optimism has grown significantly in several previously skeptical countries, including Germany (+10%), France (+10%), Canada (+8%), Great Britain (+8%), Italy (+6%) and the United States (+4%).
And as AI becomes more efficient, affordable and accessible, more and more states are increasing investments, but also legislative interventions to regulate the new technology and the resulting risks.
Leading the AI ;;race is the industry from which almost 90% of the AI ;;models developed come, compared to 60% in 2023.
On the other hand, performance gaps are narrowing: "the difference in score between the most highly rated model and the one in tenth place has fallen from 11.9% to 5.4% in a year, and the top two are now separated by just 0.7%.
The frontier – experts note – is increasingly competitive and increasingly crowded". (ANSA).
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