AI Horizon Scanning -- White Paper p3395, IEEE-SA. Part III: Technology Watch: a selection of key developments, emerging technologies, and industry trends in Artificial Intelligence
It provides a snapshot of AI trends for stakeholders like IEEE-SA to inform standards development, but is incremental as it reviews existing developments without new research.
This white paper assesses the current state and trends in AI technology development, focusing on generative AI's rapid growth post-ChatGPT, and discusses the need for regulatory standards to align AI with societal benefits while mitigating risks.
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are in a phase of unprecedented rapid development following the landmark release of Chat-GPT, which brought the phenomenon to wide public attention. As the deployment of AI products rises geometrically, considerable attention is being given to the threats and opportunities that AI technologies offer, and to the need for regulatory and standards initiatives to ensure that use of the technology aligns with societal needs and generates broad benefits while mitigating risks and threats. This manuscript is the third of a series of White Papers informing the development of IEEE-SA's p3995 {\it `Standard for the Implementation of Safeguards, Controls, and Preventive Techniques for Artificial Intelligence Models'} \cite{P3395}, Chair Marina Cortês. This part focuses on assessing calmly and objectively, as far as is possible, the current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology development and identifying predominant trends, prospects, and ensuing risks. It necessarily forms a snapshot of the current instant of a rapidly-evolving landscape, with new products and innovations emerging continuously. While our main focus is on software and hardware developments and their corporate context, we also briefly review progress on robotics within the AI context and describe some implications of the substantial and growing AI energy demand.