Artificial intelligence, or AI, has seen a true boom in 2024, and the year has barely started. Chatbots can read or listen to your ideas and generate additional information. AI can also make images, audio, music, and even video. It can predict trends as well as a seasoned stock trader and so much more. Let’s see which ones have been making waves this year.
1. ChatGPT
A great place to start is with the tool that instantly propelled generative AI into the mainstream once it came out – ChatGPT. Upon its release, ChatGPT was welcomed by some with open arms, and others with suspicion and concern. But the social impact was undeniable. This clever piece of tech can churn out responses that can seem almost uncannily human. It’s capable of engaging in a way that feels incredibly human. The chatbot knows a lot about pretty much everything, so you can “discuss” something you’re familiar with or learn something entirely new.
2. Claude
Developed by Anthropic, Claude is another large language model (LLM) and one of ChatGPT’s major competitors. It has an impressive context window and a style of speech and prose that some–particularly fiction authors–might prefer. Recently, it’s been upgraded with Opus and Sonnet sub-models, which are suitable for different types of tasks. It could stand to be a little less censored, though.
3. Gemini
Previously called Google Bard, Gemini is yet another LLM that had the community talking. It’s about as smart as GPT-4, but with its own twist and style. There’s much it can do, like talking, web search, image generation, and more.
4. DALL-E
Speaking of image generators, the next one is for the visual creatives out there – DALL-E. All it needs is a few words of input, like “a cat astronaut exploring Mars, expressionism,” and it will create an image based on that suggestion. It can generate pictures in any known style, be it a classical painting, digital art, or even something more obscure. It might also come as welcome news that DALL-E is also getting closer to being able to spell – previously one of the major challenges for AI image generators.
5. MidJourney
Not to be outdone, MidJourney is still going strong. It’s a versatile image generator that can accurately replicate most of your ideas. Better yet, it’s less limited or censored than DALL-E, so you can use it to create images of your favorite actors in movie roles you’ve always wanted to see them in.
6. ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is an AI text-to-speech and speech-to-speech tool that can read any text in a natural, almost entirely human-like manner. It lets you clone your own voice or create entirely new synthetic voices. You can even adjust the expressiveness and emotion the simulated voice produces. ElevenLabs also allows users to create dubs and audiobooks with multiple voices for each character.
7. Suno
This fun tool is a bit like ElevenLabs in that it’s audio-focused. However, instead of being a text-to-speech tool, Suno is your AI DJ and music maker. You can give it your own lyrics or let it generate lyrics on its own, then decide on the style, genre, and other details of the song you want it to create. Afterward, sit back and watch as your dream song becomes reality before your eyes (and ears).
8. Lyric Studio
On the topic of music, Lyric Studio uses AI to help you write song lyrics. Of course, other language models can help with writing songs and poetry, too. However, Lyric Studio is tailored to the task and can generate creative and original lyrics on any style and topic you request. It has a wealth of libraries to help you write the lyrics and can also help you find the rhythm that would fit the envisioned song.
9. Notion AI
For those who care deeply about efficiency in their work, there’s a tool that’s been making quite the splash – Notion AI. It’s an AI-powered digital work assistant that helps with organizing thoughts, managing tasks, drafting documents, jotting down ideas, and more.
10. Jasper
Jasper has been around for some time but is still going strong. It’s an AI tool for making sense of data and content creation. It’s useful for quickly and effortlessly churning out marketing copy that still hits the mark. Moreover, it does well with analytics and data use during content creation. It predicts what your audience wants and crafts the message for you.
11. Sudowrite
Sudowrite is an AI writing assistant specifically intended for authors. It lets users feed the AI with their story, characters, setting, style, and everything else that would give the AI enough context to be helpful. From there, you can explore features like auto-writing based on your story’s outline or improve your writing by making it more descriptive. The tool also lets you brainstorm ideas like characters, locations, magic systems (for fantasy), and more. Best of all, the tool lets you make your own AI assistant plugins or try ones made by the community, such as “Characters Prompt the Author,” where an AI language model will take on the role of a focal character in your story and ask you questions about their fate, backstory, motivations, and more.
12. NovelCrafter
Similarly, NovelCrafter is an excellent tool to help creative writers beat writer’s block and get their work polished and published in a fraction of the time. It offers several models to interact with and a comprehensive story Codex that keeps track of all significant aspects of the story and helps you stay on track and consistent.
13. GitHub Copilot
Here’s a solid tool for tech-savvy people into code who want a bit more speed and precision – GitHub Copilot. It’s a coding partner that never gets tired or runs out of ideas. GitHub Copilot helps you write better code with suggestions and can even write chunks of code for you. Of course, it’s not a replacement for a human coder, and it won’t write an entire program for you, but the help it does offer is immense.
14. TabNine
TabNine is a coding assistant that makes writing code much easier with predictions, suggestions, corrections, and much more. Better yet, it comes integrated as a plugin for Visual Studio Code, so you can start using it quickly and for free.
15. Quizlet Q-Chat AI Tutor
Even educators and learners have something to gain from the AI revolution. That’s why AI tools like Quizlet’s AI tutor are around. The tool makes learning more personal to a student by adapting to their pace and style. It’s a tutor that knows exactly where a student may be struggling and helps them master the subject in the most efficient way possible.
16. Crayon
AI tools like Crayon are keeping companies on their toes in more ways than one in the business world. Crayon monitors competitors’ digital footprints using AI. This way, it gives companies insights into trends, advancements, and where they and their competitors may excel or falter. The intel the tool gathers helps companies stay ahead and improve in areas that call for improvement.
17. DeepMind Health
AI tools like DeepMind Health are making strides in the healthcare industry, diagnosing diseases and predicting patient outcomes. They can crunch data and spot patterns that may escape the human eye, all in the service of saving lives. Tools like these prove that AI is for more than entertainment or outsourcing repetitive or creative tasks. It can also be used in critical sectors to make them more efficient.
18. Tesla Autopilot
It’s hard to talk about AI without mentioning the advancements in autonomous vehicles. Tesla’s Autopilot is an example of these tools that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s traffic-aware, can steer the vehicle on its own, and gets very close to giving the world fully autonomous self-driving cars.
19. Synthesia
Synthesia is an AI video tool that can create professionally-looking video presentations using AI facial motion capture and high-quality, natural audio. It’s a neat tool for advertisement that looks professional but costs a fraction of what such a video would normally set you back. It’s great for small businesses.
20. Sora
As of early 2024, Sora has yet to come out. However, this AI video tool by Open AI goes a considerable step ahead of early AI video tools. Rather than using simple AI mocap replication, Sora is able to simulate physics in real-time in order to create believable and vivid video content. It’s sure to have a significant impact on video production.
The Never-Ending Stream of AI Tools
This is merely a small fraction of all the tools, services, and clever ways to apply AI to everyday life, hobbies, work, or entertainment. For example, for gamers and modders, AI tools are creating new ways to experience games and keep content fresh. AI tools cover everything from productivity, language learning, and business transactions to creating funny memes. If you can think of it and it’s digital, chances are there’s an AI tool to assist you with it. So, use this list as an inspiration and explore what’s out there and what could benefit you in 2024 and beyond.
