In 2024, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become a potential part of work for small businesses, larger companies, and individual workers. This will have implications for how we work. Over the past year, we have witnessed people using gen AI in various ways, including through Duet AI in Google Workspace. It has been observed that gen AI enhances existing skills, such as writers refining their work with a virtual editor or designers generating new ideas. It also adds new skills to users' repertoire, allowing novices to become proficient in areas like spreadsheet usage by leveraging AI. While there is significant technology innovation underlying generative AI, what matters most to business owners and employees in smaller enterprises is the impact of the output. It plays a crucial role in freeing up time, boosting performance, and improving customer interactions. In 2024, we will witness three significant effects of generative AI. Firstly, the power of multimodal AI, which comprehends information across text, images, videos, and other formats, will be instrumental in propelling organizations of all sizes, including small and medium-sized businesses. Not only does it yield more robust outcomes, but it also enables simultaneous work in multiple modalities. For instance, the outcome of a spreadsheet calculation can be seamlessly incorporated into the content of an email, which refers to previous customer interactions, accompanied by relevant diagrams or illustrations. This benefits businesses of all sizes, but it is especially advantageous for small enterprises where individuals often assume multiple roles. A local bike shop owner, for example, can receive a customer's photo of a problem, and multimodal AI can accurately interpret the image and describe the issue. This kind of business AI acts as an auxiliary capability, enabling customers to effectively represent themselves and their work by utilizing a diverse range of expressions.

Furthermore, through conversational interactions with AI that align with individual work styles, individuals can enhance their internal and customer communications, adding a more personal touch. The two key aspects of gen AI in the workplace are how people interact with it and how it collaborates with people. In 2024, businesses of all sizes, from small family-owned establishments to global corporations, will focus on their top prompts to enhance various tasks, including creating content for email marketing campaigns or composing and refining customer support responses. For a small business, this could involve crafting a customer email that presents a special offer, refers to past purchases, and conveys the unique qualities of their services. Another example could be drafting or improving the content of monthly newsletters or providing suggested responses to unanswered vendor emails. For those already utilizing Duet AI in Workspace or considering using it, here are a few prompt writing tips to generate more helpful results: One of the striking aspects of gen AI is that it facilitates natural interactions with exceptionally powerful computational capabilities. By speaking or typing a prompt, users can access a wealth of computer interactions that deliver their desired results instantaneously. Ideally, gen AI products should continuously improve over time, working securely and privately with individuals' data to aid them in creating, communicating, and collaborating more effectively. In 2024, we will witness even more powerful dialogues between people and gen AI as machines advance, and individuals become accustomed to this new mode of working. Unlike previous writing and productivity applications, a great deal of activity will occur within the creative process itself, with suggestions that expedite work or introduce new workflows and processes that were previously unknown. Additionally, AI is becoming adept at understanding situational needs within a business, enabling it to propose the most valuable workflows in any given moment. For example, during a meeting, it may summarize the conversation and send it to relevant parties, or during personal work, it might suggest the most suitable tool or image for designing a new product or service. Gen AI derives its power from data, and thus, the most impactful expressions are likely to come from cloud-based services that prioritize privacy and security, rather than legacy applications that store data locally on laptops and share files as attachments without appropriate access controls. Cloud-based systems possess the potential to revolutionize the working world by providing personalized and relevant suggestions that leverage the context of an individual's work, such as emails or files stored securely in the Cloud, while respecting privacy. However, the most significant and meaningful dialogue remains the one between individuals and their colleagues, as well as between companies and their customers. I am excited about the possibilities that await users in 2024 and beyond, as they reap the benefits of generative AI.