Want to make the most of AI? Learn about these 4 types.
A true revolution in the functioning of companies, the whole society and almost all individuals. That’s how you could describe the impact of the turns artificial intelligence took in recent years. But…
AI is slowly permeating every aspect of our lives. We hear generated ads, see unrealistic illustrations, read “non-human” articles, and leave routine tasks and actions to advanced apps.
Many of us can no longer imagine life without artificial intelligence. And that’s where the big trap lies. How do we actually understand the different types of modern AI so that we can get the best out of the tools we use? And which of its capabilities can we utilize?
Types of AI by Capabilities 🤖
Artificial intelligence has been with us for decades. But we’ll focus on the modern types of AI that are gaining momentum in both the personal and corporate space. They are generative, agentic, multimodal, and predictive AI.
Generative AI
When ChatGPT first appeared, most of us probably ran and immediately asked the application something. We were all amazed at how the information appeared, how interesting it was and how strange it was. This is something that English-speaking users may not notice, but in Czech, the shortcomings of the stylistics of this and other AI models are quite obvious.
However, this does not prevent generative AI from currently being one of the most used types of applications. As its name suggests, this type of artificial intelligence focuses on the creation (genesis) of content. It is most often used for creation of text or images, but applications for creating videos or audio are also on the rise.
The goal of generative AI is to automate the creative process in areas where it is possible. The most important work is still in human hands — what do we actually want from the app and whether it hit a bull’s eye — but all that in between is already a task for Auntie AI.
Industries like marketing benefit greatly from these features, but it is also a great tool for relieving the burden of stereotypical activities for finance or management departments.
Attention! When using generative AI, be careful about the sources it draws from and the accuracy and credibility of the information. We recently had an incident where we were doing market research for services and the AI claimed that we also provide a specific service. This was not true, and when asked where it got the information, it revealed that it had actually made a "qualified estimate." It simply made it up.
Agentic AI
If generative AI has already flooded our lives, then agentic AI is in store for us this year and possibly the next one too. You have probably already encountered some form of it when you communicated with a chatbot.
Applications based on agentic AI provide collaboration in performing various tasks. But it is no longer just about pure text outputs, today it can also work with graphical inputs and do some work for you.
A key feature is real-time communication and the ever-increasing ability to exit its own interface and medle with the functions of other applications. That is why it is such a great helper, and not only for ordering food for an empty fridge.
We have already moved from “regular” chatbots to the era of AI assistants, and their influence will only grow. The only question is whether the infrastructural progress will be enough to make 2025 the year of agentic AI.
Multimodal AI
This type of application combines different types of input to create complex outputs. It is not just about working with text or visuals, but a combination of these types.
Great examples of its benefits are in the fields of medicine and transportation. Multimodal AI is used to put together an overall view of a patient’s condition from X-rays and medical reports. Autonomous cars can combine text instructions and output from LIDAR sensors for safer driving.
This type of artificial intelligence is useful when you need to work on an output that should draw on more than one category or type of data. But this can be as simple as generating an image and a related post for social networks.
Predictive AI
This is a type of AI based on capabilities, which are more common in manufacturing or analytics industries. It is the ability to predict what a specific state will be at a certain point in time based on historical data.
This allows companies in the manufacturing and production industries to effectively plan machine maintenance, prevent machine breakdowns or operational downtime.
AI Features 🧠
In this article, we will not go into the types of artificial intelligence according to architecture because that is already a really complex topic. However, in addition to capabilities, we also need to distinguish between features so that you know which applications to actually go for in order to best meet your needs.
Not every type of AI according to its capabilities has all of the following features. And not every feature will be needed to meet your needs.
- Contextual AI — adapts to current conditions and interaction history. This is clearly seen, for example, in smart thermostats that not only work with user settings and preferences but also sense whether people are at home so that the temperature matches their needs.
- Personalized AI — adjusts content based on the user’s long-term preferences. It enriches chatbots and assistants so that they meet the needs of users as much as possible.
- Interactive AI — enables natural communication with the user. There is no need to say more than Alexa.
- Autonomous AI — works without the need for human intervention. We most often have this feature associated with cars.
- Emotional AI — recognizes and responds to human emotions. This feature is most often used where AI needs to be able to respond to the current emotion of the person on the other end of the line.
Conclusion ✅
The range of AI products will only increase but it is good not to repeat the mistake that companies made with the cloud. New technologies came and companies jumped on the trend wave without thinking. Some still pay a very high price for it today.
It is good to pay attention and time to new technologies but always take into account the needs of your company. Just as the cloud is not the right choice for every company, AI is not the right choice for everyone. Certainly not all types.
In addition to helping, artificial intelligence also brings an era of better-armed “bad guys”. In the next article, we will look at how AI is transforming the world of cybercrime, what to watch out for and how to best defend against attacks.
