With the release of the DeepSeek R1 chatbot and Apple’s MacOS 15.3, generative AI is back in the news. But what actually is genAI?
What can genAI do?
Generative AI is a technology that makes something new from existing knowledge. Tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek or Microsoft Copilot can be used to write fairly convincing text based on a prompt supplied by the user.
Say you want to write a formal letter of resignation. You can ask a generative AI chatbot to create a template, then fill in any specific details required – your name, last working date, name of your boss etc – afterwards. Because the chatbot takes care of the more formal aspects of writing, you can create your letter in a few moments.
But genAI is not just about words. Tools like Apple Image Playground or Microsoft Bing Creator can create decent artwork. Simply describe what you want to see, and the AI engine will generate images that contain the specified elements.
There are even tools to generate decent quality video content. And the technology is getting smarter and more convincing all the time.
How does genAI differ from traditional artificial intelligence?
Traditional AI deployments are typically designed for a specific purpose. Medical AI tools can be used to scan and analyse thousands of medical images, automatically identifying potential cancers or growth defects. Insurance AI can process hundreds of thousands of historical policy claims to fine-tune the algorithms used to calculate quotes, effectively balancing cost to provide a better service to customers without exposing the firm to excessive risk.
Traditional AI is exceptional at completing these tasks in a fraction of the time it would take a human to do the same.
Generative AI is markedly different. Although the user specifies their desired output, they have little to no control over what is produced. genAi is not expected to complete the same task repeatedly – indeed the output is never exactly the same, even when the same input prompts are used.
Again, generative AI technologies are evolving rapidly, bringing new capabilities and potential with every iteration. Where current models can formulate a business strategy document based on data supplied by the user, in the future they may also be able to identify potential changes and enhancements that were missed by the human operator. Conceivably, the human strategist could be replaced entirely if the generative AI model improves sufficiently.
Making creative tasks faster
The future of genAI is as unpredictable as its output. However, analysis by McKinsey suggests that the greatest potential for generative AI comes from four key business functions: customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and research and development.
This finding makes sense. genAI can already provide helpful self-service responses to customer queries via chatbot. It can produce effective sales and marketing materials. It can accelerate development by generating code frameworks. And it is brilliant at analysing vast amounts of data to identify hidden trends and insights.
This means that generative AI has potential applications across your business. To learn more about how genAI will help boost your productivity, please get in touch.