Introduction

Following the explosive growth of 2023, Artificial Intelligence continued its meteoric rise in 2024. Every day seemed to bring about innovations that redefined our understanding of what AI can achieve. This article will review the major AI advancements, trends, and tools of 2024, offering a glimpse into the AI-driven future.

The Evolving Landscape of AI Models

While OpenAI maintained its leading position, the gap between it and other players narrowed significantly. Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 3.5 has matched OpenAI's advanced models, and Google's Gemini 2.0 showed strong potential, highlighting a fiercely competitive market. Open-source models also experienced explosive growth, with contributions from Meta AI, Microsoft, Google, Mistral AI, Alibaba, Zhipu, and Huanfang. These advancements are bringing AI capabilities to more users and developers while substantially reducing costs. In addition, OpenAIā€™s o1 and o3 inference models set the stage for future model development.

Video Generation and World Modeling: Shaking Up the Visuals

In video generation, OpenAIā€™s Sora, despite its early announcement, didn't fully deliver on its promise until the end of the year. In a surprise move, Kuaishou's Kling AI, released four months after Sora, has taken the lead in AI video generation, boasting impressive capabilities, including realistic motion and the simulation of physical world properties. Runway, Luma, Hailuo, and Jimi AI have also developed similar Diffusion Implicit Trajectory (DIT) architecture. Kling AI has already acquired over 6 million users and has been deployed in e-commerce, film and entertainment, and advertising industries. Googleā€™s Veo 2, arriving at the end of the year, raised the bar even higher with its high-fidelity simulations (though still not generally available). AI video generation is set to be even more stimulating in 2025. In addition to generative models, models for action-driven world modeling, such as GameNGen, Oasis, GENIE-2, also made significant breakthroughs, enabling the creation of interactive 3D game worlds.

AI Beyond Models: Robotics and Computing Hardware

Beyond AI model development, AI is also rapidly transforming various industries, including robotics and computing hardware.

Top AI Tech and Tools of 2024

Here's a rundown of the major AI technologies and tools:

1. Robotics Rapid Development:
* Tesla Optimus: Autonomous humanoid robot capable of complex tasks with a 22-degree freedom hand design.
* Unitree Go2: Quadruped robot with obstacle avoidance, path planning, suitable for security and education.
* Boston Dynamics e-Atlas: All-electric humanoid robot with exceptional acrobatic abilities.
* Figure 02: AI-powered robot integrated with ChatGPT for autonomous decision-making and conversation.
* Clone: Bio-inspired robots with muscle and tendon design, capable of multiple operational tasks.

2. Embedded AI ("Robot Brains"):
* Tesla FSD v12: Pure vision-based AI for autonomous driving, setting the scale for physical AI data.
* NVIDIA Project GR00T: Universal robot brain trained in virtual spaces, and adaptable to real-world robots.
* HOVER: Foundation model simulating human cerebellum for subconscious coordination.
* DrEureka: Simulated robot dog balancing and walking on a yoga ball, translatable to the real world without fine-tuning.

3. Computing Hardware:
* NVIDIA Blackwell: New architecture achieving 1 Exaflop computing power per rack.
* Jetson Nano Super: High-performance miniature computing for edge-based robotic tasks.
* Google Willow Chip: Quantum computing breakthrough solving random circuit sampling problems in minutes (tasks that would take a classical computer more than 10^27 years).

4. Video Generation and World Modeling:
* Sora: Long video generation that simulates the physical world, although with late release.
* Kling AI: Fast-developed video generation model by Kuaishou with realisitic motion.
* Veo 2: Googleā€™s high-fidelity, realistic video generation, yet to be generally available.
* Runway Gen-3: Multimodal model with improved fidelity, control, and motion capabilities.
* GameNGen, Oasis, GENIE-2: Action-driven world modeling for generating interactive 3D game worlds.

  • World Labs: 3D world generation model with geometric consistency.

5. Large Language Models (LLMs):
* Claude Sonnet 3.5: Anthropicā€™s AI model comparable to OpenAIā€™s high-end models.
* Gemini 2.0: Google's advanced model for speed, efficiency, and real-time visual processing.
* o1 and o3: OpenAIā€™s inference models focused on enhancing reasoning capabilities.
* GPT-4o: Multimodal model integrating text, images, real-time voice, and more, fully commercialized.
* Llama-3: Meta AIā€™s latest open-source LLM, ranging in size, comparable to GPT-4, for various applications.
* Zhipu AutoGLM: AI agent for automatic tasks on mobile phones and browsers.
* Doubao AI: AI assistant with vision, speech, multimodal, music, and image capabilities, a notable domestic AI model.
* Hunyuan Video Model: Open-source video generation model by Tencent, comparable to closed-source alternatives.

6. Human Technological Progress:
* AlphaFold: Google DeepMind's protein prediction model, awarded a Nobel Prize for its revolutionary results.
* Neuralink: First human brain implant, enabling paralyzed patients to control digital devices.

  • Apple Vision Pro: Apple's first mixed reality device, setting a new benchmark for the MR space.
    * SpaceX Starship: Multiple test flights with successful rocket reuse, a breakthrough for reusable rocket technology.
    * Chang'e-6: Successful return of samples from the far side of the moon, marking a space milestone.
    * Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: Net energy output sustained for over 100 seconds in ITER, showing progress in practical nuclear fusion technology.
    * Cancer Treatment: Personalized cancer vaccines developed using CRISPR gene editing, improving survival rates for certain cancers.

7. AI Tool Recommendations:
* AI Chat Assistants: OpenAI o1, Claude 3.5, GPT 4o, Gemini 2.0 Flash, Doubao AI, Monica, Poe
* Image Generation and Editing: Midjourney, Flux, Stable Diffusion, Jimi AI, Recraft, Ideogram, Freepik, Canva
* Video Generation and Editing: Kling AI, Runway, Hailuo AI, Jimi AI, Luma AI, Krea AI, PIka, Hunyuan, Pixverse
* AI Programming Assistants: Bolt.new, Windsurf, Cursor, v0, Github Copilot, Devin
* Voice Tools: NotebookLM, Elevenlabs, Fish Audio, SenseVoice and CosyVoice, Azure Audio, F5 TTS, Openai whisper, ChatTTS, Suno
* AI Search Engines: Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Felo, Genspark, Mita, Nanometer Search

Looking Ahead: 2025 and Beyond

2024 has laid the groundwork for widespread AI application. 2025 promises to be the year of practical AI implementation across various fields, as model performance improves and the technology matures.

Conclusion

2024 has been a monumental year for Artificial Intelligence, witnessing breakthroughs in models, hardware, and practical applications. As we step into 2025, the developments of 2024 set a hopeful stage for even more advancements. The advancements showcased in 2024 have only just begun to demonstrate the transformative power of AI, and I'm excited to see what comes next.