1. Generative AI
Forrester defines generative AI as a set of technologies and techniques that leverage massive amounts of data to generate new content such as text, video, images, audio and code in response to natural language prompts or other noncode and nontraditional inputs.
Benefits of using generative AI include improved digital experiences via natural language interactions, rapid knowledge retrieval, faster content generation and improved content quality, according to the report.
Yet, there are risks to be aware of as well. Generative AI is prone to “… coherent nonsense, security threats, and harmful generation,” and “… firms aren’t able to quickly vet the rapidly increasing quantity of new capabilities,” the report said.
2. Autonomous workplace assistants
Forrester defines autonomous workplace assistants as “… software that can make decisions, act without approval, and perform a service based on environment, context, user input, and learning in support of workplace goals.”
Forrester Vice President of Emerging Technologies Brian Hopkins explained that, compared to intelligent agents, with AWAs, “… we’re seeing [a] blending of RPA (robotic process automation) and digital process tools” and the ability “… to create a software agent that is capable of learning as it goes and answering more complex queries and acting in a non-deterministic way.”
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Benefits of AWAs include reduced cost of answering questions, reduced process inefficiency and improved customer service, the report said. The risks, which will challenge enterprise skill levels, include the need to integrate key automation building blocks such as RPA, conversation and decision management.
Hopkins is clear that this year we’ve hit an inflection point, and chatbots and AWAs will “explode.”
3. Conversational AI
Conversational AI tools aren’t new, though they haven’t worked well in the past, according to the report. The technology placed third on the list because a combination of advancements and a reduction in licensing costs “… make this technology capable of delivering ROI in the near term, while there is still a lot of room for future advancements and innovations,” the report noted.
Benefits of conversational AI include increased sales, automated customer service, employee self-service and frictionless buying experiences. The risks include poorly designed chatbots providing poor customer experience and eroding trust, as well as inflexible platforms that cannot evolve quickly to keep up with the pace of innovation.
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4. Decentralized digital identity
Is a solution and identity network that provides decentralized, distributed, verifiable and revocable credentials and claims based on trust between issuers, verifiers and users. Forrester predicts it will deliver significant benefits in two to five years.
5. Edge intelligence
Includes streaming analytics, edge machine learning, federated machine learning and real-time data management on intelligent devices and edge servers. Forrester predicts it will deliver significant benefits in two to five years.
