AI today comes in the form of multiple levels. Lori Gipp, vice president of product with TransImpact, tells us where the technology is really making a difference.

Talk about artificial intelligence today refers to several variants of the technology, Gipp points out. She breaks it down into three main “buckets”: generative AI, consisting of chatbots that create content based on scouring the internet; AI algorithms, which enable scenario simulation and forecasting; and agentic AI, which might use parts of the other two to carry out numerous discrete tasks.

GenAI has already “really changed the world,” Gipp notes. “Over time, it has given remarkably accurate answers.”

AI algorithms are also making their mark on organizations, resulting in 15% to 20% greater accuracy over the most sophisticated statistical algorithms. They have achieved “leaps and bounds in what they can do.”

“If people are not using AI algorithms to do a better job of predicting, then they don’t have the right tools at hand,” Gipp says.

Agentic AI has evolved from a tool for generating code to one that’s proving to be of use “across the business spectrum,” Gipp says. Anthropic’s release of Claude earlier this year promises to have the same effect as previous manifestations of AI “at greater magnitude.”

GenAI still holds significant value, Gipp says. In a time of talk about “lights-out, human-less automation,” large language models are busy condensing the amount of time it takes to process data and make decisions from weeks to minutes.

Individuals and businesses looking to make a start with AI, but don’t  where to apply it, need to “make it personal,” Gipp says. “What bothers you? What takes time in your day?”