The Year in AI: How ChatGPT, Gemini, Apple Intelligence, and More Changed Everything in 2024
A year ago, it sometimes felt like AI had somehow spread everywhere, but it was just a taste of how AI was invading people’s lives, for better or for worse.
It would take a whole series of books to cover every transformative update, flashy launch, and embarrassing misstep from the biggest AI brands: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Apple Intelligence, let alone every AI developer.
Still, there are some key highlights worth remembering before 2025 turns the landscape upside down again.
ChatGPT’s endless upgrades
It’s hard to talk about AI in 2024 without putting ChatGPT at the center. OpenAI seemed determined to stay in the spotlight, releasing one groundbreaking update after another.
The introduction of GPT-4o will follow in May, followed by the leaner GPT-4o, started the multimodal evolution of ChatGPT in processing text, images, audio and video. The December release of the o1 model brought a new level of reasoning, with sharper and more insightful answers. It proves to be an invaluable tool for everything from coding challenges to creative brainstorming.
ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode brought new vocal interactions to ChatGPT with a range of lifelike voices, including Santa Claus. If you weren’t talking through the app, OpenAI even set up the toll-free 1-800-CHATGPT hotline to call and communicate with ChatGPT.
Filmmakers have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video model, for most of the year. Although it only recently became available to non-professional filmmakers, Sora’s ability to create animated videos is now accessible to creative minds or marketers on a deadline.
Creative collaboration was also the focus for ChatGPT’s Canvas mode, which enables real-time collaboration with the AI, where projects can be edited and refined side by side. To keep things organized, OpenAI has also introduced Projects, a feature that groups conversations and files into manageable folders. And the extensive ChatGPT search function helps keep all that information current and accurate.
To top it all off, OpenAI closed out the year with its celebratory ’12 Days of OpenAI’ event, featuring daily updates such as WhatsApp integration, a new $200 per month ChatGPT Pro tier, and a sneak peek of the upcoming O3 model for the chatbot. That likely helped distract from the hours-long outage in December, caused by an outage in Microsoft’s data center. The scale of the outrage may not have been great PR, but it undeniably highlighted how much ChatGPT has spread since the start of 2024.
Google Gemini’s leap
Google Gemini didn’t even exist when 2024 ended. It wasn’t until February that Bard became Gemini, and that rebrand was part of Google’s years-long effort to surpass OpenAI by integrating AI into everything it does. A shiny new Gemini app for Android and a Gemini Advanced subscription immediately competed with ChatGPT, and upgrades soon followed.
In May, Google had launched Gemini 1.5, an updated version packed with more processing power and an expanded context window, making it more intelligent and better at understanding complex queries. But the real magic started over the summer when Gemini intelligence made its way to Google Home devices, taking over from Google Assistant in more places.
That culminated in September with Gemini Live, a feature that allows you to make real-time voice conversations with AI. The ChatGPT competition continued with custom chatbots called Gems, and an iPhone app arrived a month later, complete with integrations into other Google apps on iOS.
The grand finale came in December with the release of Gemini 2.0, a massive upgrade with better, faster responses, photo analysis and more. Not to mention that many exclusive features for Google Pixel phones further tie in with the rest of the Google ecosystem.
Apple Intelligence is finally maturing
Rumors about Apple’s plans for AI have been circulating for years, but in 2024, Apple Intelligence finally debuted. The initiative felt both inevitable and unique to Apple when it was unveiled at WWDC in June.
The design was definitely Apple’s, but there was a remarkable amount of integration with existing AI models. In particular, Apple will allow its revamped Siri voice assistant to lean on ChatGPT for answers and various questions. We’re also still waiting for Siri’s promised ability to view, understand, and perform tasks within applications.
Even with different branding, Apple’s AI tools seemed primarily focused on matching or exceeding the features available from OpenAI and Google. For example, Apple Intelligence supports photo creator Image Playground, as well as Genmoji, which lets you design your own emojis.
Perhaps the most notable aspect is how Apple Intelligence primarily uses Apple hardware to run AI processes locally or on its ultra-secure Private Cloud Compute servers. This way, Apple Intelligence can perform faster and promise more privacy.
While OpenAI, Google and Apple dominated the headlines, AI had a much broader impact thanks to other major brands. For example, Meta introduced the Meta AI virtual assistant and integrated it into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, upgrading and expanding its capabilities (including some celebrity voices) throughout the year. Meta has also set up the year of AI smart glasses next year by integrating Meta AI into Meta Quest headsets and the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses. Oh, and who could forget the unveiling of the prototype Orion augmented reality glasses?
However, not every piece of AI hardware turned out so well this year. The hype around the Rabbit R1, a small AI-centric device, and wearables like the Humane AI Pin and Plaud NotePin was very high when the year started, but they have all quickly faded since then and can only succeed if very successful. niche products.
If 2024 has proven one thing, it’s that artificial intelligence has officially outgrown its shiny new technology phase and stormed into our lives like a full-blown revolution. ChatGPT, Gemini, Apple Intelligence, and their competitors all showed how AI tools can dazzle and even be genuinely useful when used properly.
That doesn’t mean 2025 won’t be without missteps and mistakes, but it certainly suggests that at some level it will become a standard part of many digital activities, whether it’s hosting a game night with friends, entertaining and educating kids , or organize our diets and cooking plans. This year showed what AI can do; Next year the question will be: what kind of skills do we actually want AI to do for us?