Are you ready for a shakeup in the software world? Well, hold on to your hats because it looks like artificial intelligence (AI) platforms might be the future of operating systems (OS).
As we know, an OS is just a tool for managing different components of a computer. It’s what makes our laptops, smartphones, and other devices work smoothly. But what if the OS could be replaced by AI platforms? That’s what companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are exploring.
The concept of generative AI is a key driver of this shift. These are systems that create content that mimics what a human may produce. Google and Microsoft have already started using this technology for search, but there’s so much more that can be done. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have built so much functionality directly into their OSes that it’s sometimes hard to see where the OS ends and an app begins. With AI platforms, developers could build their products around these platforms instead of an OS.
Think of an AI system not as software, but as an operating system upon which applications will be built. Since the release of OpenAI’s GPT-4 in March, dozens of companies have integrated Open AI’s model into existing services or built new ones on top. Language-learning app Duolingo, for example, uses it to offer role-playing scenarios to students. Morgan Stanley leverages it to collate investment information that then outputs answers via a chatbot.
Over time, third-party software developers will create products not for an operating system but for the specific AI model that best suits their needs. This could establish a flywheel effect, where more software is created for an AI platform, and the more the ecosystem expands. This, in turn, entices other application providers to join the party. A larger software catalog feeds larger reams of data back to the underlying model, making it even more powerful.
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For AI platform developers like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, it’s crucial to capture the market or at least not miss the boat. Amazon has also joined the fray. This week, it launched a suite of products for Amazon Web Services called Bedrock, allowing cloud customers to use tools developed through its partnerships with other AI firms. This includes Israeli text-generation startup A21 Labs and British image-generation player Stable Diffusion. Amazon’s position as one of the biggest cloud providers gives it a unique advantage in tying together generative AI services into an OS-style platform that clients can plug into.
What makes this approach likely very profitable is that these platforms can charge based on usage, not a flat fee. Over the past decade, software developers, especially those creating for mobile devices, have been shunted toward subscription-based pricing instead of one-time purchases. This is a replica of the software-as-a-service model long deployed for enterprise products. AI platforms taking on the role of operating systems could then give rise to OS as a service. Such an OSaaS model, with dynamic operating systems instead of the current static approach, would be harder to switch away from. This is akin to how clients can swap between cloud services like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, but often don’t because the time and cost are too prohibitive.
AI platforms have the potential to be even more powerful than traditional operating systems. Unlike current OSes, which are static and don’t change with increased usage, AI-based operating systems could be dynamic and constantly learning. This means that the companies that grow the biggest won’t necessarily be those with the best chatbots but those that ensure their models are the easiest to plug into and have the widest array of use cases.
In conclusion, it’s clear that AI platforms have the potential to transform the software world as we know it.
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