Generative AI

What it is

Generative AI is AI that produces new content instead of only sorting or predicting. It learns patterns from large amounts of existing text, images or sound and uses them to create something new on request.

What it can create

Where it saves work

Most of the value appears in customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering and research and development, according to an estimate by McKinsey that puts the potential at 2.6 to 4.4 trillion US dollars a year worldwide.² Such figures are estimates of potential, not measured results.

What needs checking

• Accuracy. Generated text can contain errors stated with confidence.
• Rights. Who owns the output, and was protected material used?
• Labelling. From August 2026 AI-generated or manipulated content must be marked as such in the EU.³
• Data. Confidential information should not go into public tools without a rule.

Key terms

Diffusion model

Creates images by turning random noise step by step into a picture.¹

Prompt

The description or instruction you give the tool.

Deepfake

Realistic generated image, sound or video of real people or events.

Latest research

New papers and reports that mention this term, found by our daily source scan. One line per source, quoted as published.

• theverge.comThat’s been especially true at Splice, where she’s not just expanded the platform’s footprint by acquiring Spitfire Audio , but also overseen its forays into the world of generative AI.2026-10-04
• stability.aiToday, we are making our cutting-edge generative AI models more accessible through our partnership with Arm , whose technology powers 99% of smartphones globally.2026-09-28
• atlan.com79% of organizations now use generative AI in at least one business function, per McKinsey's 2025 State of AI report.2026-09-28

Sources

1. Ho, Jain, Abbeel: Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models (2020)
2. McKinsey: The economic potential of generative AI (June 2023)
3. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), Article 50, EUR-Lex