Wesley Ellul, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Quizando, on Thursday (today) highlighted that 2024 is poised to be a year of great progress in the area of artificial intelligence (AI), especially in terms of audience and customer engagement.

AI has had an increasing presence in the business landscape over the past few years, as companies are recognising the benefits presented by such emerging technologies. These include advantages related to efficiency, productivity, and human resources. Despite this, many businesses continue to lack the skills needed to implement these technologies, with 73 per cent of business decision-makers feeling increased pressure to adopt AI and machine learning (ML).

Mr Ellul, an entrepreneur who specialises in tech, blockchain, social gaming, and entertainment consultancy, noted that it could be a “massive year for emerging tech”.

Two of the changes set to take place are those of the introduction of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Bitcoin halving.

ETFs are baskets of securities that trade on the stock market, and over the past few months, the crypto world has rallied to obtain approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order for investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency directly from their brokerage account. If this receives approval, people could have the opportunity to buy Bitcoin without having to use a crypto exchange or broker.

Additionally, Bitcoin is also set to undergo a halving in early-to-mid 2024. This is a process where the reward for mining the cryptocurrency is cut in half, thus lowering the available amount of new supply. Bitcoin last experienced a halving in May 2020.

These two events could see a “massive change” in the emerging tech landscape when it comes to the “mass adoption in cryptoassets”, Mr Ellul explained.

However, he noted that blockchain technology will not be the sole beneficiary of this progress, as AI tools are also “rapidly maturing”.

“In 2024 I believe we will see amazing leaps in the utilisation of AI in many ways, especially with audience and customer engagement,” he explained.

Mr Ellul remarked that this will most probably result in new media forms, “unlike we’ve ever known”. In entertainment, this could potentially mean the start of new interactive media platforms which will make the viewer experience “more engaging and immersive” than before.

This is the case for SocialFi, a concept that connects the principles of social media and decentralised finance, integrating the Web3 approach to create an interactive platform where users can control their data and monetise their interactions.

Mr Ellul said that SocialFi will lead the way of this “next boom” in technology and crypto, as users will be rewarded “not for viewing, but rather participating in the media experience”.

“From being part of brand communities, to engaging in entertainment activities, the average user will be encouraged to participate, and be rewarded for participation in a very tangible way,” he added.

In addition to these predictions, Mr Ellul also remarked that he expects Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to make a “resurgence” in 2024, helping people “identify and gain access to communities”.

NFTs are blockchain-based tokens that represent a unique asset, like a piece of art, digital content, or media. This means that individuals could buy a code that says they own a digital asset, which is then stored on the blockchain. Throughout 2021 and 2022, there was a boom in this community, yet their value has since dropped significantly, with a report from September 2023 finding that over 95 per cent of NFTs created during the craze are now “worthless”.

Mr Ellul said that the upcoming wave of NFTs will be much more than simply images, as was the case in 2021 and 2022, but will rather be about “access and belonging”.

“We will see celebrities like Taylor Swift start creating NFT collections, which give people first access to tickets to her next tours, and major brands which will launch NFT collections allowing holders first access to special drops,” he pointed out.

He added that this wave will be more about the “perks” and the “status” tied to NFTs, thus setting off a “whole new method of marketing for brands”.

Mr Ellul is a seasoned digital marketer, and aside from his work at iGaming firm Quizando, he is also Special Envoy for Start-up Funding and Innovation within the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, as well as Chief Development Officer at Iron Capital and Advisor at Jade Vault, among various other roles.