Everyone seems to agree that generative artificial intelligence is the shiny new thing in technology and will transform the world. The trouble is that no one can yet explain exactly how.

The US venture capital firm Sequoia suggests the technology is evolving fast and going through its “awkward teenage years”. But some of the most powerful companies in history, including Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, as well as scores of start-ups, are investing billions into figuring out what generative AI will do when it grows up.

San Francisco-based start-up OpenAI triggered the latest investment frenzy in November 2022 with its launch of the ChatGPT chatbot. Although tech companies had been playing around with generative AI services for years, ChatGPT’s arrival ensured the technology broke into the mainstream.