3 AWS re:Invent predictions from AWS heroes

Whether you’re attending re:Invent in person or online, you can be sure to expect exciting news and initiatives. If you’re looking for a sneak peek of this year’s anticipated AWS announcements, look no further.

AWS Heroes Faye Ellis, Kesha Williams, and Chris Williams share their predictions for this year’s topics, themes, and announcements.

Want to hear all of their AWS re:Invent 2024 predictions? Watch the on-demand webinar now.

Attending re:Invent this year? Check out the Pluralsight re:Invent hub page for more information and resources ahead of the conference.

Faye, Kesha, and Chris didn’t develop their predictions for AWS re:Invent 2024 all on their own. They used Amazon PartyRock to build an application that generated predictions for this year’s event.

Amazon PartyRock is a web-based application that makes it easy to build generative AI applications with a few prompts. Learn how to build your own app using Amazon PartyRock. 

As AI demand grows, so does the energy it requires. To put it in perspective, one ChatGPT query uses the same amount of energy as powering a light bulb for 20 minutes (or 10 times as much electricity as one Google search query). 

Because of this, Faye predicts re:Invent 2024 will focus on AWS sustainability initiatives and reducing the environmental impact of AI workloads. AWS may unveil some sort of service or tool that helps customers build in a sustainable way. 

Kesha says it could be folded into the shared responsibility model and handled like cloud security. Chris says it may become part of AWS’s Carbon Footprint tool. Customers would be able to see how much their queries cost from a monetary perspective and a CO2 burn perspective.

“It is likely that they're going to start putting LLM query CO2 burn parameters into the carbon calculator,” predicts Chris.

The Heroes turn their attention to edge computing predictions next.

“We're seeing a lot of innovation in edge computing because of Gen AI,” says Kesha. 

“So I see a need for some type of way to help people deploy large language models on the edge, [like] making it easy to compress the model, quantize the model, [and] put it in a format that is really streamlined for running on an edge device.”

Chris adds, “We're already starting to see AI at the edge with a big proliferation in small language models that are run at much lower power than the big LLMs for very specific workloads. I think that we're going to see specific business cases leveraging that type of stuff, whether that be information gathering or on-the-edge decision making.”

In other words, AWS might unveil a service or device to meet the rising demand for edge AI and small language models (SLMs).

Faye notes how this prediction ties to their first forecast. “Smaller models are also more sustainable,” she said. “They cost us less and they're less computationally intensive. They're better for the environment.”

At this point, Faye turned up the temperature and asked the PartyRock application to provide some more creative predictions for this year’s re:Invent. The result?

“A generative AI therapy service, which is an affordable, always available counselor for all of the sad and depressed engineers who feel like their coding skills and their expertise are no longer relevant in the age of AI.”

While it’s safe to say a generative AI therapy service won’t be part of AWS’s announcements, AI-powered tools to empower developers could be. AWS might also address the topic of technologist job security in the age of AI.

“GenAI can supercharge experienced developers, helping them to become more productive and focus on higher value tasks,” explains Kesha. “As a developer, future proofing really means learning more about AI, GenAI, and how they can make you more productive.”

Faye adds, “Even if you don't feel particularly positive about the influx of generative AI, I think understanding it is important. Because otherwise, how are you going to operate if you don't understand how these things are actually running and how they can be useful for you?”

Whether or not these anticipated AWS announcements come true, re:Invent is all about innovation—and they’re sure to unveil exciting new products and services that make it possible.

To hear all of Faye, Kesha, and Chris’s AWS re:Invent 2024 predictions, watch the on-demand webinar now.

And if you’re headed to re:Invent this year, check out these tips from AWS Heroes before you go:

• AWS re:Invent 2024 guide: Tips from AWS Hero Faye Ellis

• AWS re:Invent 2024 guide: Tips from AWS Hero Kesha Williams

Find Pluralsight at re:Invent booth #876 for awesome swag, a daily raffle for a chance to win special prizes like a Nintendo Switch or Keychron Q6 Max Mechanical Keyboard, and meet and greet sessions with AWS Heroes.