Python has become the language of choice for AI devs

Python has grown to become the programming language of choice for AI application developers, according to Snowflake’s latest Data Trends 2024 report.

The report found that chatbots account for 46% of available large language models, and the proportion is only increasing. Based on usage data from more than 9000 Snowflake customers, the report finds that Snowflake’s Streamlit community of developers has built over 33,143 LLM apps in the past nine months alone.

Use of Python in AI projects is growing significantly faster than use of Java and Scala, with Python use up 571%, compared to 387% for Scala and 131% for Java. Developers appear to prefer Python due to its ability to contribute to faster prototyping and experimentation.

Meanwhile, the report found that companies are increasing analysis and processing of unstructured data as AI adoption accelerates. Enterprises have increased the processing of unstructured data by 123% in the past year. Unstructured data is estimated by IDC to account for up to 90% of the world’s data.

Snowflake Principal Data Strategist Jennifer Belissent said the report’s findings paint a picture of how enterprises are using AI to transform their business operations.

“Taken individually, each of these trends is a single data point that shows how organisations across the globe are dealing with different challenges. When considered together, they tell a larger story about how CIOs, CTOs and CDOs are modernising their organisations, tackling AI experiments and solving data problems — all necessary steps to take advantage of the opportunities presented by advanced AI,” she said. “The important thing to understand is that the era of generative AI does not require a fundamental change in data strategy. It does, however, require accelerated execution of that strategy. It requires breaking down data silos even faster and opening up access to data sources, wherever they may be in the company or across a broader data ecosystem.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Andrey Suslov