Beyond ChatGPT: Industrial, Physical, Generative And Agentic AI Explained

InnovationBeyond ChatGPT: Industrial, Physical, Generative And Agentic AI ExplainedBySteven Carlini,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 03, 2026, 07:45am EDTSteven Carlini, Chief Advocate, Data Centers and AI, Energy Management Business Unit, Schneider Electric. gettyWhen generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) went big after the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, many people were under the impression that this AI came out of nowhere. But generative AI can be traced back to 1964, when MIT developed ELIZA as a virtual psychotherapist. The first physical AI was invented in 1966, with the first AI robot, Shakey, developed by the Stanford Research Institute.​There are many types of AI, and their presence and familiarity will only increase. However, the use cases, IT stack, power and cooling, and techniques used (computer vision, machine learning, reasoning, etc.) differ for each. Here is a simplified breakdown of what they are and what they do:• Industrial AI: AI for analytics, quality, maintenance and optimization in manufacturing, energy and supply chain logistics.• Physical AI: AI systems that perceive, decide and act in the physical world, controlling robots, vehicles, smart infrastructure and devices.• Generative AI: AI that generates new content or outputs, such as text, image, code, audio and video.• Agentic AI: An approach using one or multiple AI models that can plan and execute tasks with varying autonomy levels and minimal human supervision. ​Understanding The Multiple AI Types​Now that we’ve defined the most popular and emerging types of AI, let’s look at how each type can deliver value in practice.​Industrial AIPredictive analytics using IoT sensors and data analytics to monitor equipment condition in real time and predict potential failures before they occur is a popular industrial AI appli...