LLMs and GenAI Deliver New Enhancements, Capabilities, and Business Model Opportunities for Document Understanding AI

This IDC Market Perspective analyzes how and where emerging generative AI (GenAI) and large language models (LLMs) technologies will impact document understanding AI. In summary, IDC sees LLM and GenAI as critical tools for expanding the capabilities and reach of document understanding AI technologies and a potential market disruptor for current document understanding AI technology suppliers.GenAI driven by LLMs has introduced considerable fear and confusion (as well as new market opportunities) for document understanding AI technology suppliers. The speed at which manufacturers are developing and improving these LLM and GenAI solutions is forcing document understanding AI technology suppliers to respond. This response, which is often proportional to the supplier's technology and go-to-market strategy, available R&D resources, and premonitions on where and how LLMs will have the most immediate impact, has varied considerably at this point. For example, nearly all worldwide intelligent document processing (IDP) vendors included in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Intelligent Document Processing Software 2023-2024 Vendor Assessment (IDC #US49988723, November 2023) had indicated to IDC that they already have or plan to have LLMs and GenAI functionality incorporated into their commercial offerings in early 2024 (many of which are focused on the integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT API). "Generative AI driven by large language models represents one of the most important and promising document understanding AI technology innovations ever," said Matt Arcaro, research director of IDC's Computer Vision AI Tools and Technology research program. "Technology suppliers and buyers must watch the evolution of this ecosystem closely to understand what opportunities and challenges LLMs and GenAI will bring to the document processing and understanding market."