Google’s making an attempt to make waves with Gemini, its flagship suite of generative AI fashions, apps, and providers. But what’s Gemini? How can you employ it? And how does it stack as much as different generative AI instruments akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta’s Llama, and Microsoft’s Copilot?
To make it simpler to maintain up with the most recent Gemini developments, we’ve put collectively this useful information, which we’ll maintain up to date as new Gemini fashions, options, and information about Google’s plans for Gemini are launched.
What is Gemini?
Gemini is Google’s long-promised, next-gen generative AI mannequin household. Developed by Google’s AI analysis labs DeepMind and Google Research, it is available in 4 flavors:
- Gemini Ultra, a really massive mannequin.
- Gemini Pro, a big mannequin – although smaller than Ultra. The newest model, Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental, is Google’s flagship.
- Gemini Flash, a speedier, “distilled” model of Pro. It additionally is available in a barely smaller and sooner model, known as Gemini Flash-Lite, and a model with reasoning capabilities, known as Gemini Flash Thinking Experimental.
- Gemini Nano, two small fashions: Nano-1 and the marginally extra succesful Nano-2, which is supposed to run offline
All Gemini fashions have been skilled to be natively multimodal — that’s, in a position to work with and analyze extra than simply textual content. Google says they have been pre-trained and fine-tuned on a wide range of public, proprietary, and licensed audio, pictures, and movies; a set of codebases; and textual content in numerous languages.
This units Gemini other than fashions akin to Google’s personal LaMDA, which was skilled completely on textual content knowledge. LaMDA can’t perceive or generate something past textual content (e.g., essays, emails, and so forth), however that isn’t essentially the case with Gemini fashions.
We’ll word right here that the ethics and legality of coaching fashions on public knowledge, in some circumstances with out the information house owners’ data or consent, are murky. Google has an AI indemnification coverage to protect sure Google Cloud clients from lawsuits ought to they face them, however this coverage accommodates carve-outs. Proceed with warning — notably should you’re intending on utilizing Gemini commercially.
What’s the distinction between the Gemini apps and Gemini fashions?
Gemini is separate and distinct from the Gemini apps on the net and cell (previously Bard).
The Gemini apps are shoppers that join to numerous Gemini fashions and layer a chatbot-like interface on prime. Think of them as entrance ends for Google’s generative AI, analogous to ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude household of apps.
Gemini on the net lives right here. On Android, the Gemini app replaces the present Google Assistant app. And on iOS, the Google and Google Search apps function that platform’s Gemini shoppers.
On Android, it additionally lately turned doable to deliver up the Gemini overlay on prime of any app to ask questions on what’s on the display (e.g., a YouTube video). Just press and maintain a supported smartphone’s energy button or say, “Hey Google”; you’ll see the overlay pop up.
Gemini apps can settle for pictures in addition to voice instructions and textual content — together with recordsdata like PDFs and shortly movies, both uploaded or imported from Google Drive — and generate pictures. As you’d anticipate, conversations with Gemini apps on cell carry over to Gemini on the net and vice versa should you’re signed in to the identical Google Account in each locations.
Gemini Advanced
The Gemini apps aren’t the one technique of recruiting Gemini fashions’ help with duties. Slowly however absolutely, Gemini-imbued options are making their method into staple Google apps and providers like Gmail and Google Docs.
To reap the benefits of most of those, you’ll want the Google One AI Premium Plan. Technically part of Google One, the AI Premium Plan prices $20 and gives entry to Gemini in Google Workspace apps like Docs, Maps, Slides, Sheets, Drive, and Meet. It additionally permits what Google calls Gemini Advanced, which brings the…
