Google unveils Gemini, its most advanced AI model

Gemini gets a new mobile app interface

Google has announced a significant evolution in Gemini, its AI collaboration tool formerly known as Bard.

Sissie Hsiao, Vice President and General Manager of Google Assistant and Gemini, shared insights into the latest developments, highlighting the transformation of Bard into Gemini to represent its advanced family of models better.

Gemini, which has already been used globally through the Pro 1.0 model in over 40 languages and 230 countries, is expanding its horizons with two new offerings: Gemini Advanced and a dedicated mobile app. This marks a significant step in empowering users to collaborate with Google AI.

Ultra 1.0,

Gemini Advanced, unveiled on February 8, 2024, introduces the Ultra 1.0, Google’s most sophisticated AI model.

In independent evaluations, Gemini Advanced with Ultra 1.0 emerged as the preferred chatbot for extraordinarily complex tasks such as coding, logical reasoning, and creative collaboration.

According to Hsiao, Gemini Advanced enables users to engage in more detailed conversations and better understand context from previous prompts.

Gemini Advanced’s capabilities include personalised tutoring, advanced coding support, and assistance for digital creators in content generation and trend analysis.

As the technology advances, users can expect additional features like expanded multimodal capabilities, interactive coding, and enhanced data analysis.

The premium offering, Gemini Advanced, is part of the Google One AI Premium Plan, priced at $19.99 per month, with a two-month free trial. This plan encompasses the benefits of the existing Google One Premium plan, including 2TB of storage, and subscribers will soon enjoy Gemini integration in various Google applications.

Responsible approach

Hsiao stated Google is committed to maintaining a responsible approach to deploying AI technology, addressing concerns such as unsafe content and bias.

Rigorous safety checks, external red-teaming, and model refinement through fine-tuning and reinforcement learning based on human feedback were conducted before the launch of Gemini Advanced.

Dedicated app

Responding to user feedback, Google is introducing a mobile experience for Gemini and Gemini Advanced. A dedicated app is now available on Android, allowing users to interact with the AI assistant through typing, voice commands, or image inputs. This marks a crucial step towards building a conversational, multimodal, helpful AI assistant.

On iOS, access to Gemini will be integrated into the Google app in the coming weeks, providing a user-friendly experience for tasks ranging from creativity boosts to planning social events.

Gemini began rolling out in English on Android and iOS phones in the US starting on February 8, 2024, with availability in additional locations and languages scheduled for other countries in the coming weeks.

In the words of Sundar Pichai

In a statement issued on December 6, 2023, Sundar Pichai, Google and Alphabet CEO, wrote:

‘Every technology shift is an opportunity to advance scientific discovery, accelerate human progress, and improve lives. I believe the transition we see with AI will be the most profound in our lifetimes, far more significant than the shift to mobile or the web.

‘AI can potentially create opportunities — from the every day to the extraordinary — for people everywhere. It will bring new waves of innovation and economic progress and drive knowledge, learning, creativity and productivity on a scale we have not seen before.

‘That excites me: the chance to make AI helpful for everyone, everywhere in the world.

‘Eight years into our journey as an AI-first company, the pace of progress is only accelerating: Millions of people are now using generative AI across our products to do things they could not even a year ago, from finding answers to more complex questions to using new tools to collaborate and create.

‘At the same time, developers are using our models and infrastructure to build new generative AI applications, and startups and enterprises worldwide are growing with our AI tools.

‘Incredible momentum’

‘This is incredible momentum, and yet, we are only beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible.

‘We are approaching this work boldly and responsibly. That means being ambitious in our research and pursuing the capabilities that will bring enormous benefits to people and society while building safeguards and working collaboratively with governments and experts to address risks as AI becomes more capable.

‘We continue to invest in the best tools, foundation models and infrastructure and bring them to our products and others, guided by AI principles.

‘Now, we are taking the next step on our journey with Gemini, our most capable and general model yet, with state-of-the-art performance across many leading benchmarks. Our first version, Gemini 1.0, is optimised for Ultra, Pro and Nano sizes.

‘These are the first models of the Gemini era and the first realisation of our vision when we formed Google DeepMind earlier this year [2023]. This new era of models represents one of the biggest science and engineering efforts we have undertaken as a company. I am genuinely excited for what is ahead and the opportunities Gemini will unlock for people everywhere.’

Featured image: Gemini empowers users to collaborate with Google AI. Image: Google