Project Gemini: Google wants to dethrone ChatGPT and others with yet another secret AI initiative

Even though the famous ChatGPT, which kicked off the AI revolution for the mainstream, is nearly bankrupt this week, and even though Google already has its Bard AI chatbot in play, as well as several other artificial intelligence projects, the tech giant still isn’t satisfied.

Google is serious about artificial intelligence

Per The Information, Google is planning to dethrone ChatGPT and all of its competitors with a secret, new project named Gemini. This is an initiative led by Sergey Brin, one of Google’s co-founders who recently stated he’d be more plugged in with AI at the company, as well as the senior researcher behind Deepmind, Paul Barham.

A handful of folks from Google Brain are also on the project. All of this on one plate just goes to show how serious Google is about AI. I cautioned yesterday against users like you and I diving in head first without caution on these tools, even as Google has assured us of its commitment to privacy in the wake of generative AI being introduced across its products.

What is Project Gemini?

So what exactly will this ‘Gemini’ be then? The project aims to create a multi-functional AI product by combining the text generation capabilities of its Large Language Models (LLMs) with AI image generation. This fusion of technologies allows Gemini to do more than just generate text like ChatGPT. In fact, it will have the ability to create contextual images based on the input it receives.

But that’s not all. Google is reportedly exploring the addition of other features to Gemini, such as the ability to analyze flow charts or control software using only voice commands, which is freaking crazy. We’re truly moving so quickly with AI that it’s hard to keep up.

Additionally, Gemini can analyze columns of text and images to identify patterns and provide answers to specific questions. It also looks like it’s being trained on YouTube video transcripts, but at this time, I don’t have a clue whether or not Google has disclosed this to creators, or even if it will.

This is likely Google’s answer to Microsoft Co-pilot

As a video creator, I’m not really sure how I feel about this, but I’m sure there’s something in the EULA that says it can use uploaded content for AI training…great, right? Because of this though, Google’s legal team is apparently monitoring the training materials to ensure that no copyrighted data is used. It would be much nicer if we had transparency reports for AI training model source material – why is this not a thing yet?

Furthermore, Google plans to integrate Gemini into its existing suite of products, Google Docs, presumably to compete against Microsoft’s Co-pilot on a deeper level than its already released “Help me write” and AI image generation tools in Slides.

Another reason I think this is the company’s answer to Co-pilot is that developers looking to access Gemini will need to pay through Google Cloud. According to The Information, Google is expected to talk to developers more about Gemini before the year ends, but it’s likely that they will start using Gemini-based products sooner.

Google’s plan to reinvent itself for the next generation

It’s clear that Google is determined to make a significant impact on the AI landscape with Gemini as well as Bard and Workspace Duet AI. While the project is still shrouded in some mystery, it’s clear that they’re not playing around or dipping their toes in the water anymore. After the “code red” it announced this past year when ChatGPT was released, it’s clearly been hard at work to usurp the next generation of technology just as it did the past two.