Introduction to Gemini

What is Gemini?

Gemini is an AI-powered chatbot created by Google. When you type a message into Gemini's chatbox, it generates text that often sounds like a real person, making it possible to have a human-like conversation with this AI chatbot. This behavior makes it useful for various situations, such as acting as an assistant for general everyday tasks or a helpful intern for complex work processes.

Previously known as Bard, Google rebranded it to Gemini in February 2024. At the time of writing, Gemini offers two primary plans: free and paid. The paid version, called Gemini Advanced, is currently priced at $20/month.

Sophisticated AI chatbots like Gemini are possible because of advancements in generative AI and LLMs.

The meaning of ‘generative AI’ and ‘LLMs’

Artificial intelligence (AI) encompasses any tasks machines perform to mimic human intelligence, such as differentiating cats from dogs in images, automatically completing your words, and acting as a human-like assistant. In recent years, a branch of AI called generative AI has gained popularity.

Generative AI models take your input (often text) and generate something new, typically in the form of text or images, with audio and video capabilities rapidly advancing. Among these, AI models that convert text to text are known as large language models (LLMs).

LLMs process vast amounts of text from books, articles, and web content to understand patterns and predict the next word. Generally, the more data they consume, the larger and smarter these models become. LLMs form the backbone of AI chatbots like Gemini.

What is an AI chatbot?

As the name suggests, an AI chatbot is a piece of software that you can converse with. In the past, these chatbots were relatively simple and often struggled to understand the true meaning behind user input. However, with the advent of LLMs, computers can now better understand natural human language and provide appropriate responses.

Modern AI assistants use LLMs behind the scenes to enable intelligent, back-and-forth conversation. Examples of these AI chatbots include ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini.

Gemini is powered by LLMs built by Google (also called Gemini models). AI chatbots like Gemini offer several benefits:

• 24/7 Availability: Whether you need information or want to write something at 3am, Gemini is always ready to assist you.
• Efficiency: Gemini can quickly process information and complete tasks, saving you valuable time.
• Creativity: AI chatbots can provide fresh ideas and different writing styles, igniting your imagination.

Understanding Gemini's responses

Gemini, like all AI chatbots, is a versatile tool that can be used for various tasks, such as:

• Providing comprehensive answers to your questions
• Assisting you in writing emails, letters, or even creative pieces
• Translating content into different languages
• Summarizing information and simplifying complex topics

However, it's crucial to remember that AI chatbots, including Gemini, attempt to mimic real-world experiences or common sense based on predicting the next word. While impressive, this technology sometimes "hallucinates," meaning it makes mistakes or provides information that seems accurate but is actually incorrect. Therefore, always fact-check Gemini's responses, especially for important information.

Let's move on to the next tutorial where you’ll learn about getting started with Gemini.