“Astra: Google’s Witty ‘Multimodal’ Comeback to the Emergent ChatGPT”

“Astra Is Google’s ‘Multimodal’ Answer to the New ChatGPT”

“At Google’s developer conference next week, a team of Columbia researchers will debut Astra, a system with the ability to comprehend and respond to nuanced human speech, allowing it to answer questions and provide information on demand. Astra is a multi-modal AI, meaning it depends on several other AI models, including Google’s own language model, ChatGPT, and a vision model that allows it to process images as well.”

That’s right folks, another day, another A.I in town – meet Astra. Of course, all of us tech geeks must be over the moon with this hot-take from Google’s developer conference. So what’s the big deal this time? It seems this new kid on the block has the ability to understand and respond to complex human language. Add to that the capability to answer questions and deliver information when you want it. Well, well, aren’t we all excited to engage in riveting philosophical debates with our new artificial buddy?

Now, hold on to your hats because here is where it gets even more fascinating. Yes, there’s more! Astra is not your typical run-of-the-mill AI. It’s got the proud label of ‘multimodal AI’. For all those non-techies holding a puzzled expression right now, it simply means this whiz kid of the AI world depends on several other AI models to do its magic.

One such partner in its intelligent escapades is its own family member from Google, ChatGPT – a language model that’s no stranger to the spotlight itself. In addition, it teams up with a vision model which lets it process images. Imagine, not only can Astra listen to your existential crisis at 2 AM, it can also appreciate that picture of a sunset you took. Oh, what a time to be alive!

So, to sum it up – next time you find yourself pondering over the mysteries of life, remember you are not alone. Astra, Google’s brand-new, language understanding, question answering, picture recognising AI buddy is here to accompany you in your quests! Isn’t it reassuring to visualize a future filled with such metallic intellectuals?

Who knows, one day, we might just end up pouring our hearts out to our AI pals rather than our unmindful furry friends. But hey, until then, let’s marvel at these marvellous manifestations of technology.

Read the original article here: https://www.wired.com/story/google-io-astra-multimodal-answer-chatgpt/