Google is emphasizing artificial intelligence at its Google I/O 2023 conference, announcing a new and improved version of its language model, PaLM 2. This technology, similar to OpenAI's GPT-4 or Meta's LLaMA , should be integrated with Google's conversational AI, Bard.
The previous year, Google had enthusiastically launched its first version of PaLM, aimed at solving simple problems using artificial intelligence. This time around, PaLM 2 aims to be even more versatile and specialized.
During the conference, Google highlighted the value of making AI useful for everyone. Google CEO Sundar Pichai says this new AI model will be "very capable for many, many tasks". To meet specific needs, Google has created four new variants of PaLM, each with an animal name: Gecko, Otter (Otter), Bison and Unicorn (Unicorn).
Although details on the specialization of other models are not yet known, Gecko is presented as a lighter version, specially designed for smartphones. It offers faster results even offline.
PaLM 2 is not limited to common uses. These four models are trained on a wide range of scientific and mathematical subjects, according to the CEO. Google claims that this language model is compatible with more than 100 languages and can be particularly useful for developers. Sundar Pichai gives the example of a chatbot similar to Google Bard, in which a user asks to debug several lines of code.
PaLM 2 is able to explain the origin of the bug, provide the requested corrections and even translate the code comments into Korean, as initially requested.
Google also introduces specialized variants of PaLM 2 that are even more effective for specific uses. For example, Sec-PaLM is a model focused on cybersecurity, using AI to detect malicious scripts and threats. Another model, called Med-PaLM 2, is specialized in medical knowledge, in particular for interpreting X-rays. Sundar Pichai even claims that this technology "comes close to the performance of expert clinicians". A total of 25 products and features announced at Google I/O 2023 already feature PaLM 2.