What is generative AI?

Examples of generative AI tools

There are many different tools for end users looking to quickly and efficiently create GenAI-based content.  Here are several examples of popular GenAI tools and programs.

• ChatGPT – Possibly the most famous or infamous example of a generative AI tool. Created by OpenAI in December 2022, ChatGPT is an online AI chatbot where users prompt it with questions, and it responds by generating answers to those questions.
• Copilot – Microsoft’s GenAI chatbot that is based on their Prometheus model, which was based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 series of large language models (LLMs). Copilot was launched in 2023 as Microsoft's main replacement for the discontinued Cortana.
• Gemini – A GenAI developed by Google AI, Gemini is based on the LLM of the same name. Launched in February 2024 following its predecessor Bard, Gemini was based on the LaMDA and PaLM LLMs.
• Perplexity – Ask Anything – An AI-powered search engine, Perplexity – Ask Anything functions as an "answer engine" and provides direct, cited answers to user questions instead of a list of links. Perplexity AI, Inc. (Perplexity) launched their search engine on December 7, 2022.
• Grammarly – An AI-driven writing assistant, Grammarly helps end users to improve their communication by providing end users with real-time feedback on spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and style and tone. Grammarly was launched by Grammarly Inc. on July 1, 2009.
• The Lensa app – This application uses AI to transform your portrait-type photos into dynamic custom portraits. Created by Prisma Labs in 2018, Lensa allows users to transform their selfies into that of a superhero, a rockstar, or a myriad of other templates.
• DALL·E 2 – An AI system where users input descriptions using plain language and it creates realistic images and art based on those descriptions.  Created by OpenAI in April 2022, DALL·E 2 uses a diffusion model that generates higher-quality images than the original Dall-E’s discrete variational autoencoder (dVAE).
• Copy.ai – An AI writing tool that leverages machine learning (ML) to create various types of text content. Released by Paul Yacoubian in October 2022, Copy.ai offers different tools depending on each users’ copywriting needs and can produce long-form web copy, emails, and social media content.
• Midjourney – An AI-based image generator program and service. First launched on 14 March 2022, Midjourney has been leveraged to generate award-winning art, artwork used in children’s books, and images of public figures that have caused a lot of controversy.

What are generative AI models?

Generative AI models are large neural networks that learn from multimodal content like human thought patterns. These models generate original content by identifying and replicating patterns found in their training data. Their success is primarily attributed to learning through both supervised and unsupervised methods, unlike older descriptive models, which primarily relied on supervised learning.

The difference between generative AI and traditional AI

A common trope of traditional AI, sometimes referred to as narrow AI or weak AI, is that it primarily spotlights individual tasks and systems that focus on responding to specific sets of inputs. These traditional AI systems can process data and make learned choices or predictions from that data. Some of these systems function similarly to something like the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. They’re fed a considerable amount of data, in Deep Blue’s case chess-specific data, and use it to either develop a game-winning strategy or to respond to an opponent’s strategy. 

Other traditional AI systems operate similarly to Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, responding to and predicting the needs of a household, while others function more like recommendation engines for Google, Netflix, or Amazon. 

Alternatively, generative AI can create new content from the plain language prompts that it receives, such as text, art, music, and videos.