Chris’ note: I’m keeping the spotlight on the megatrend that’s got everyone buzzing – artificial intelligence (“AI”).
Regular readers will know we’ve been focused on how blockchain, the technology behind crypto, will help AI systems like ChatGPT scale up. And on Wednesday, America’s most trusted crypto expert, Teeka Tiwari, lifted the lid on his favorite “AI coin.”
Today’s insight is from our tech and growth stock investing expert, Colin Tedards.
As he shows below, we think of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots as cutting edge today. But the next evolution of these system is already here. And it will make these early systems look downright clunky.
ChatGPT is only the start of the AI megatrend.
I know it sounds crazy, given the hype surrounding it.
But a few years from now, we’ll look back on it the same way we look back on early websites in the 1990s. And we’ll wonder how we ever thought it was cutting edge.
In fact, the next evolution of these AI systems is already here.
It’s a new AI model called Gorilla. And it’s a collaboration between researchers at Microsoft and the University of California, Berkeley.
Some of the most popular AI models lack real-time utility.
For example, ChatGPT has a data cut-off point from September 2021. If you’re a paying ChatGPT Plus user, you can get some real-time data through plug-ins.
A plug-in is an add-on or module that can be integrated into the chatbot system to extend its functionality or enhance its performance.
The premium version of ChatGPT, for example, supports plug-ins such as Expedia, OpenTable, and Spotify.
If you’re a Plus user, you can ask ChatGPT to help you find your next vacation destination… reserve a table at a nice restaurant… and create a playlist to match your trip.
That’s a step in the right direction…
But it’s limited to the plug-ins that OpenAI allows. Obviously, its developers have focused on getting the most popular plug-ins first.
But it means that ChatGPT – while extremely useful – is not a yet a true “everything AI.”
But Gorilla will change that.
Gorilla in the Room
Gorilla doesn’t need a developer to hardcode access to a plug-in. It can automatically find the right API for your query and use it.
API stands for “application programming interface.” It sounds complicated, but it’s not. APIs are used to connect apps together. For instance, it’s how the AI tells Expedia you want to book a flight to Spain.
Gorilla creates a seamless AI experience by giving users access to hundreds of apps and websites. In the initial research paper, developers gave it access to 1,645 APIs.
What’s so handy about Gorilla is you don’t need to tell it which API to use. It’s designed to figure that out on its own by using its AI to crawl through API providers for the right tool.
That’s a huge advantage.
With ChatGPT, an app-maker asks OpenAI – the company that built the chatbot – to greenlight a plug-in. Then both sides need to write code to make it work. Finally, an end user might be able to make use of it.
Considering how quickly AI has been developing, this is a surprisingly slow, manual process.
Gorilla handles the whole thing automatically.
Here’s a chart that compares Gorilla to other AI models like GPT-4 and its biggest competitors.
Source: arxiv.org
“Zero-shot retrieval” means the AIs were not trained on which API to select for a given task. They had to choose the right API using only the text prompt given to it.
Hallucinations refer to made-up answers.
Gorilla had about twice the accuracy as the next best AI model… with about a third of the hallucinations.
The researchers weren’t shy about stating the implications of Gorilla’s impressive results.
They said Gorilla, “could transform large language models into the primary interface to computing infrastructure and the web.”
New Kind of Internet Search
But as great as Gorilla is, I don’t expect it to ever become a household name.
Instead, developers Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta are going to learn from the success of the Gorilla and build its capabilities into their systems.
On Google parent Alphabet’s recent earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai said the next generation of Google search – search generative experience (“SGE”) – is going to make searching even more natural and intuitive.
Instead of typing in a string of keywords, you’ll be able to have a conversation with an AI to find what you’re looking for.
And with that comes improved targeted ads.
Advertisers bid up the cost of ad placements to get their ads at the top of a user’s search results.
With AI and SGE, Google will be able to serve up a smaller but more curated list of options for buyers.
That’s going to cut wasted ad spending that doesn’t drive results. But it will also drive up the cost for ads with a higher probability of success.
I understand why these companies – especially Google – are interested in using this technology to drive more targeted ads. But my hope is that this won’t be the only use case for Gorilla.
I’m more interested in the companies using this new technology to create products and services that completely redefine their target markets. I’m also looking for AI companies creating new markets from scratch.
That’s where the truly disruptive potential will be. That’s where we’ll focus our research.
Regards,
Colin Tedards
Editor, The Bleeding Edge