Although generative AI systems have been around for a while, it's getting into the mainstream more than ever. With the unprecedented success of tools like ChatGPT, a lot of companies are either kick-starting or renewing interest in their own AI programs.

One such AI program that's getting renewed interest is Google's LaMDA AI. But what is Google LaMDA AI and what is it used for?

An Introduction to Google LaMDA AI

robot standing in the middle of a room

Short for Language Model for Dialogue Application, LaMDA AI is a conversational Large Language Model (LLM) built by Google as an underlying technology to power dialogue-based applications that can generate natural-sounding human language.

LaMDA is one of the brainchildren of Google's Transformer research project, a research in Natural Language Processing that's the foundation for several language models including GPT-3 which is the technology behind ChatGPT. Although it might not necessarily be as popular as OpenAI's GPT family of language models, LaMDA is one of the most powerful language models in the world.

LaMDA is quite an impressive AI model that even one of Google's engineers, Blake Lemoine, claimed that the model is sentient. By saying LaMDA AI is sentient, Blake Lemoine meant that the AI chatbot was able to feel, just like a human would do, and maybe even somehow have a soul. He concluded by having a series of rather intricately human-sounding conversations with the model.

While the idea that an AI chatbot could be sentient was immediately disproved by Google, Lemoine's claims perhaps showed the chatbot was good enough at conversations to convince even an AI engineer of its sentience.

What Is LaMDA Used For?

An illustration of an AI bot performing meeting analysis

Google's 2023 release of Bard, an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT, is one of the most popular deployments of LaMDA AI. The intention is to make the AI system the backbone of a large range of Google systems, giving Google products the ability to engage in human-sounding conversations with its users.

Although Google has hinted at a wide range of potential product lines that LaMDA could be deployed on, most of what is available are largely experimental even as LaMDA AI itself is still undergoing development and fine-tuning.

LaMDA AI: Impressive but Largely Untested

Although Google's LaMDA AI has shown glimpses of its potential in demonstrations, including holding natural conversations and even playing games, it is still a largely untested language model.

Nonetheless, LaMDA AI represents a significant step forward in natural language processing and AI technologies. Deployed on the right products, LaMDA indeed has the potential to revolutionize the way we see or interact with technology.