The article details the recent advancements and growing adoption of multimodal AI systems, which can process and generate information across different formats like text, images, audio, and video. It explains how these systems, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4V and Google’s Gemini, combine various neural networks to create a more holistic understanding, moving beyond text-only models. The piece outlines key applications in areas like customer service, content creation, and scientific research, while also addressing significant challenges. These challenges include the high computational cost of training, potential for generating misleading content, and ongoing concerns about bias and data privacy. The development of multimodal AI is presented as a major step toward more versatile and intuitive human-computer interaction. For the full details, read the complete article at https://technologyreview.com/2024/03/15/multimodal-ai-explained.