Get Started with Einstein Generative AI
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe the core capabilities of generative AI.
- Describe how Einstein incorporates the power of generative AI.
AI in the Spotlight
Over the past decade we've witnessed artificial intelligence (AI) steadily improve at doing things we once thought only humans could do. This has led us to imagine a futuristic world with AI, but one that's still years away. Or so we thought. In early 2023 ChatGPT burst onto the scene, showing the world that the future is already here. Suddenly, AI is responding to complex questions with equally complex answers that sound as if they were written by a human. And because ChatGPT was released for anyone to use, people experienced first-hand how well it could hold a natural-sounding conversation. It has surprised and delighted, and sparked our imaginations yet again. It’s also raised questions about what it means for the future of work.
In this Quick Look badge, you learn about GPT and how it fits into the larger concept of generative AI. Then, you'll learn how Einstein is the world’s first generative AI for CRM.
GPT’s Predictive Power
Okay, let's get this out of the way: GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, which means a lot to AI researchers but not so much to you and me. Let's just stick with GPT and focus on what it does.
At a high level, GPT is an AI tool that has been trained to write like we humans do. All it needs is a starting point in the form of a question, request, or even just the beginning of a sentence. And then it continues the thread to create paragraphs of text that are similar to something a real person would write. ChatGPT is a version of GPT that has been fine-tuned to better understand the intention of our instructions, and respond accordingly. You can even tell it to write in a certain style, whether it's poetry, a programming language, or as a pirate. For example, let's see what happens when you ask it to summarize the moon landing in pirate-speak:
"Ahoy there! Avast ye, matey! 'Tis a tale o' adventure on the high seas o' space!
Back in the year o' our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-nine, a band o' brave sailors from the land o' America set sail on a quest to reach the moon. They be Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, and they be on a mission from NASA to land on the moon and plant the stars and stripes flag."
It continues from there, completing the tale in the same silly vernacular.
So how does it generate such convincing text? OpenAI, the creators of GPT, used a ridiculous amount of computing power to train it. They had it read millions of web pages to learn what words are used near each other, and how they're used together. That made GPT really good at predicting the next word of a sentence by using context. So, imagine you're asked to fill in the blank: "In conversations, my partner and I finish each other's _______." You're likely to choose the word "sentences," and so is GPT. But if you change the context a little: "In restaurants, my partner and I finish each other's _______." There's a better chance you would fill the blank with "sandwiches." Same with GPT.
GPT writes paragraphs that follow a thread by making an educated guess at each new word in a sentence. It's way better than your phone's predictive text, which if used in the same way only gives you bizarre sentences that make for funny internet memes.
GPT's ability to write coherent text falls into a broader category of AI known as generative AI. This includes AI tools that can create things like images or audio. As computing power increases, and research continues, generative AI will get better at creating work that’s convincingly human-made. It probably won’t be long before generative AI is part of your everyday life.
A Future with Generative AI
The arrival of mainstream generative AI has raised a lot of questions about the future of work. People wonder if they'll be replaced with AI. They're concerned about the ethical use of a tool that essentially impersonates humans. They’re skeptical about the quality of what generative AI produces. Obviously, AI must be handled with care.
Salesforce knows it's critical to establish principles for the ethical use of AI technology. And for the last 6 years, we've had an AI ethics group developing these principles. So when we launch new AI technology, we can help our customers navigate these difficult waters to do the business of business smarter and fairer. Check out the resources section to learn more.
Our latest AI technology brings the incredible power of generative AI to Einstein and the Salesforce Platform.
Einstein is built right into Salesforce, so it can use your own data to custom-tailor everything it generates to your unique business. And since Einstein is available across the entire Customer 360, it's there to improve every customer experience.
We also recognize that the world of generative AI includes more than just ChatGPT. So we've designed Einstein to allow connections to other language models, such as Anthropic's Claude. This lets you "bring your own model" thanks to APIs and an open ecosystem of generative AI partners.
Einstein is here to empower your business with amazing generative AI capabilities, using your data and your models for your experiences.
