What is Multimodal?
TL;DR
An AI's ability to understand and generate across multiple data types — text, images, audio, and video.
Multimodal: Definition & Explanation
Multimodal refers to an AI's ability to process and work with multiple types of data (modalities) — including text, images, audio, and video — in an integrated manner. While earlier AI models were specialized for a single modality, modern models like GPT-4o, Gemini, and Claude 3 support multimodal inputs, enabling them to describe the contents of an image in text, generate images from text instructions, and more. This brings AI closer to human-like perception and understanding, dramatically expanding the range of practical applications.