Multimodal AI

Core Concepts

Simple Definition

AI systems that can process and generate multiple types of data — text, images, audio, video, and code.

Full Explanation

Early AI models handled only one modality (text-only or image-only). Modern multimodal models like GPT-4o, Gemini Ultra, and Claude 3 can accept images, audio, and documents alongside text. This enables use cases like analyzing a photograph, describing a video, reading a chart, or answering questions about a PDF — all in natural language.

Example

GPT-4o can analyze a photo of a restaurant menu and recommend dishes based on dietary restrictions.

Related Terms

Large Language Model (LLM)

A type of AI model trained on vast amounts of text data that can generate, summarize, translate, and reason about language.

Foundation Model

A large AI model trained on broad data at scale that can be adapted for many different downstream tasks.

Last verified: 2026-03-30← Back to Glossary