Microsoft has announced a new initiative called Project Gecko to create cost-effective, tailorable AI systems for communities that are typically underrepresented in typical AI training data. While generative AI powers many of the powerful new tools and apps, Microsoft says that the new technology “performs poorly in many languages and does not reflect the social and cultural realities of every population”
The tech giant says that its new Project Gecko addresses these challenges by focusing on equitable and inclusive AI development.
Ashley Llorens, Corporate Vice President and Managing Director, Microsoft Research Accelerator in a blog about the new project said,“Building AI systems from the ground up, shaped by the knowledge, languages, and modalities of the global majority, yields more innovative, useful solutions for a great number of people. This is a crucial step in our progress toward adapting and deploying AI widely in low-resource settings.”
What is Project Gecko?
Project Gecko is aimed at building AI systems which utilize local languages, culturally sensitive content, and multimodal engagement via text, voice, and video.
Under the new project, Microsoft has brought researchers from Microsoft Research Africa, Nairobi, Microsoft Research India, and the Microsoft Research Accelerator in the United States, along with Digital Green
The company has also developeda new AI system called MMCTAgent (Multimodal Critical Thinking Agent Framework). This system analyzes inputs from speech, images, and videos in order to provides relevant, context-aware responses. Microsoft says it is designed to improve experimental frontier models by supporting domain-specific tools that extend their capabilities
Since many low-cost connected devices in the Global South don’t have the required computing capacity to run large language models (LLMs), Project Gecko researchers work with Small Language Models (SLMs) as well.
The initial focus of Project Gecko is on small farms in India and Kenya. The Project Gecko also team plans to expand their work into healthcare, education, and retail.
Microsoft says that Project Gecko technologies helped enhanced FarmerChat, a speech first AI assistant by Digital Green.
Using the new technology, the goal was to help farmers use use speech or text to submit a query and receive an actionable answer with step-by-step instructions in text, voice, and relevant video in their preferred language.
Microsoft says its field studies in India and Kenya showed improvements in response quality, usability, and user trust compared to state-of-the-art models