If you are an Indian, especially a Marathi, you must have heard of misal, a famous spicy Marathi dish that is usually served with bread (pav). Now, before you get carried away by the classy idea of Misal Pav, let us let you know that there is a new startup in town that combines Misal and AI. Yes, you heard it correctly. There is something new going on between Missal and AI, Misal LLM.
What is Missal LLM?
Let me tell you that Missal LLM is a language model. Bengaluru-based startup Smallstep.ai has announced ‘Misal’, a large-scale language model (LLM) tailored for Marathi speakers. Inspired by tangy Maharashtrian cuisine, Misal aims to meet the growing demand for AI capabilities in vernacular languages across India.
Sagar Sarkale, founder of Smallstep, shares the inspiration behind the name choice, which resembles the beloved breakfast classic. “Mizal holds a special place in Marathi culture, just as our model aspires to in his field of AI,” Sarkare explains.
Built on Meta’s Llama2 model, Missal LLM comes in four exciting versions, each designed to improve Marathi language processing. Sarkale has a keen eye for language inclusivity and recognized a gap in his AI model for Marathi speakers and set out to fill it.
What is SmallStep.ai?
Smallstep.ai is a startup focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to understand and interact with different languages. Imagine you are typing on your cell phone. Your phone will predict the next word you will type. That’s AI. Smallstep.ai takes this a step further by focusing on helping AI better understand and use languages like Marathi.
The company’s flagship product, Missal, is like a super smart language tool made specifically for Marathi speakers. It helps you write, translate and understand sentences in Marathi. This startup believes that everyone should be able to use his AI in their own language, not just English or other widely used languages.
Founded by Sagar Sarkale, a data science expert (that’s a fancy term for manipulating large amounts of data to find useful information), Smallstep.ai is based in India’s tech capital Bengaluru. Masu. They are on a mission to make AI more accessible and useful for people who speak languages other than English.
As Missal takes its first steps into the world of AI, Smallstep.ai remains dedicated to continuous improvement. Future updates promise enhanced technology and safety measures, and Misal aims to become a staple tool for Marathi speakers navigating the digital realm.
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