Cohere, founded by former Google employees in Toronto, is a notable player in the generative AI sector. Its primary focus is crafting advanced AI models and other AI-driven tools designed specifically for businesses. Cohere’s latest venture enters the AI chatbot arena with its newly launched Chat API.
The Cohere Chat API allows third-party developers to utilize Cohere’s proprietary large language model, Command, to construct chat applications tailored to their corporate needs. Whether it’s knowledge assistants or customer support systems, the Chat API simplifies the creation of dependable conversational AI solutions.
To highlight the capabilities of their Chat API, Cohere has introduced the Coral Showcase, a free chatbot demo accessible through their website. While the Coral chatbot powered by Command may not be the quickest compared to some closed-source alternatives, it stands out with its precise and clear responses. The chatbot references sources and provides links but occasionally lags in fetching the latest company information.
Cohere’s Chat API sets itself apart with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). It empowers developers to manage the chatbot’s information sources, from focusing solely on enterprise data to scouring the entire web. Moreover, this approach improves response relevance and accuracy by using external data.
Developers can seamlessly integrate web searches or plain text documents from their enterprise as additional information sources. This flexibility enables tailored applications. However, real-world performance may vary based on the use case.
Cohere’s platform extends beyond RAG, offering three distinct components: document mode, query-generation mode, and connector mode. Document mode enables developers to specify reference documents. Query-generation mode instructs the chatbot to generate search queries, and the connector mode facilitates integration with external information sources.
Cohere’s move into the chatbot arena closely follows OpenAI’s reintroduction of web browsing capabilities to ChatGPT, aimed at corporate users. As the generative AI landscape evolves, Cohere’s Chat API and Coral chatbot demonstrate their commitment to robust, enterprise-ready conversational AI solutions.