Liz Ticong, Author at eWEEK https://www.eweek.com/author/vticong/ Technology News, Tech Product Reviews, Research and Enterprise Analysis Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:12:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 Oscars Set New AI Disclosure as Generative Tech Creeps Into Filmmaking https://www.eweek.com/news/oscars-ai-disclosure-filmmaking/ Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:12:45 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=232680 The Academy sets new disclosure rules for Oscar films as generative tech reshapes filmmaking, raising ethical concerns on artistic integrity and transparency.

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Hollywood’s biggest night is now at the center of a heated debate over generative AI. As controversy mounts around Oscar-nominated films like “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” for using AI in post-production, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced plans to enforce new transparency rules on AI-generated content in eligible films.

As reported by Variety, the Academy’s new AI disclosure rule comes amid growing concerns over how AI affects artistic integrity and transparency in filmmaking. Critics argue that AI’s role in editing performances and production elements diminishes creative expression, raising ethical concerns. By enforcing disclosure, the Academy aims to set a precedent for how AI is acknowledged — and potentially regulated — in the film industry’s most prestigious awards.

AI-generated elements in this year’s Oscar-nominated films

Several Oscar-nominated films this year incorporate generative AI in ways that challenge traditional filmmaking. “The Brutalist” used AI to refine actors’ Hungarian accents, while “Emilia Pérez” altered vocals by blending Karla Sofía Gascón’s voice with a French singer. Meanwhile, “A Complete Unknown” employed AI to enhance a motorcycle stunt scene. While these enhancements may seem minor, they challenge the idea that films using artificial intelligence should be judged solely on human-driven craftmanship.

The 2023 WGA strike underscored Hollywood’s demand to protect human creativity, securing limits on AI-written scripts. However, AI’s role in post-production continues to grow, subtly reshaping performances and raising questions about its effect on artistic expression. What starts as a tool for efficiency risks blurring the lines between authentic acting and AI-assisted performances.

With “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” winning Golden Globes before their AI involvement was widely known, filmmakers and audiences are left questioning where the line should be drawn.

How the Academy’s AI rules could impact future films

The Academy’s new AI guidelines mark a turning point for filmmaking, redefining the role of generative AI in the industry. As Variety noted, these rules aim to maintain creative transparency while preserving the artistic foundation of award contenders. With AI already used in scriptwriting, visual effects, and voice replication, the guidelines will set a new standard for how much technology can influence a film without replacing human artistry.

For audiences and filmmakers, this reignites discussion about where creativity stops and technology takes over. As AI writing tools, deepfake technology, and digital performance enhancements evolve rapidly, the Oscar’s stance could not only redefine the future of awards but reshape the filmmaking process itself.

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How to Jumpstart Your Career in AI https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-career/ Fri, 31 Jan 2025 19:41:44 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=232114 AI careers are in demand, and not just for programmers. Discover the skills, roles, and certifications that can help you break into the AI industry.

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AI is changing the world around us and it shows no signs of slowing down. With this technology becoming such a prominent part of our future, knowing how to start a career in AI is a smart move for anyone looking to stay ahead. Industries like technology, finance, and healthcare are relying more heavily on AI, and launching your career in the field means safeguarding your future. To help you get started. I’ve built this guide with the important steps to begin your AI career, including the career paths you can explore, the skills you need, and certifications that can set you on the right track.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Building core skills—including technical and soft skills—will help you jumpstart your career in AI. (Jump to Section)
  • Actively applying your knowledge by working with AI tools can refine your skills, deepen your understanding of AI, and act as a catalyst for crafting your portfolio. (Jump to Section)
  • There are many AI certifications you can invest in to further advance your skills and improve your credibility. (Jump to Section)

Understand the AI Basics

The first step in building a successful career in artificial intelligence (AI) is truly understanding what it is. Grasping its main concepts will let you see its impact on industries and everyday life, from customer service to entertainment. This knowledge will guide your decisions as you move forward and give you a solid foundation to identify the skills you need, the different AI jobs, and finally choose the direction that aligns with your goals.

Choose Your AI Career Path

AI offers a wide range of career opportunities, each with its own set of required skills, tasks and responsibilities, and job salaries. It’s imperative to familiarize yourself with various AI roles early on. If you’re just getting started, consider exploring entry-level AI jobs to get hands-on experience and serve as stepping stones to more advanced roles later on. Knowing the demands of each career gives you clarity on what skills you need to focus on. By choosing the career you want, you can narrow down your learning path and start working on the specific skills for that role.

AI careers and responsibilities

Build Core Skills

Like most jobs, starting AI careers requires a combination of technical and soft skills. Whether you’re just starting out or aiming for an advanced role, having a solid foundation is a must. Invest in AI certifications to boost your knowledge about AI as a whole. Core skills not only prepare you for entry-level jobs but also make you adapt more easily with the field as it evolves.

Technical Skills for Different AI Careers

Technical skills are non-negotiable when it comes to kicking off your AI career. You must enrich your knowledge in AI-related topics, such as machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). These skills equip you to work with data, algorithms, and systems, which are the primary components of AI. Learning them may feel daunting at first, but it will guide you to long-term success. There are many ways you can learn AI for free, but completing paid courses usually gives you a certificate that can raise your chances of getting a good AI job.

Technical skills for an AI career

  • Computer Vision: Mastering computer vision techniques enables you to work on systems that analyze and interpret images or videos. This is a primary skill for computer vision technicians, so they can make systems for facial recognition, self-driving cars, and medical imaging.
  • Data Analysis: The ability to clean, organize, and interpret data is beneficial for an AI career. It is especially useful for data engineers and data scientists, who need to extract meaningful data insights and transform them into usable formats for AI systems.
  • Data Engineering: Understanding how to design and maintain data pipelines is making sure AI systems have access to clean, structured data. This skill is fundamental for data engineers because they lay the groundwork for AI development by preparing datasets for analysis and modeling.
  • Machine Learning Basics: Familiarity with machine learning algorithms and concepts is necessary for ML engineers and data scientists. It allows you to create systems that learn from data and fine-tune their performance over time.
  • Natural Language Processing: Learning how AI systems generate human language is needed for NLP assistant and prompt engineers. It opens opportunities to make AI models for translation, sentiment analysis, and prompt engineering.
  • Programming: Developing strong programming skills will supercharge any AI career. Languages like Python are widely used by support engineers and data scientists to implement algorithms, process data, and craft AI applications.
  • Prompt Optimization: Crafting precise instructions for generative AI tools is a useful skill for prompt engineers, as they work to steer these systems to produce accurate and targeted outputs.
  • Research Techniques: You must be able to explore new methods, test algorithms, and evaluate results to advance in AI. AI researchers and AI research assistants need research skills to uncover new approaches to enhance existing AI technologies.

Soft Skills Required for an AI Career

No matter your chosen career path in AI, technical expertise alone is not enough to succeed. Soft skills play a significant role in supporting teamwork, resolving problems creatively, and bridging the gap between AI solutions and real-world applications.

Soft skills for an AI career

  • Adaptability: Being open to learning new tools and methods lets you stay relevant and updated on the latest about AI.
  • Collaboration: Working well with others is important because most AI projects require input from multiple people with different skills and expertise.
  • Communication: Clearly explaining technical concepts to non-technical audiences helps make sure everyone understands your work and its value.
  • Critical Thinking: The ability to assess situations carefully, spot problems, and make decisions is needed for solving challenges effectively.
  • Problem-Solving: Tackling difficult situations and coming up with workable solutions is key to making your projects succeed.

Practice Your Skills and Create Your Portfolio

To jumpstart your AI career, actively apply what you’ve learned through practice and work on real projects to truly enrich your skills. You could begin with personal projects, contributing to open-source initiatives, or using publicly available datasets to experiment with AI models. You can even try using some free AI tools to get a firsthand experience without spending anything. Practicing allows you to see how AI works in real-world settings, so you can understand the challenges that can’t be taught in a classroom.

In addition, while practicing, you can build a portfolio of work to demonstrate your abilities to future employers. As you continue practicing, you’ll sharpen your problem-solving skills, boost your technical knowledge, and gain the experience necessary to move forward in your AI career.

Network and Develop Professional Relationships

Expanding your professional network plays a substantial role in thriving in the AI field. By connecting with more professionals, you get more job opportunities, insights, and collaborations. Attending AI conferences and joining online communities keeps you informed and enhances your skills. Networking can also provide mentorship and guidance, accelerating your career growth.

Top AI Certifications for Beginners

Getting certified can be a powerful way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge as you start your AI career. AI certifications for beginners will increase your credibility, combining structured learning with practical experience. I’ve selected a few courses that establish a solid grounding in AI, each handpicked so you can strengthen your skillset and set yourself up for success.

Artificial Intelligence for Beginners: Understand the Basics on Udemy

Artificial Intelligence for Beginners: Understand the Basics on Udemy.

This Udemy course offers a comprehensive, beginner-friendly introduction to AI concepts and requires no programming background. Priced at $69.99, it features 20 lectures, assignments, and on-demand video content, ensuring a well-rounded learning experience. This introductory course covers AI history, topics such as regression and clustering, and practical AI applications. You will use a no-code approach to create AI models for image pose and audio detection to gain hands-on customization experience. With just minimal prerequisites of computer knowledge, the course is accessible and can be completed in about five hours.

Artificial Intelligence for Beginners: Python and AI Basics on Udemy

Artificial Intelligence for Beginners: Python and AI Basics on Udemy.

Udemy’s course is great if you’re looking to explore the principles of AI and Python programming, even without prior experience. The course is 10 hours and 14 minutes long and includes 26 lectures on topics like regression, classification, and neural networks. While programming knowledge isn’t required, an understanding of programming concepts can be advantageous. Available for $79.99, the course includes on-demand videos, hands-on coding exercises, and quizzes to test your knowledge. By the end, you’ll be able to create AI models and an interactive game using Python, along with a certificate of completion.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence on Coursera

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence on Coursera.

IBM’s course on Coursera is a great starting point if you want to learn more about AI. The course explores AI’s central concepts, its real-world applications, and examples you encounter daily. It encompasses machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks, as well as how AI is used in various areas, like robotics and computer vision. Ethical issues and the potential impact of AI on society are also discussed. The course is self-paced, taking approximately 13 hours to complete, with flexible deadlines. Organized into four modules, it includes 12 assignments. After finishing, you’ll receive a shareable certificate. A monthly subscription of $59 to Coursera Plus is needed to access this course.

FAQs

Can I Work in AI Without Coding?

Yes, you can work in AI without coding. Roles like AI product manager, AI consultant, or AI business analyst focus more on strategy, project management, and business integrations rather than programming. However, some understanding of AI concepts is still beneficial.

Can I Get an AI Job Without a Degree?

Yes, it is possible to get an AI job without a degree. Many entry-level positions value practical skills, experience, and certifications over formal education. Building a strong portfolio, obtaining hands-on experience, and earning relevant certifications can help you qualify for AI roles.

How Much Do Jobs in AI Pay?

AI job salaries vary depending on the role, location, experience level. According to ZipRecruiter, entry-level AI jobs in the US typically pay around $66,000 to $84,000 annually, as of January 2025. Senior positions, on the other hand, like AI Research Scientists, average between $126,000and $137,500 per year, with top earners making up to $171,000 yearly.

Bottom Line: The Value of Knowing How to Start A Career in AI

Embarking in careers in artificial intelligence molds you to be a part of a field that redefines our lives today. Keep in mind that establishing an AI career is just like launching any other career, you have to start from the ground up. This guide was built so you can prepare your AI career with confidence, no matter your background. By learning the core AI skills and gaining practical experience, you equip yourself with future-proof skills and open doors to innovative and impactful opportunities.

Find out more about how AI is impacting the job market by reading our articles on will AI replace humans, AI-proof jobs, and jobs AI will replace.

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What Is Artificial General Intelligence: A 2025 Beginner’s Guide https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/artificial-general-intelligence/ Thu, 30 Jan 2025 18:01:33 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=232091 Artificial general intelligence could reimagine industries and human-machine collaboration. Discover its potential, challenges, and implications for the future.

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What is artificial general intelligence (AGI), and why does it matter? As one of the most talked-about topics in technology today, it has sparked a race among top companies like OpenAI and Google to turn this cutting-edge concept into reality. Understanding AGI is important because it has the potential to revamp industries, affect our society in profound ways, and change the way we interact with technology. Here’s what you need to know about what it might be able to do, how it might transform industries and fields, and the significant challenges facing its development.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • AGI differs from traditional AI in key ways in that it would be able to think, learn on its own, and adapt to new challenges like humans unlike traditional AI, which is designed for specialized tasks and operates within a limited scope. It needs humans to update and refine abilities. (Jump to Section)
  • Once it becomes a reality, AGI would be able to make remarkable advances in several fields, including healthcare, research, and finance sectors. (Jump to Section)
  • Creating AGI is difficult due to the research challenges that include technical, ethical, and societal issues. Addressing these challenges is central to maintaining the safe and positive development of this technology. (Jump to Section)

What is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): A Clear Definition

Artificial general intelligence, or AGI, refers to a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that can interpret, learn, and perform any cognitive task that a human can do. Unlike today’s AI, which is built to handle specific tasks like recommending products or processing data, AGI would be able to adapt to new challenges and apply knowledge across various fields. In other words, this advanced type of AI would think and reason like a human. While AGI holds great potential, it’s worth noting that it is still a concept today, with no fully developed systems available yet.

Key Capabilities of Artificial General Intelligence

AGI would have a range of capabilities that mimic human intellectual functions, so it can perform tasks beyond the narrow focus of the current AI tools in the market. Some key capabilities include the following:

  • Human-Like Reasoning: The technology would be able to understand and make decisions the way humans do. It would think critically, solve problems, and come up with solutions based on its own experiences and past interactions, similar to how we apply past knowledge to new situations.
  • Solving Unfamiliar Problems: One of AGI’s strengths is its potential to tackle new problems. Unlike traditional AI, which is trained to perform specific tasks, AGI would have the capacity to handle problems it hasn’t been directly trained to solve. It could figure out how to approach a completely new challenge, just like humans do when faced with something we’ve never encountered before.
  • Self-Learning and Adapting: AGI could fine-tune its skills and learn from experience, without the need to be manually updated every time. It would observe and analyze data, learn from mistakes, and find better ways to complete tasks over time. This means AGI could adapt to new situations and get better at tasks on its own.
  • Using Knowledge Across Different Areas: AGI would be able to take what it learns in one area and apply it to other tasks. For example, if it learned how to solve math problems, it could use that knowledge to address challenges in other fields, like science or business. The ability to transfer skills across different areas is something humans do naturally and would make the technology versatile in diverse sectors.
  • Understanding and Responding to Emotions: Recognizing and reacting to human emotions would also be within AGI’s capabilities. This would be important in settings where understanding people’s feelings matters, such as healthcare, customer service, or social situations. By responding to emotions appropriately, AGI would be better equipped to work with humans in an effective way.

Understanding AGI vs Traditional AI

The table below provides a snapshot of the major differences between AI and traditional or narrow AI by underscoring their capabilities, adaptability, and current status.

AGI would have the ability to think, learn autonomously, and adapt to new challenges like humans. However, it is still theoretical and has not been realized yet. On the other hand, traditional AI is built for particular tasks and operates within a fixed scope. It cannot adjust to new tasks without human input.

For example, an AGI could learn to diagnose medical conditions, then use that knowledge to develop personalized treatment plans—and even adjust its approach based on the patient’s progress. Additionally, it could apply this problem-solving ability to tasks in completely different fields, such as creating business strategies or advising on environmental conservation. In contrast, traditional AI, like a diagnostic tool, can only analyze medical data for specific conditions. It cannot adapt to other areas or improve on its own.

Potential Applications of Artificial General Intelligence

While AGI isn’t here yet, its potential applications span numerous fields and hold great promise of drastic advancements in many sectors. Without being limited to specific tasks like narrow AI, AGI would be highly versatile and could apply its capabilities to solve multi-disciplinary problems. It could overcome challenges currently beyond the capabilities of existing AI applications.

Transforming Healthcare

AGI would change the game in healthcare by diagnosing complex and rare diseases with greater accuracy, even in cases where symptoms are ambiguous or overlap with multiple conditions. It could create highly personalized treatment plans by studying patient history, genetic information, and real-time health data. In addition, AGI could accelerate drug discovery, identifying possible treatments in weeks rather than years by processing massive datasets and running predictive simulations.

Advancing Scientific Research

In scientific research, AGI would be able to simulate experiments, analyze intricate datasets, and generate hypotheses. It could expedite breakthroughs in quantum physics, genomics, and climate science. By integrating knowledge from various domains, the technology could uncover connections and solutions that might otherwise go unnoticed by traditional AI.

Improving Industry

Organizations in the industrial field could use AGI to boost efficiency in real-time by managing entire supply chains. It would predict and resolve disruptions before they occur. In manufacturing, it could oversee autonomous factories, optimizing production processes while maintaining safety and quality standards. Its ability to adjust to changing circumstances would make it an invaluable tool in industrial environments.

Enhancing Business Strategy

AGI could improve business decision-making by evaluating market trends, customer behavior, and operational data to find opportunities and risks. In contrast to narrow AI systems, AGI would innovate solutions to challenging business problems, such as dealing with economic uncertainty or forecasting long-term market shifts. Its ability to learn from diverse sources would empower businesses to remain competitive.

Redefining Finance

In the financial sector, AGI could increase forecasting precision by detecting patterns in vast amounts of financial data, so investors and institutions can make informed decisions. It would also be able to spot fraud in real-time by recognizing subtle anomalies that traditional AI systems might miss. Additionally, AGI could build more robust financial models, factoring in complicated variables and scenarios to mitigate risks.

Challenges in Artificial General Intelligence Research

Developing AGI is one of the most ambitious goals in technology, but it comes with many difficulties. These challenges include technical, ethical, and societal areas, making AGI development an intricate and multi-faceted process. Overcoming the following challenges is tantamount to ensuring safety, upholding ethical standards, and carefully planning how AGI’s introduction and use will affect people, industries, and society as a whole:

  • Making AGI Truly Flexible: AGI would need to handle a wide range of problems and adapt to new situations, just like humans. Building a system of flexibility is incredibly hard because current AI tools are not designed to think or learn at this level of sophistication.
  • Massive Computing Needs: To replicate human intelligence, AGI would require enormous amounts of computing power to process information from diverse sources quickly. Figuring out how to make such systems powerful and efficient enough for real-world use is a substantial challenge.
  • Understanding Human Intelligence: We don’t fully understand how human thinking works, especially complicated aspects like intuition or consciousness. Without this understanding, it’s challenging to build machines that can emulate human-like thinking.
  • Making AGI Safe and Ethical: AGI could potentially be misused, like to create biased systems or harmful tools like autonomous weapons. Researchers must make sure that AG is built responsibly and follows strict ethical guidelines. This is a tricky task that necessitates global collaboration.
  • Keeping It Under Control: There’s a risk AGI could act in ways we don’t expect, especially since it would have the capacity to learn and change over time. Ensuring that these systems remain aligned with human values and are safe to use is one of the biggest challenges in AGI research.
  • Impact on Jobs and Society: If AGI becomes a reality, it could replace jobs or cause economic inequality by benefitting some groups more than others. Preparing for these social impacts is just as important as building the technology itself.
  • High Costs and Resources: Researching AGI necessitates a lot of money, time, and expert knowledge. Not all organizations have these resources, slowing down progress and leaving smaller businesses out of the race.

3 Introductory AGI Courses to Consider

Familiarizing yourself with AGI can give you a competitive edge, whether you wish to advance your career in AI or simply want to stay informed about emerging technologies. The following introductory courses can help you gain a deeper understanding of what artificial general intelligence is, so you can solidify your knowledge about this promising AI advancement.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): An Introductory Course on Udemy

This Udemy course provides a fundamental understanding of AGI, suitable for beginners with no prior experience. The course covers relevant topics, including the foundations of AI, the basics of AGI, and the latest trends in the field. It also explores the benefits, risks, and challenges associated with AGI, equipping you with insights into what the advanced technology can achieve. The entire course consists of 15 lectures and can be completed in approximately 45 minutes. Upon completion, you will receive a certificate to bolster your credentials in the job market. This introductory course costs $24.99.

Artificial General Intelligence AGI: An Introductory Course on Udemy.

Intro to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Future of AI on Udemy

Udemy’s introductory course offers a comprehensive overview of AGI for learners with no technical background. It discusses the historical context and foundation of AGI, the distinctions between narrow AI and AGI, and ethical considerations surrounding its development. In addition, it addresses future trends in AI and AGI, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Spanning one hour and 46 minutes, the course includes 39 lectures, on-demand video, and downloadable resources. It also has a practical test at the end to reinforce your understanding. You will be awarded a certificate once you complete the course. It is available as part of Udemy’s premium plans, starting at $20 per month, or as a separate purchase of $49.99.

Intro to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Future of AI on Udemy.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) on Udemy

This Udemy course brings a clear and concise introduction to the topic, with on-demand videos and 22 lectures. It elaborates on major AGI concepts and the role of robotics in AGI development. It also examines the ethical, software, and hardware challenges in creating AGI. The course provides quizzes to test your knowledge and a certificate of completion. Priced at $44.99, it is made for learners at any level, making it accessible and valuable for anyone who wants to learn more about AGI.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) on Udemy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Will Happen if AGI is Achieved?

Achieving AGI could revolutionize industries, enhance decision-making, and lead to significant advancements in technology. However, it also raises concerns about ethics, job displacement, and the need for proper regulation to make sure it is developed safely and responsibly.

How Far Are We From AGI?

Experts disagree on how far we are from achieving AGI. Sam Altlman of OpenAI believes in 2025, AI agents might join the workforce, ultimately paving the way to AGI development. On the other hand, a survey of AI researchers puts the median estimate around 2047. Despite rapid AI advancements, current systems are still limited to narrow tasks and lack the broad, flexible reasoning of humans–so AGI is likely still decades away.

Will AGI Replace Humans?

The idea of AGI fully replacing humans is still debated. Even though it’s likely that AGI will assist us by taking over repetitive tasks, there is a possibility that it could displace certain jobs. That said, rather than completely replacing humans, AGI is expected to work alongside us, handling technical responsibilities while we focus on tasks that require creativity and empathy. At the end of the day, the effects of AGI will depend on how society chooses to manage and integrate it.

Bottom Line: Why Knowing What Is Artificial General Intelligence Matters

Understanding artificial general intelligence is imperative because this technology could change industries, solve difficult problems, and transform how we use AI. But as we begin to develop AGI, we must carefully address several challenges, including technical issues, ethical concerns, and its overall impact on society. By learning about AGI’s potential and risks, we can work toward making sure it is created responsibly and used in ways that would benefit everyone.

Learn more about the big names racing toward AI development in our Top AI Companies article.

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What Jobs Will AI Replace? 10 Jobs That Are In Future Danger https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/jobs-ai-will-replace/ Fri, 24 Jan 2025 14:36:48 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=232019 AI is affecting job security, putting certain roles in jeopardy and driving the need for proactive preparation. Find out which roles are most impacted by AI and what you can do to stay competitive in the workforce.

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Knowing what types of jobs AI will replace can help you stay ahead in today’s workforce and prepare for shifts in the job market driven by this dynamic technology. As AI models improve and the tools become more sophisticated, their range of abilities grows dramatically. The jobs most at risk involve routine tasks, where AI can easily step in to handle repetitive work more efficiently. Understanding the top 10 roles likely to be replaced by AI, why they’re most vulnerable, and what it means for workers can help you make more informed decisions about your career and build the skills that will matter most in the future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Jobs in the manufacturing, healthcare, and customer service industries are most at risk of AI replacement because these sectors rely heavily on routine, repetitive tasks that can be automated. (Jump to Section)
  • Building skills that AI can’t replace, investing in continuous learning, and staying adaptable are some of the steps you can take to prepare for an AI-driven job market. (Jump to Section)
  • Aside from job losses, the economic impacts of AI job replacement also include increased productivity and potential income inequality. (Jump to Section)

Top 10 Jobs AI Will Replace

The table below shows an overview of what jobs will AI replace in the future, including the likelihood of AI replacing each role and the expected job growth by 2030. Most of these positions are projected to decline, with a few showing only minimal growth. Source: Will Robots Take My Job?

Top10 jobs AI will replace
AI will likely replace jobs with repetitive tasks and can be automated, like data entry clerks, telemarketers, bookkeepers, receptionists, retail cashiers, manufacturing workers, bank tellers, proofreaders, customer service representatives, and translators.

Data Entry Clerks

AI Replacement Risk: 95%

Data entry clerks are at a high risk of being replaced by AI mainly because their work involves tedious, structured tasks that AI can automate easily. AI tools can quickly process large amounts of data with minimal errors, saving time and money for companies. With advancements in natural language processing (NLP) and optical character recognition (OCR), AI can manage unstructured data, like handwritten notes or scanned documents, more effectively. Since AI can do these tasks much faster, businesses are more likely to rely less on human data entry in the future.

Telemarketers

AI Replacement Risk: 94%

This role is likely to be replaced by AI because the job focuses on following scripts and managing routine customer interactions, tasks that AI can now do just as well, if not faster. AI-powered chatbots and voice assistants can make calls, answer questions, and even personalize conversations based on customer data. Additionally, these tools are available 24/7, don’t need breaks, and can handle multiple calls at once, making them a cost-effective alternative to human telemarketers.

Bookkeepers

AI Replacement Risk: 94%

Bookkeepers are at serious risk of being replaced by AI because their work is straightforward and repetitive—exactly what AI tools are built for. AI-powered software can track expenses, reconcile accounts, and even generate financial reports more quickly and accurately than people can. These systems can also connect directly to bank accounts and other financial platforms, so there’s no need for manual data entry. Businesses typically look for ways to cut costs and save time, making bookkeepers highly vulnerable to automation.

Receptionists

AI Replacement Risk: 92%

Receptionists face a significant risk of being replaced by AI as automated systems like virtual assistants become capable of managing calls, scheduling and visitor check-ins. These AI tools save costs and complete routine tasks smoothly and without breaks. While human receptionists can build rapport and address complex issues, businesses might prioritize the round-the-clock availability of AI, especially when dealing with high volumes of routine inquiries.

Retail Cashiers

AI Replacement Risk: 89%

The jobs of retail cashiers are increasingly at risk of AI replacement as self-checkout systems and automated payment technologies become more common. These systems let customers scan and pay for items on their own, eliminating the need for someone to operate a register. AI advances are also allowing stores to use the Just Walk Out technology, where sensors and cameras automatically charge customers for items as they leave. For companies, these AI solutions mean lower labor costs and accelerated checkout times.

Manufacturing Workers

AI Replacement Risk: 88%

Manufacturing jobs are under threat because AI and robotics can now take over many physical tasks. Machines can perform everything from assembling products to inspecting them, often with greater consistency than human workers. Automation is particularly useful for tasks requiring high precision or repeated movements, as robots don’t tire and can be programmed to to work non-stop. 

Bank Tellers

AI Replacement Risk: 88%

Bank tellers are facing a high chance of AI replacement due to the rise of digital banking and automated systems. With more customers using mobile banking apps and online platforms for everyday transactions, in-person banking becomes unnecessary. ATMs and self-service kiosks are also taking over basic tasks, like cash deposits, withdrawals, and balance checks. These systems are not only quicker but also reduce the costs associated with maintaining a large, in-person staff. 

Proofreaders

AI Replacement Risk: 86%

Proofreading jobs are vulnerable to AI because many of their tasks can now be done by advanced editing software. AI-powered grammar checkers and style editors can spot errors in text faster than humans can, from typos to sentence structure issues. In addition, these programs are constantly updated to recognize more complex language patterns, making them a practical choice for companies looking to cut down on costs. Even though human editors will still be required for complex tasks, AI is steadily taking over more of the routine, error-catching work traditionally done by proofreaders. 

Customer Service Representatives

AI Replacement Risk: 80%

Customer service representatives are on the list of jobs AI will replace due to AI chatbots and virtual assistants growing more adept at managing routine inquiries, such as account updates and order tracking. These tools give businesses a cost-effective way to provide 24/7 support while handling requests simultaneously. However, human representatives may still be indispensable for emotionally charged situations where empathy is necessary.

Translators

AI Replacement Risk: 71%

Translators are seeing their roles shift as AI-supported language tools become more sophisticated, processing text in real-time, translating accurately in dozens of languages. These tools are now able to pick upon context and tone, which were once areas where humans had the advantage. For routine tasks, like translating documents or basic conversations, AI can often do the job faster at little to no cost. Human translators might still be needed for highly nuanced or creative work, the demand for traditional translation services is likely to decrease as these technologies continue to develop.

Preparing for an AI-Driven Job Market

AI will continue to transform industries. Preparing for the changing job market is more important than ever. It’s undeniable that AI will take over, if not eliminate, some jobs, but it will also create new opportunities. Developing a mix of new skills and a mindset that welcomes change will help you thrive in this environment. Here’s what you can do to make yourself more valuable:

How to prepare for an AI-driven job market
To prepare for an AI-driven job market, you must work on skills AI can’t replace, learn continuously, build adaptable skills, and learn AI and its limitations. You may also consider shifting to AI-proof jobs.

  • Work on Skills AI Can’t Replace: Automation can deal with routine tasks efficiently, but human traits, such as creativity and empathy, are irreplaceable. These skills will be even more valuable as routine work is automated. Focus on critical thinking, problem-solving, and building personal connections, areas where humans still have a distinct advantage.
  • Prioritize Continuous Learning: Staying informed is a must as AI technologies advance. Maintain a curious mindset and continually acquire new skills through online courses or workshops. Keeping up with the latest AI trends will help you remain relevant and open up new career opportunities as the job market shifts.
  • Build Adaptable Skills: Learn to work with new technologies and different processes to be ready to switch industries if necessary. Workers who can pivot quickly and pick up new tools will be in demand as new roles will call for constant flexibility.
  • Understand AI and Its Limitations: Because AI plays a large role in the workplace, it’s imperative to understand both its strengths and limitations. While it’s hard to beat at data processing because of its speed and accuracy, it struggles with complex decision-making and creativity. By recognizing these limitations, you can use AI tools effectively and concentrate on areas where human judgment remains essential.
  • Explore AI-Proof Jobs: If you’re considering a career shift, explore roles that rely on human interaction, hands-on expertise, and skills that are difficult for machines to replicate. Professions like chefs and social workers need nuanced decision-making and emotional intelligence, which machines cannot duplicate. Pursuing these AI-proof jobs can offer stability in a future where automation seems unstoppable.

The Economic Impacts of AI Job Replacement

AI continues to mold industries and job markets, and its economic impact goes far beyond job displacement. While the technology introduces substantial benefits, it also raises serious concerns about inequality, workforce transitions, and ethical implications.

Economic impacts of AI job replacement
AI job replacement would increase productivity, displace workers, and widen the wage gap.

Increased Productivity and Economic Expansion

AI-driven automation is poised to boost productivity, contributing an estimated $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. This expansion will primarily come from enhanced efficiency and increased consumer demand, with the healthcare, finance, and manufacturing sectors standing to benefit the most. The challenge, however, is making sure that this improvement is not limited to just a few industries or companies. If the benefits are concentrated in a small group, the broader economy could face widening inequality.

Job Losses and Workforce Displacement

According to SEO.AI, AI could potentially replace around 800 million jobs worldwide by 2030. Job losses are to be expected in various sectors, with automation replacing basic roles. Workers in manufacturing, retail, and customer service industries are particularly vulnerable. As AI takes over repetitive tasks, the shift in the workforce may cause disruptions and lead to retraining requirements for displaced workers.

Income Disparity

AI is set to widen the income gap, especially in lower-wage sectors, like retail, food service, and manufacturing. A Brookings Institution report found that more than 30 percent of workers could see half of their tasks disrupted by generative AI. On the other hand, higher-paying, skilled positions in STEM, business, and finance industries are more likely to benefit from AI. Simply put, the economic gains from AI could disproportionately favor those with higher skills, leaving lower-income workers behind and  making income inequality worse.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which Industries Are Most Affected by AI?

AI is having a major impact on the manufacturing, healthcare, and customer service industries by automating tasks that were previously done by humans. In manufacturing, automation replaces manual labor on production lines. In healthcare, AI is handling diagnostics and administrative tasks. Meanwhile, in customer service, AI chatbots manage routine support roles, reducing the need for human involvement in simple inquiries.

Will AI Create More Jobs Than it Replaces?

AI is expected to create new job opportunities, particularly in AI development, data analysis, and machine learning fields. These new roles usually come with competitive AI job salaries, reflecting the specialized skills necessary. That said, the number of AI careers may not fully offset the jobs lost to automation. The effect will depend on how industries adjust, with higher-paying roles in tech, but fewer traditional jobs in more automated industries.

What Skills Are Needed to Work Alongside AI?

To work alongside AI, you must gain skills in data analysis, machine learning, and critical thinking. You can also take AI-related courses or self-paced AI certifications to learn AI in detail. Developing these skills will help you collaborate with AI technologies in various sectors.

Conclusion: Navigating the AI-Driven Job Landscape

The job market is undergoing a significant transformation, and while some roles become obsolete or face automation, others are emerging in response to new demands. Adapting to this shift means focusing on continuous learning and cultivating skills that AI cannot easily duplicate. Invest in human-centric abilities and skills that would complement new technologies to remain relevant and resilient as the nature of work evolves.

Find out which businesses are setting the new standards in AI by reading about the top AI companies and NLP companies.

The post What Jobs Will AI Replace? 10 Jobs That Are In Future Danger appeared first on eWEEK.

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How to Perform a Website Security Scan: A Vulnerabilities Guide https://www.eweek.com/security/how-to-check-a-website-for-vulnerabilities/ Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:15:00 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=218480 Website security scans can help detect and resolve security risks before they can be used for attacks. Find out how to perform a complete web security scan for WordPress, Joomla, and custom websites in this guide.

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Understanding how to do a website security scan is important for maintaining strong website security, safeguarding confidential data, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. A website security scan involves assessing your site for vulnerabilities, malware, and other threats that could compromise its security and data integrity. The scanning process can vary depending on whether the site uses a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Joomla or is a custom-built website.

Here’s what you need to know about how to scan your website for vulnerabilities, common mistakes to avoid during the process, and the reliable tools you can use to enhance your website’s security. By conducting a site security scan, you can proactively address potential issues, avoid costly data recovery efforts, and mitigate legal liabilities after a breach.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Website vulnerability scanning can help you spot common website vulnerabilities, including broken access control, security misconfiguration, unpatched components, and cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. (Jump to Section)
  • By following website security scanning best practices, you can accurately identify vulnerabilities and minimize risks of cyber attacks. (Jump to Section)
  • There are different types of website vulnerability scanning tools you can use for WordPress, Joomla, and custom websites. (Jump to Section)

How to Scan a WordPress Website for Vulnerabilities

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems in the world, holding 62.5 percent of the global CMS market share. Its flexibility, ease of use, and extensive library of plugins and themes make it a preferred choice for developers and users alike. However, this popularity also makes WordPress a target for hackers and cybercriminals. Fortunately, scanning your WordPress website for vulnerabilities is a straightforward process.

Scanning a WordPress Website infographic.

1. Choose a Scanner

Choose a suitable scanner—you can opt for plugins like Wordfence or WPScan, which are specifically designed for WordPress security, or consider a more comprehensive commercial tool like Acunetix or MalCare Security Plugin.

2. Set Up the Scanner

If you are using a plugin, you need to install and configure it to scan your site. For online tools like WPScan, visit the provider’s website and follow the instructions. Commercial scanners typically require you to sign up for the service and configure the settings for your site.

3. Run the Scan

Schedule the plugin to scan your site at regular intervals; it will send scan results via email alerts. For online scanners, input your site’s URL into the tool’s webpage and wait for the scan to complete. Most commercial tools let you schedule scans according to their settings.

4. Patch Vulnerabilities

Address vulnerabilities based on the scan results. If using a plugin scanner, regularly update your WordPress core, themes, and plugins, and apply any recommended patches. For commercial scanning tools, follow instructions for patching vulnerabilities. Regardless of the scanner type, ensure that all necessary patches are applied to maintain your site’s security.

5. Monitor and Maintain the Site

To maintain the security of your WordPress site, regular monitoring and upkeep are needed. Periodically conduct scans to detect emerging vulnerabilities and routinely check for security issues to effectively secure the online presence of your website.

How to Scan a Joomla Website for Vulnerabilities

While not as widely used as WordPress, Joomla is still another popular CMS with more than 123 million downloads worldwide. This free CMS is renowned for its ease of use, flexibility, and powerful core features, making it a prime target for hackers and cybercriminals. To minimize risks, follow a systematic approach when scanning Joomla websites for vulnerabilities.

Scanning a Joomla Website infographic.

1. Detect the Installed Joomla Version

Determine the exact version of Joomla running on the target site. This is an important step as it helps in uncovering vulnerabilities specific to that particular version. By identifying the installed version, you can cross-reference it against security databases for any potential security flaws that may be present in the website.

2. Enumerate Installed Components, Modules, and Templates

Then, list all installed components, modules, and templates on the website. These extensions can introduce additional vulnerabilities beyond those present in the core Joomla software. Tools like JoomScan can enumerate common information about the Joomla site, including the version number, CVEs, firewall detection, and common logs.

3. Perform Black-Box Testing

Black-box testing is a technique used to simulate an external attacker attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Joomla website. You treat the website as a black box, without any prior knowledge of its internal workings or configuration. Try to find security weaknesses by interacting with the website in the same way a malicious actor would—by submitting malformed input, exploiting common vulnerabilities, and probing for sensitive information.

4. Use Specialized Joomla Vulnerability Scanners

Use specialized Joomla vulnerability scanners and security tools to automate the detection of known vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and entry points for attacks. By running these scanners against the website, you can quickly unveil areas of concern and prioritize remediation efforts.

5. Check for Directory Indexing and Information Disclosure

Complete a passive scan to check if directory indexing is enabled on key locations. This can reveal sensitive information like source code, configuration files, and database dumps that could aid an attacker. Additionally, look for pages that disclose sensitive information in their HTML comments or in linked JavaScript files.

6. Carry out Threat Intelligence and Blacklisting Checks

Vulnerability scanners like JoomlaVS can check if the site is linked from pages known to host malware or be associated with spam. Verify if the site’s IP address or domain is blacklisted by security organizations or antivirus vendors.

7. Use Active Scanning Tools

Free scanners like OpenVAS can help expose known vulnerabilities in Joomla core, themes, extensions, modules, and components. By using these active tools, you can locate security weaknesses that may not be immediately apparent through passive analysis alone.

8. Analyze the Results

Review detailed reports to pinpoint high-risk vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access, elevate privileges, or compromise sensitive data. Prioritize remediation based on factors like exploit availability, impact, and ease of exploitation.

9. Implement Fixes and Mitigations

Update Joomla core and extensions to the latest secure versions to patch known vulnerabilities. Implement strong access controls, password policies, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to limit unauthorized access. Configure web application firewalls (WAFs) and intrusion detection systems (IDS) to protect against common attacks.

How to Scan a Custom-Built Website for Vulnerabilities

Custom-built websites can be particularly vulnerable to security threats, as they often lack the robust security features and regular updates found in modern content management systems. These sites require a more manual and creative means to vulnerability scanning. By following a structured approach, combining automated and manual techniques, and staying current with security best practices, you can scan your custom website for vulnerabilities and help boost its defense.

Scanning Custom-Built Websites for Vulnerabilities infographic.

1. Gather Information

Start by using a web scanning tool like WhatWeb to gather information about the website, including programming languages, frameworks, and versions used. This information can help you pinpoint known vulnerabilities that may affect the site. Look for outdated versions of components with known exploits available. Determining the programming versions can also give clues, as new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered.

2. Scan for Common Vulnerabilities

Use security scanners like ZAP, w3af, and skipfish to check for usual web server and application vulnerabilities. These scanners can reveal obsolete system components, configuration errors, and weak access points, giving you a good baseline understanding of your website’s security status.

3. Conduct a Thorough Application Scan

For a deeper scanning of your web application, consider a more advanced solution like Burp Scanner. This web vulnerability scanner can help you locate typical website vulnerabilities and other application-specific weaknesses. Sophisticated website scanners can test for more complex vulnerabilities and offer more in-depth security analysis.

4. Review the Code and Configuration

Conducting a hands-on security audit and manually reviewing the code, configuration files, and server logs can help reveal vulnerabilities that automated scanners may miss. Search for improper input validation, weak authentication, and other insecure coding practices. Looking for misconfigurations and unnecessary services is also important.

5. Obtain Necessary Permissions

Remember to always have permission before conducting any penetration testing activities on a website you do not own or manage. Unauthorized testing can be considered illegal in some jurisdictions, so ensure you have explicit authorization and follow any rules of engagement.

6. Stay Up-to-Date with Security Best Practices

Continuously stay informed about the latest security best practices and vulnerabilities to ensure your scanning methodology is effective and up-to-date. Follow security pages and join online communities to keep up with the latest cyberthreats and website vulnerabilities, then update your scanning procedures to account for threats and techniques.

10 Common Website Vulnerabilities

Websites are common targets for malicious actors because of the sensitive data they handle. Failing to resolve obvious website vulnerabilities can lead to devastating consequences, like data breaches, system compromises, and reputational damage. Website vulnerabilities scanners can help detect some of the most common website vulnerabilities, including the following:

Common Website Vulnerabilities infographic.

  • Broken Access Control: This happens when security restrictions are not properly enforced, often due to inadequate role-based access controls or insufficient validation of user permissions. As a result, an attacker gains unauthorized access to sensitive data or functions.
  • Cryptographic Failures: Formerly known as sensitive data exposure, cryptographic failures expose sensitive information through weak encryption, improper key management, or insecure data storage. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities to intercept passwords, financial information, or personal data.
  • SQL Injection (SQLi): This vulnerability involves an attacker injecting malicious SQL code into web application input fields, such as login forms or search bars. If successful, they can access, modify, or delete data stored in the backend database, which may lead to data breaches.
  • Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): XSS vulnerabilities allow attackers to inject malicious scripts into a web application’s output, oftentimes by taking advantage of insecure user input handling. When executed in a victim’s browser, these scripts can hijack user sessions, deface websites, or redirect you to malicious sites. XSS is particularly dangerous for eCommerce and banking sites that handle sensitive financial information.
  • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): CSRF attacks trick you into doing unintended actions, like changing your password or transferring funds, on a web application you’re already authenticated with. Attackers achieve this by embedding malicious code on a website or by sending a crafted link via email or instant message.
  • Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF): SSRF exploits a server’s ability to send requests to other systems. Attackers use this to access internal resources, steal sensitive data, or launch further attacks within a network.
  • Insecure Design: This vulnerability results from failing to incorporate proper security during the web application’s development phase. Poor design choices, such as missing authentication layers or unchecked input validation, leave websites vulnerable to exploitation.
  • Security Misconfiguration: Default settings, excessive permissions, or unnecessary features in a web application can create entry points for attackers. This could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, or service disruptions.
  • Outdated Components: Using old libraries, plugins, or software dependencies increases the risk of exploitation due to unpatched vulnerabilities. Outdated components often lack the latest security patches, enabling attackers to compromise the system or inject malicious code.
  • Insufficient Logging and Monitoring: Without effective tracking and alerts, suspicious activities go unnoticed, allowing breaches to persist and possibly escalate. This could delay the identification of threats, increasing the risk of data loss and prolonged downtime.

Best Practices for Website Security Scanning

According to the World Economic Forum, damages incurred by cybercrime could reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Adopting best practices for website security scanning can boost your defense against cyber threats. These practices establish a strong foundation for maintaining a secure and resilient infrastructure.

Website Security Scanning Best Practices infographic.

  • Conduct Regular Scans and Monitoring: Schedule frequent scans to detect new vulnerabilities as they arise. Routine checks ensure risks from updates, new features, or configuration changes are promptly resolved. Complement scans with real-time monitoring tools to detect unusual activity or breaches quickly.
  • Ensure In-Depth Vulnerability Assessments: Perform scans that cover all aspects of your website, including databases, APIs, and third-party integrations. Don’t overlook hidden files, misconfigured permissions, or outdated libraries that can create entry points for attackers.
  • Customize Scanning Configurations: Configure scanning tools to align with your website’s specific structure. Generic scans may miss vulnerabilities unique to your site’s setup, and customizing the scan increases accuracy.
  • Use Automated Scanning Tools: Integrate automated scanning tools to spot issues faster and more consistently. These tools can be scheduled to run periodically or triggered after major site quotes, reducing the risk of human error and improving efficiency in uncovering vulnerabilities.
  • Validate and Cross-Check Results: While automated scanning tools are effective, they are not infallible, so don’t assume that all scan results are completely accurate. Manually verify detected vulnerabilities to rule out false positives or negatives–this way you can dedicate remediation efforts on actual risks.
  • Track and Document Scanning Results: Maintain detailed records of each scan, including detected vulnerabilities, their severity, and actions taken. A clear record helps find recurring issues and promotes accountability in mitigating risks.
  • Use AI to Boost Scanning: Incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like AI security software to automate vulnerability detection and real-time threat analysis. Consider applying generative AI for cybersecurity to simulate attack scenarios and predict potential risks.

Top 3 Website Security Scanning Tools to Consider

Choosing the right website security scanner plays a substantial role in keeping your online presence secure. Here are some of the top website scanning tools for WordPress, Joomla, and custom-built sites to help you detect vulnerabilities, monitor potential threats, and strengthen your website’s security posture.

WPScan icon.

WPScan

WPScan is a popular security scanner designed to assess the security of WordPress websites. Its key strengths include vulnerability detection, version enumeration, and user enumeration capabilities. This website vulnerability scanning tool can check the WordPress core, plugins, and themes against a large database of known vulnerabilities, so you can quickly deal with security issues that may arise. WPScan also delivers password brute-force testing and detects publicly accessible configuration files and database dumps.

WPScan requires a paid API subscription to access the full vulnerability database and receive detailed vulnerability information. However, the free API plan should be sufficient for many WordPress users, and the tool’s extensive security scanning capabilities make it a valuable choice for securing WordPress websites.

OWASP icon.

JoomScan

JoomScan is an open-source vulnerability scanner project under OWASP and is a reputable tool for detecting and analyzing vulnerabilities in Joomla installations. JoomScan can perform in-depth scans of Joomla sites, enumerate versions, detect core vulnerabilities, identify installed components/modules, and find directory listings and backup files. In addition, its modular and lightweight architecture ensures minimal footprint during scans.

While JoomScan brings valuable features, it has limited documentation and project updates, which may impact long-term viability against new Joomla vulnerabilities. However, as an open-source project, the community can contribute to tackle any shortcomings.

Astra icon.

Astra Vulnerability Scanner

Astra is a comprehensive website security scanning tool that covers over 9300 tests, detecting common security issues, like SQL injection and cross site scripting (XSS). It provides real-time monitoring and alerts to keep you informed about emerging threats, as well as detailed reports to support remediation efforts. One of Astra’s best features is its focus on minimizing false positives through automated scans verified by security experts. It’s worth noting, though, that while Astra offers advanced features, some users find its interface confusing.

Astra’s vulnerability scanner is priced at $199 per month, which can be used by five team members.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How Often Should You Scan for Vulnerabilities?

You should scan for vulnerabilities at least quarterly. More frequent scans, such as monthly or even weekly, are recommended, especially for key systems or after significant changes to the IT environment. Continuous monitoring and scanning help you quickly spot and mitigate vulnerabilities, reducing the risk of exploitation.

What Is Website Vulnerability Management?

Website vulnerability management is the process of finding and fixing security weaknesses to protect your site from potential threats. It involves regularly scanning for vulnerabilities, assessing their impact, and addressing the most serious issues first to keep your site secure and resilient.

What Happens If You Click on a Website That Is Not Secure?

Clicking on an insecure website can expose you to various risks, including malware infections, phishing attacks, or data theft. These websites may lack encryption, allowing attackers to intercept sensitive information, like passwords or payment details. In some cases, simply visiting the site could trigger harmful downloads or compromise your device.

Conclusion: Protecting Your Website With Regular Security Scans

By routinely scanning your website for vulnerabilities, you can swiftly find signs of security issues and take action. While automated scanning tools can be useful in detecting common vulnerabilities, they may not catch everything. These tools should be used in conjunction with manual code reviews.

Choose a reliable and trusted vulnerability scanning tool that can accurately identify vulnerabilities without generating an excessive number of false positives. You can take it a step further by using AI security software and generative AI for cybersecurity to build a stronger defense against cyberattacks.

Discover effective ways to fortify your cloud security and protect your organization by checking out our article on How to Guard Against the Biggest Cloud Security Threats.

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Midjourney vs DALL-E: AI Art Tools Face-Off for 2025 https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/midjourney-vs-dalle/ Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:15:00 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=223822 Which AI art generator delivers the best results, Midjourney or DALL-E?

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Midjourney and DALL-E are prominent AI art tools with competing artistic features and capabilities. Both of these AI image generators produce visually stunning images that bring your ideas to life and empower you to effortlessly realize your artistic visions. But when it comes to Midjourney vs DALL-E, understanding their strengths and differences can help you determine which better meets your specific creative needs. 

I evaluated both tools to see how they compare on image quality and consistency, ease of use, pricing, and user support. Here’s what you need to know to make an informed decision between them.

  • Midjourney: Best for High-quality, Realistic Images
  • DALL-E: Conversational and Imaginative Art Creation

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Midjourney brings outstanding image quality, consistency, and customization options, but DALL-E offers better pricing, customer support, ease of use, and legal protections. (Jump to Section)
  • There are situations where neither Midjourney nor DALL-E may be the ideal choice, depending on the business needs. (Jump to Section)
  • If Midjourney and DALL-E do not meet your project requirements, numerous AI image generators can bring viable solutions. (Jump to Section)

Midjourney vs DALL-E at a Glance

The following comparison chart highlights the key differences between Midjourney and DALL-E, giving you a clear overview of their performance, strengths, and pricing.

Midjourney DALL-E
Image Quality Superior Excellent
Image Accuracy High Strong
Ease of Use
Pricing Options Tiered pricing Usage-based
Tiered pricing
Starting Price $10 per user, per month Monthly: $20 per user
Usage-based: $0.040 per standard image generation
Free Version
Platforms Discord
Web interface
ChatGPT web interface
ChatGPT mobile app
OpenAI API
Visit Midjourney Visit DALL-E

What is Midjourney?

Midjourney is a fully featured artificial intelligence (AI) image generator popular for its ability to create consistently stunning outputs in a wide range of styles. This AI art tool excels at producing high-quality, realistic, and meticulous artwork with customizable parameters. It’s also packed with powerful features for advanced editing tasks, like stylization levels, outpainting, and background removal. Its External Editor functionality supports editing user-uploaded images.

Midjourney icon.

Originally released in Discord, Midjourney has a vibrant community that fosters collaboration among users. Subscribers can share and receive feedback on their AI art and ask general questions about the tool.

Midjourney enhanced accessibility by introducing a web interface that simplifies the art creation process. This interface retains the functionalities available in Discord—including customization and stylization—while making the tool easier to navigate.

Key Features of Midjourney

Midjourney offers a rich set of features for crafting striking images:

  • Consistent High-Quality Outputs: One of Midjourney’s key strengths is generating detailed, imaginative, visually appealing images with remarkable consistency.
  • Stylized Image Generation: Midjourney lets you create images that embody various styles and mediums. You can set the styles by including them in your text prompts or using the AI art generator’s style parameters to achieve anything from hyper-realistic images to abstract art.
  • Stealth Mode: By default, artworks created with Midjourney are visible to other users. The Stealth Mode feature bolsters privacy by allowing you to keep your AI-generated images hidden from other Midjourney subscribers.
  • Blend Command: With the AI tool’s blend command, you can combine two to five images to create a novel image.

Pros

  • Highly accurate, realistic outputs
  • Stealth Mode keeps generated images private
  • Strong community support

Cons

What is DALL-E?

DALL-E 3 is the latest text-to-image model from OpenAI that stands out for its ability to generate intricate outputs from complex prompts that effectively reflect emotions. Integrated into ChatGPT, this AI art generator has better natural language understanding than previous models, enabling it to interpret subtle nuances to create images that closely match what you envision.

OpenAI icon.

Another significant DALL-E feature is its style versatility and built-in image editor for refining AI-generated images. You can specify your desired art style in your text input and the AI application will take care of the rest. With its image editor, you fine-tune your outputs by selecting an area you want to modify and describing the changes, making the experience interactive and simple for users of any technical skill level.

DALL-E 3 is available through ChatGPT’s free user plan, so a broader audience can experiment with the AI tool without any cost, encouraging creativity and exploration.

Key Features of DALL-E

DALL-E offers a wide range of features that make it easy to use:

  • Conversational AI: DALL-E 3’s integration into ChatGPT lets you engage in real-time conversations to refine image requests, generate image captions, or even build entire stories about your images. This interactive approach makes the AI image generator extremely user-friendly, so average users can achieve specific creative outcomes through guided dialogue.
  • Multi-Platform Availability: This AI art generator is accessible across various platforms, such as ChatGPT on the web, mobile applications, and via the OpenAI API. This versatility ensures that you can generate images in your preferred environment.
  • Inpainting and Image Editing: DALL-E 3 lets you refine certain areas of your image by providing text instructions. This feature allows you to make targeted adjustments, such as changing parts of the background or swapping objects without regenerating the entire image.
  • Indemnification: OpenAI offers indemnification for DALL-E enterprise users, protecting against potential legal risks, particularly in copyright-related matters.

Pros

  • Mobile access provides portability on the go
  • User-friendly and conversational
  • Free version

Cons

  • Output inconsistencies
  • No built-in stylization selection
  • Stringent policy restrictions may limit creative freedom

Best for Cost: DALL-E

DALL-E 3 wins in terms of cost because it offers multiple pricing options, with a free version through ChatGPT.

You can access DALL-E 3 at no cost and generate up to three images daily within the free ChatGPT tier. If you need more outputs, the paid ChatGPT Plus subscription starts at $20 per user, per month. This significantly raises the daily limits of image generation and gives access to additional features of GPT-4. Additionally, DALL-E has a per-image pricing structure that varies based on the output quality selected, starting at $0.040 per image for standard quality and increasing for higher resolution options.

DALL-E pricing.

In contrast, Midjourney only offers tiered pricing plans without a free version or trial. Its monthly subscription starts at $10 per user, which includes 200 image generations. The annual subscription begins at $8 per user, per month, offering a 20 percent discount. 

Midjourney pricing.

Best for Core Features: Midjourney

Both Midjourney and DALL-E have impressive abilities to create high-quality and diverse images. However, Midjourney distinguishes itself in the core features category for its superior output consistency, realistic image generation, and robust customization and style tools.

While both tools did what I asked of them and generated high-quality, usable images, Midjourney stood out in this category for quality, consistency, and prompt fidelity.

Image Quality

Midjourney generated an exceptionally realistic and sharp image, capturing fine nuances with great accuracy. The output below showcases a high level of fidelity and clarity, making it appear almost lifelike and true to the real world.

Midjourney vs DALL-E image quality.

In comparison, DALL-E produced a captivating, vivid image with fine details, including small elaborate elements like window curtains. This output evokes strong emotions and conveys a sense of depth and atmosphere. Also, it is noticeably larger by default compared to Midjourney’s. But while DALL-E’s images are richly rendered, Midjourney’s outputs have a higher degree of realism and precision.

Prompt Fidelity

Midjourney demonstrated excellent prompt fidelity, adhering closely to the given prompt. It rendered a highly realistic and natural image depicting a deep emotional connection with striking accuracy.

Midjourney vs DALL-E prompt fidelity.

DALL-E’s output, while accurately following the prompt, resulted in a more stylized and animated portrayal. It captured the necessary emotions with definite features, but some aspects, like the girl’s tears, appear unnatural. Despite the overall emotional depth and prompt fidelity, this specific element seems slightly off in its representation.

Output Consistency

Midjourney generated high-quality and photorealistic images for the prompt “four dogs of different breeds and one pizza,” but with inconsistent results. Among the three outputs, only one accurately captured the entire prompt, while the other two images contained notable errors. This variability highlights that while the system can produce immersive images, its consistency can be uneven.

Midjourney output consistency.

Same as Midjourney, DALL-E’s images generally met the prompt requirements, but with clear inconsistencies in detail and perspective. For example, in one of its images, the positioning of the dogs was problematic, causing one to be improperly aligned. In addition, the tool also erroneously combined characteristics from different dog breeds rather than representing each breed accurately. This reflects a design error in prompt interpretation.

DALL-E output consistency.

Text Integration Accuracy

Midjourney struggled with text generation. Despite several attempts, the text in its images did not achieve the same level of three-dimensionality as seen in DALL-E’s outputs. Although the result below features error-free text, I selected it as the best result among different outputs, which often had errors.

Midjourney vs DALL-E text accuracy.

DALL-E integrated text into its output image flawlessly and remained true to the prompt. The text is presented with a convincing 3D effect and without errors, effectively overcoming a common challenge faced by many AI image generators.

Customization Tools

Midjourney brings an extensive range of customization and style options for greater user control over the final outputs. You can set the algorithm version and artistic style strength, create variations of the AI-generated images, and adjust their aspect ratios. You can also provide reference images to guide the AI software to make personalized content.

Midjourney customization tools.

DALL-E’s customization features include an interactive image editor and an inpainting tool. You can highlight the areas for editing and enter edit requests in the text prompt panel. The AI system incorporates each modification request to build upon previous edits for a cohesive final product, giving design flexibility.

DALL-E image editor.

Best for Accessibility: DALL-E

DALL-E leads in accessibility because it can be used on several platforms, delivering multiple convenient options to generate images.

You can use DALL-E directly within the ChatGPT web platform. This AI tool also has native mobile applications on the App Store and Google Play Store, allowing you to generate images on the go. In addition, its availability through the OpenAI API enables developers to integrate its functionality into their own applications and services.

DALL-E mobile interface.

On the other hand, access to Midjourney is limited to just two platforms: Discord and a web interface. Midjourney does not offer a standalone desktop or mobile application, nor does it provide an API for integration with external systems, making it less accessible compared to DALL-E.

Midjourney interface on Discord.

Best for Ease of Use: DALL-E

DALL-E beats Midjourney by a great deal when it comes to ease of use because of its minimalistic interface and ChatGPT integration, making it conversational.

DALL-E 3 has an incredibly simple interface across multiple platforms, including the ChatGPT web interface and mobile app. Thanks to this ChatGPT integration, even users without technical background can easily interact with the system using everyday language. You just need to describe the image you have in mind, and ChatGPT will generate tailored prompts for DALL-E 3, promoting intuitive and straightforward image creation, without the need for complex commands.

DALL-E ChatGPT web interface.

Unlike DALL-E, using Midjourney requires a good understanding of prompting techniques to achieve the desired results. While Midjourney offers a web interface that simplifies image generation, users still need to learn how to craft prompts carefully, which can be challenging for those who are new to the platform.

Midjourney web interface.

Best for Ownership and Content Moderation: DALL-E

DALL-E excels in ownership and content moderation due to its in-depth policies and indemnification.

OpenAI has established detailed terms of use, privacy policies, and guidelines for services, data processing, and plugins. It also provides separate terms for businesses, enterprises, and developers, along with indemnification for enterprise users. This meticulous policy framework ensures clarity as well as a strong level of security and legal assurance.

OpenAI policies.

Like DALL-E, Midjourney upholds a strict content moderation policy and offers image privacy features. It enforces community standards and has guidelines for safe-for-work content. However, by default, generated images in Midjourney are visible to other subscribers, allowing them to see and potentially use these images. To get the Stealth Mode feature that will hide your images from others, you must upgrade to higher-tier plans. Nonetheless, this privacy feature does not give the same level of legal protection as the indemnification offered by OpenAI for DALL-E.

Midjourney policies.

Best for Customer Support: DALL-E

DALL-E and Midjourney both have thorough documentation and active and cohesive user communities. Both companies are also reachable via email. However, DALL-E offers superior support with more contact options and faster response times.

DALL-E provides a chat support feature that is easily accessible, allowing for immediate interaction. Plus, its community is highly interactive, even for free users, with helpful individuals responding quickly to each other’s questions and issues. This combination of ready-to-use support and an active user base makes it more responsive compared to Midjourney.

DALL-E support.

Midjourney has in-depth documentation with step-by-step guides and visuals, as well as video tutorials and an AI chatbot, making it easier for you to use the tool. But, unlike DALL-E, engaging in its user communities on Discord and web platforms requires a paid subscription. Additionally, Midjourney’s email support is limited to billing concerns. While its moderators on Reddit respond, it can take several hours to receive replies.

Midjourney support.

Why Shouldn’t You Use Midjourney or DALL-E? 

Midjourney and DALL-E are top names in generative AI, but there are some cases where they may not be the best AI applications.

Who Shouldn’t Use Midjourney

Midjourney isn’t the best fit for the following use cases:

  • Beginners: Midjourney’s output quality heavily relies on your ability to craft detailed prompts. For best results, you must be skilled in composing well-structured prompts and using commands. Without a deep understanding of prompt techniques, you might find it difficult to use the platform’s potential.
  • Cost-Sensitive Businesses: Businesses cannot explore Midjourney’s features without purchasing a subscription, as this top AI company lacks a consistent free trial or free tier. Therefore, for organizations with a tight budget or companies wanting to test the tools before committing, this could pose a financial risk.
  • Organizations Requiring Strong Legal Protection: Midjourney doesn’t offer indemnification, leaving businesses exposed to potential intellectual property or copyright risks.

Who Shouldn’t Use DALL-E

DALL-E is not a good fit for the following use cases:

  • Companies Focused on Highly Realistic Outputs: DALL-E shines in creating imaginative and diverse outputs, but falls short in producing highly realistic visuals. It is not the best fit for businesses where extreme realism is the primary goal.
  • Users Wanting Pre-Built Style Options: Without a built-in style selection feature, DALL-E requires you to specify your desired style through detailed text prompts. This can be challenging for those who are not comfortable with describing artistic styles.
  • Businesses or Users Seeking Complete Artistic Freedom: DALL-E operates under strict content policies that may limit certain creative expressions. Organizations or artists who aim to explore unconventional ideas may find these regulations restrictive, affecting their ability to fully experiment with their work.

3 Best Alternatives to Midjourney and DALL-E

There are numerous generative AI companies that develop state-of-the-art AI image creators today. If neither Midjourney nor DALL-E suits your needs, there are other options to consider.

Stability.ai icon.

Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion from Stability AI is a feature-rich AI art generator renowned for its flexibility and open-source nature. It produces clear and vivid images in diverse styles, which you can fine-tune according to your artistic vision. Being open-source, it promotes community-driven enhancements and expands its applications. Stable Diffusion is multiplatform, functioning seamlessly across local and web-based environments. You can access it through local installation and on Stable Assistant, Hugging Face, and DreamStudio.

The AI tool offers free access for non-commercial use and small businesses, with a pay-as-you-go pricing model starting at $0.01 per credit. It also has tiered plans available through Stability AI Membership, beginning at $20 per user, per month. On the downside, Stability Diffusion’s outputs can sometimes exhibit errors in details, which may impact the overall quality of the AI-generated images.

Starryai icon.

starryai

starryai is an advanced AI art generator with well-polished outputs, extensive customization options, and a free version with 25 daily image generations. With a wide array of preset styles to choose from, this AI application lets you tailor your images to your preferences. The platform delivers additional tools, like a prompt builder and image upscaling, that level up the creative experience.

starryai’s paid plans start at $10 per user, per month. One potential drawback, though, is that you may experience delays as the image generation process can take some time.

Canva icon.

Canva

Canva is a popular online design platform that incorporates AI capabilities for elevating image and art creation via its Magic Media tool. This AI feature enables users to craft images by describing their desired visuals, and Canva will produce images, graphics, and even videos for personal and enterprise use. It has a user-friendly interface and collaborative features that support easy sharing and editing among teams.

Canva offers a free trial that includes 50 AI-generated images and monthly subscription plans starting at $15 per user. However, a significant drawback is that this platform has limited customization features compared to other dedicated AI image generators, which may impact users seeking more tailored artistic control over their creations.

How I Evaluated Midjourney vs DALL-E

In comparing Midjourney and DALL-E, I focused on several key factors to gauge their performance: core features, cost, ease of use, ownership and content moderation, and customer support. Each category plays a substantial role in determining the overall effectiveness of these AI image generators.

  • Core Features | 30 percent: This criterion assesses the main capabilities of each tool, such as image quality, output consistency, built-in customization options, and support for various output formats. In addition, I closely evaluated the tools’ prompt fidelity, text integration accuracy, batch processing, and platform availability. These factors are important in determining how well each tool meets user needs.

Criteria Winner: Midjourney

  • Cost | 20 percent: For this category, I concentrated on examining the financial aspects of Midjourney and DALL-E. I checked whether they offer a free version or trial, the variety of pricing models, and the transparency of pricing information. These components affect the tool’s affordability and suitability for different budgets. Free trials let you test the tool before purchase, while multiple pricing models give flexibility.

Criteria Winner: DALL-E

  • Ease of Use | 20 percent: For this, I evaluated how straightforward each tool is to set up and operate across all its platforms for both beginners and exp. A user-friendly tool enables quick and efficient use, reducing the learning curve and boosting productivity.

Criteria Winner: DALL-E

  • Ownership and Content Moderation | 20 percent: This category measures each AI image generator’s provisions for legal protection, including indemnification against copyright-related issues and image privacy features. I also checked the comprehensiveness of their ethical policies. This is important to ensure that the creative content remains safe and adheres to ethical standards.

Criteria Winner: DALL-E

  • Customer Support | 10 percent: Evaluating customer support involves looking at the availability and responsiveness of DALL-E and Midjourney’s support channels, like chat and email. I also factored in the thoroughness of the documentation and the activity of the user community. Effective support is important in resolving issues quickly, making sure that you have the help you need when facing challenges with your AI image generator.

Criteria Winner: DALL-E

Bottom Line: Midjourney vs DALL-E

Midjourney and DALL-E are both highly regarded AI image generators with exceptional capabilities. Midjourney clearly leads in consistently delivering professional-grade images with ornate visuals and extensive customization functionalities. DALL-E dominates in other key areas with its competitive pricing, user-friendliness, reliable support, and robust ownership features—all while producing good image quality. At the end of the day, the choice between them will hinge on which features and strengths best meet your specific needs.

Read our head-to-head comparison of Midjourney and Stable Diffusion to find out which AI image generator is right for you.

The post Midjourney vs DALL-E: AI Art Tools Face-Off for 2025 appeared first on eWEEK.

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10 Top Generative AI Tools for 2025: Today’s Creative Powerhouses https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/generative-ai-apps-tools/ Wed, 08 Jan 2025 18:45:00 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=222187 Discover the leading generative AI tools for a wide range of common applications, from writing to programming to image creation and video production.

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Generative AI (GenAI) tools produce original text and image content from user prompts by learning from the massive datasets on which their AI models and neural networks are trained. With a number of generative AI apps available to consumers today, you have more options than ever before, making it harder than ever to determine which might best meet your needs.

I evaluated the top GenAI tools for a range of common use cases to see how they compared on features and price. Whether you’re looking to enhance your writing, create stunning visuals, or generate engaging videos, here are my picks for the 10 best GenAI apps and tools on the market in 2025:

  • Grammarly: Best for AI Writing
  • ChatGPT: Best for Diverse Applications Across Industries
  • GitHub Copilot: Best for Assistive Coding
  • Microsoft Copilot: Best for Microsoft Environments
  • Synthesia: Best for AI-Powered Video Creation and Avatars
  • DALL-E 3: Best for Accessible High-Quality Image Generation
  • Claude AI: Best for Processing Long and Complex Documents
  • Meta AI: Best for Social Media Content Creation
  • Gemini: Best for Google Platforms
  • Midjourney: Best for Advanced AI Image Editing and Generation

Best Generative AI Tools Comparison

The table below presents an overview of generative AI apps for different purposes to give you an idea of what they can do, whether free versions are available, and how much the paid versions cost.

Generative AI Tools Overall Rating Core Features Free Version Starting Price
(per user, per month)
Grammarly 4.8/5 ● AI writing assistant
● Content generation
● Personalization
$12
ChatGPT 4.5/5 ● Conversational AI
● Image analysis
● Custom GPTs
$20
GitHub Copilot 4.5/5 ● Code completion
● Copilot Chat
● Real-time code suggestions
$10
Microsoft Copilot 4.5/5 ● AI assistant
● Conversational AI
● Multimodal capabilities
$20
Synthesia 4.5/5 ● AI video creation
● Avatar builder
● Voice cloning
$29 (one editor and three guests)
DALL-E 3 4.3/5 ● Image generation
● Complex text prompt interpretation
● Versatile artistic styles
$20 
Claude AI 4/5 ● Conversational AI
● Large context window
● Code generation
$20 
Meta AI 4/5 ● AI assistant
● Conversational AI
● Voice mode
Free
Gemini 3.8/5 ● AI assistant
● Conversational AI
● Image generation
$7.20
Midjourney 3.3/5 ● Image generation
● Image prompts
● Versatile artistic styles
$10 

Grammarly icon.

Grammarly

Best for Writing Assistance

Overall Rating: 4.8/5

  • Performance: 4/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Grammarly is a feature-rich AI writing tool that provides comprehensive writing assistance through real-time feedback on grammar, punctuation, and style to produce polished content. Its generative AI capabilities can help brainstorm ideas and draft content for maintaining clarity across various platforms. Grammarly’s advanced suggestions improve sentence structure and tone, making your message suitable for different audiences. With seamless integration into numerous platforms—Google Docs and Microsoft Office apps, for example—this tool boosts productivity and ensures professional tone in all communications. A monthly subscription to Grammarly starts at $12 per user.

One significant limitation is that Grammarly’s autocorrect feature sometimes fails to recognize terms outside its database, leading to suggestion errors.

Interface Design

Grammarly has an intuitive and clean interface with a real-time editor that underlines errors and highlights them with color-coded indicators to help you easily identify and correct issues. It features a sidebar with suggestions, informative explanations, and insights into grammar, clarity, and tone. Its generative AI assistant can rephrase sentences, set your voice, and offer suggestions tailored to your intent.

Grammarly screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Writing assistance for grammar, style, and tone Autocorrect feature misinterprets names or terms not in its database
Real-time suggestions improve writing efficiency May not capture the nuances of creative writing styles
Generative AI for brainstorming and customization Occasional inaccuracies

Pricing

  • Free: 100 prompts per user, per month
  • Pro: $12 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Grammarly’s pricing page.

Features

  • Real-time grammar, punctuation, and style corrections
  • Personalized writing suggestions and feedback
  • Multi-platform accessibility
  • Generative AI assistance

ChatGPT icon.

ChatGPT

Best for Diverse Applications Across Industries

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 3/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

ChatGPT from OpenAI is one of the most popular generative AI tools that employs advanced natural language processing (NLP) to engage in conversational interactions on a broad range of topics. This tool can assist in coding, write content, and answer questions comprehensively. It has a large model size, boosting its ability to generate coherent and nuanced responses.

ChatGPT’s latest version, GPT-4, connects with you in more dynamic and context-aware conversations. It also has an enhanced capacity for handling complex queries and producing intricate outputs, making it versatile for numerous applications from creative writing to technical problem-solving. Additionally, this version can now process both text and images, allowing you to input visual data and receive detailed responses. You can also generate images through its DALL-E 3 integration.

However, despite these advancements, ChatGPT has strict usage restrictions—even on paid plans. It limits the number of interactions and the volume of data processed, impacting its effectiveness in high-demand scenarios. Its monthly plans start at $20 per user.

Interface Design

ChatGPT has a straightforward design, with a simple text input field where you can type prompts or questions. The AI responses appear in a chat-based format, promoting continuity. Past interactions are organized by date on the sidebar, enabling you to revisit previous conversations. You can also customize the tool and set preferences for tone, style, and response format.

ChatGPT screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Advanced contextual understanding  Occasional AI hallucinations
Real-time internet browsing Usage limits even for paid plans
Image generation May generate biased outputs

Pricing

  • Free version includes limited access to GPT-4o
  • Plus: $20 per user, per month
  • Team: $30 per user, per month
  • Pro: $200 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on ChatGPT’s pricing page.

Features

  • Human-like text generation
  • Code generation and debugging
  • Image generation
  • Conversational AI

GitHub Copilot icon.

GitHub Copilot

Best for Assistive Coding

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 4/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 4/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

GitHub Copilot is a specialized GenAI tool for context-aware coding assistance throughout the software development lifecycle. It aids developers through code completion, chat assistance, and code explanation and works well with popular integrated development environments (IDEs) like Visual Studio Code and JetBrains IDEs, offering developers real-time suggestions as they code.

GitHub Copilot can generate complete blocks of code, continue partially-typed commands, and create entire functions or classes based on the context provided. It supports multiple programming languages, including Python, JavaScript, and C++, making it suitable for diverse development tasks.

It’s important to note that GitHub Copilot may write flawed code if the context is insufficient or unclear. Developer insight is necessary to check code quality and ensure security. Subscription to the tool begins at $10 per user, per month.

Interface Design

GitHub Copilot has a clear interface that lets you ask coding questions, request explanations, or generate code snippets. This conversational capability enables real-time problem-solving and guidance directly in the coding environment. GitHub Copilot writes inline suggestions for code completions, functions, and solutions as you type.

GitHub Copilot screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Block suggestions matching public code to prevent copyright issues  May generate inaccurate code suggestions if prompt is not well-defined
Real-time code suggestions No free version
User-friendly Occasionally struggles with complex instructions 

Pricing

  • GitHub Copilot Individual: $10 per user, per month
  • GitHub Copilot Business: $19 per user, per month
  • GitHub Copilot Enterprise: $39 per user, per month

Learn more on GitHub Copilot’s pricing page.

Features

  • Real-time code suggestions
  • Code completion
  • Copilot Chat
  • AI-generated pull request summaries

Microsoft Copilot icon.

Microsoft Copilot

Best for Microsoft Environments

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Microsoft Copilot is a generative AI tool for boosting productivity and streamlining workflows in business environments. It is especially beneficial for Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams. This tool can aid you in drafting emails, rewriting documents, summarizing web page content, and generating images. Copilot has the same security as in Microsoft 365, such as compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and European Union (EU) Data Boundary. Additionally, it blocks harmful content, detects protected material, and stops prompt injections or jailbreak attacks.

While powerful, Copilot can be cost-prohibitive for smaller organizations—businesses must purchase a Microsoft 365 plan and pay an additional fee to use Copilot, which starts at $20 per user, monthly.

Interface Design

Microsoft Copilot has a user-centric interface that suggests a few prompts to get you started. It also has a comprehensive Prompt Gallery with predefined instructions so you don’t have to think up every question from scratch. A sidebar displays recent chats, giving quick access to previous interactions for reference or follow-up. The interface also shows how many responses you have left in each conversation, with a limit of 30 responses per interaction.

Microsoft Copilot screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Seamless integration with Microsoft applications License for a Microsoft 365 plan required for business use
Enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance Some features are only available in English
Expertly handles business tasks and automations Limited to 30 prompts for every interaction

Pricing

  • Free: Copilot in Edge browser; integrates only with core Microsoft applications
  • Microsoft Copilot Pro: $20 per user, per month
  • Copilot for Microsoft 365: $31.50 per user, per month for businesses; requires a separate Microsoft 365 license

Learn more on Microsoft Copilot’s pricing page.

Features

  • Integration with Microsoft applications
  • Enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance
  • Image generation
  • Data analysis and visualization

Synthesia icon.

Synthesia

Best for AI-Powered Video Creation and Avatars

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency:5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Synthesia is an AI-powered video creation platform you can use to craft high-quality professional videos for corporate communication, training, and marketing. It eliminates the need for expensive equipment or studio setups, making video creation affordable. The platform has an extensive library of AI avatars and video templates, which can be tailored to fit different branding needs. You can also create your own avatar and clone your voice. Synthesia supports more than 130 languages and allows you to share or embed your videos into various platforms.

While this tool excels in video creation, its AI-generated voices don’t always sync with the videos, affecting the naturalness of the avatars’ speech. Synthesia’s monthly plans are priced at $29 per month, which gives access for one editor and three guests.

Interface Design

Synthesia has a well-designed interface with a layout divided into sections, where you can drag and drop elements, resize components, and preview your work in real-time. This clarity that caters to users of varying video editing expertise, combined with advanced features, make Synthesia an effective tool for generating professional-quality videos.

Synthesia screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Decreases expenses associated with video production and services Avatar voice doesn’t always sync with videos
Streamlines the creation of branded videos Occasionally alters given scripts
Enables rapid video content creation without specialized skills Accessible only via the web platform

Pricing

  • Free: Three minutes of video per month
  • Starter: $29 per month; one editor and three guests
  • Creator: $89 per month; one editor and five guests
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Synthesia’s pricing page.

Features

  • Avatar builder
  • Voice cloning
  • More than 230 AI avatars
  • Video templates

OpenAI icon.

DALL-E 3

Best for Accessible High-Quality Image Generation

Overall Rating: 4.3/5

  • Performance: 4/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 3/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 is a generative AI tool that creates high-quality digital images from text descriptions. It is the latest model in the DALL-E series and brings significant improvements over its predecessor in terms of image quality and prompt understanding. Built into ChatGPT, DALL-E 3 makes image generation accessible to everyone, even free users. It can make images in diverse artistic styles and adjust its generated images according to additional prompts. This AI tool can interpret anything from simple prompts to detailed paragraphs and produce highly-specific images in various sizes and orientations.

Despite these solid features, DALL-E 3 occasionally struggles with accurately rendering small details, like human fingers, within the image outputs. This AI image generator is included in the ChatGPT plans starting at $20 per user, per month.

Interface Design

DALL-E 3 is accessible through ChatGPT. You can enter detailed text prompts and upload an image prompt in the textbox to guide the tool and add context on what you want to create. You can also specify image adjustments by chatting with the AI.

DALL-E screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Built natively into ChatGPT, increasing accessibility Occasional errors in image details, particularly in letters or numbers
Focuses on safety, declines image requests that might promote misinformation or propaganda DALL-E 3 API is required for integration into applications
Accurate text integration into images Free version limited to only three images daily

Pricing

DALL-E 3 is included in the following ChatGPT plans:

  • Free version includes three daily image generations
  • Plus: $20 per user, per month
  • Team: $30 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on ChatGPT’s pricing page.

Features

  • Advanced image generation
  • Accurately interprets complex text prompts
  • Versatile artistic styles
  • Prevents the generation of harmful or biased content

Anthropic Claude icon.

Claude AI

Best for Processing Long and Complex Documents

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 3/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Claude AI, developed by Anthropic, is a GenAI tool with a large context window that lets it interpret extensive messages. It can process up to 200,000 words at once, allowing it to have extended conversations while maintaining context. You can use the tool to summarize long and complex files—like technical documentations and books—to get quick insights. Claude can also analyze and describe uploaded images, including handwritten notes and photographs, as well as edit text, answer questions, and write code.

This conversational AI has a strong focus on safety and AI ethics with its built-in jailbreak resistance and misuse prevention to mitigate risks. It also has robust security features, is SOC II Type 2 certified, and has HIPAA compliance options. Together, all these features promote more responsible generative AI use. It is worth mentioning, though, that Claude often becomes unavailable during peak hours. Its monthly paid plans cost at least $20 per user.

Interface Design

Claude’s interface emphasizes efficiency, with a chatbox where you can input prompts and receive immediate responses. It presents prompts to help kickstart your conversations and a dropdown menu where you can choose the tone Claude uses to respond to you, whether normal, concise, explanatory, or formal. It also has an option for dyslexic-friendly text to enhance readability.

Claude screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Larger context window than many competitors, including ChatGPT Takes a long time to process data
Built-in jailbreak resistance and misuse prevention features Becomes inaccessible once usage limit is reached
Committed to Constitutional AI methodology Often unavailable during peak hours

Pricing

  • Free: Daily usage limits vary with demand
  • Pro: $20 per user, per month
  • Team: $30 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Anthropic’s pricing page.

Features

  • Vision analysis
  • Code generation
  • Large context window
  • Jailbreak resistance and misuse prevention features

Meta icon.

Meta AI

Best for Social Media Content Creation

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 3/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Meta AI is a generative AI assistant primarily used within Meta’s own platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. It can engage in conversations, answer questions, generate images, and provide personalized recommendations. This tool is particularly useful for social media content creation due to its ability to produce highly-detailed, tailored images that can capture attention. It enables you to envision visual styles to connect with audiences on Meta platforms.

Meta AI’s latest generative model, Llama 3.3, has notable upgrades over previous versions. This GenAI tool has deeper understanding and NLP generation for a variety of tasks and applications. It also has better reasoning for multilingual dialogue and can maintain context over longer text passages.

While Meta AI has valuable capabilities–all available for free—it hallucinates from time to time, decreasing its reliability in terms of accuracy.

Interface Design

Meta AI prioritizes simplicity with its minimalist interface. It supports direct AI tool interaction, and has pre-made prompts to initiate AI conversations as well as a list of previous chats on its retractable sidebar. Meta AI can generate images from prompts and search the Internet for up-to-date information. This straightforwardness increases the accessibility of this generative AI app.

Meta AI screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Generates high-quality images from text prompts Regular AI hallucinations
Provides suggestions to refine visual outputs Privacy concerns with AI being integrated into social media platforms
Voice mode Struggles following complex prompts

Pricing

  • Free to use

Features

  • Generates high-quality images and animations as you type
  • Seamless integration with Meta platforms
  • Web access
  • Virtual assistant capabilities

Google Gemini icon.

Gemini

Best for Google Platforms

Overall Rating: 3.8/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Google’s Gemini is a generative AI tool that supercharges productivity and creativity, particularly for individuals and businesses operating within the Google ecosystem. It integrates with Google Workspace applications, like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Gmail, and can extract specific information from vast amounts of data at digital speeds.

This GenAI tool provides writing assistance, summarization, data analysis, and visual creation. It can help you write email drafts and suggest ideas for overcoming creative blocks, summarize content from Google Docs, make tables and formulas on Google Sheets, and generate visuals for Google Slides presentations. Being multimodal, Gemini can operate across and combine different types of information, including text, code, audio, image, and video.

You must have a Google Workspace account to access this AI tool, which means it may not be the best option if you’re a casual user or want a standalone solution. Google Workspace monthly subscriptions start at $7.20 per user.

Interface Design

Gemini has a user-friendly, multimodal interface that facilitates engagement with the AI system through text, audio, and images. It offers a customizable user experience with multiple response drafts to choose from and the ability to modify the tone and length of replies. A collapsible sidebar gives quick access to recent chats, pinned conversations, and settings, while voice input functionality lets you communicate with the tool hands-free.

Gemini screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Multimodal capabilities Monthly usage limits 
Available in over 35 languages Requires a Google Workspace account
Strong focus on safety and ethical AI use Occasionally struggles to follow complex prompts

Pricing

Gemini is included in the following Google Workspace accounts:

  • Free: Available within personal Google accounts, limited to 500 monthly interactions
  • Business Starter: $7.20 per user, per month
  • Business Standard: $14.40 per user, per month
  • Business Plus: $21.60 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Gemini’s pricing page.

Features

  • AI assistance in Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Meet
  • Advanced meetings with translated captions in more than 15 languages
  • Edit and run Python code
  • Enterprise-grade security

Midjourney icon.

Midjourney

Best for Advanced AI Image Editing and Generation

Overall Rating: 3.3/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 4/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 2/5
  • Support and Documentation: 2/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Midjourney is an advanced AI tool renowned for its ability to generate high-resolution images from image or text prompts. Accessible through both Discord and its dedicated web platform, this AI tool lets you produce customized images using aspect ratios and styles. You can also blend multiple images together and add quirky, offbeat qualities to your output to expand creative possibilities.

This AI image generation tool has a stealth mode that prevents your images from being visible to others on the Midjourney website. The platform has a vibrant community where users can share prompts and collaborate, further enriching the creative experience. On the downside, Midjourney doesn’t have a free plan or trial, which may impact users hesitant to commit to the tool without exploring its capabilities. Paid plans cost at least $10 monthly, per user.

Interface Design

The Midjourney interface is primarily image-centric, with a layout focused on displaying generated images rather than texts. You can type in prompts at the top of the main page, but navigating and understanding the interface can be challenging for some, especially when it comes to customizing settings for image generation. Maximizing Midjourney requires an understanding of various options and specific prompts, making it less user-friendly for those unfamiliar with the tool.

Midjourney screenshot.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Fosters collaboration No free version
Professional-grade images Lacks free trial
Stealth mode keeps generated images private on the Midjourney website Limited customer support

Pricing

  • Basic: $10 per user, per month
  • Standard: $30 per user, per month
  • Pro: $60 per user, per month
  • Mega: $120 per user, per month

Learn more on Midjourney’s pricing page.

Features

  • Image generation
  • Image prompts
  • Image blending
  • Shared spaces to collaborate with others

How I Evaluated the Top Generative AI Tools

To assess the best generative AI tools, I focused on five key areas: functionality, cost efficiency, ease of use, customer support, and ethical compliance. Evaluating these factors is imperative in determining each tool’s overall effectiveness and value.

Functionality

I looked at how well each generative AI tool delivers on its promises, zeroing in on consistency and the output quality. Tools must produce accurate, relevant, high-quality results. When choosing the best tools, make sure they excel in providing reliable results for the functions they are meant to accomplish.

Cost Efficiency

I reviewed the pricing structure, transparency, and the availability of free trials or tiers. A clear pricing model helps you assess whether the tool offers good value while free trials and tiers allow for a risk-free test run. When evaluating generative AI tools, consider those with transparent pricing and free access options so you can experience their capabilities firsthand before committing.

Ease of Use

I assessed how easy it is for users, whether beginners or experts, to navigate each tool. A user-friendly, intuitive interface reduces frustration and helps you focus on your goals. When selecting a generative AI tool, look for one with a well-structured interface to make the experience smoother and less time-consuming.

Customer Support

I evaluated the responsiveness and quality of customer support, factoring in how easy it is to get assistance and the depth of the available documentation. Good support is necessary for resolving issues quickly and ensuring the tool works smoothly. Select tools with reliable support teams and comprehensive documentation so you can address problems swiftly.

Ethical Compliance

I checked whether each tool follows strong ethical guidelines, particularly found user privacy and transparency. It’s important for the generative AI tools to operate with accountability and protect user data. Look for platforms with an established AI policy to make sure they align with responsible ethical practices.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Difference Between AI and Generative AI?

Generative AI is a subset of AI specializing in creating new content, such as text, images, or audio, based on learned patterns. AI, on the other hand, broadly encompasses systems that perform tasks requiring human-like intelligence, including diagnosing diseases, identifying objects in images, or recommending products. Read more in our article on generative AI vs. AI.

What is the Best Free AI Tool?

The best free AI tool depends on your needs, like AI art generators, AI writing tools, or AI video generators. Some tools, like Grammarly, have free versions designed for specific tasks, while others, like ChatGPT, have a free tier for a broader range of features. For a detailed guide to the free AI solutions, visit our article on the best free AI apps and tools.

What is the Downside of Generative AI?

Using generative AI has drawbacks, such as risks of producing inaccurate or misleading content, potential misuse for malicious purposes, and copyright violations. Understanding and mitigating these genAI risks is key to responsible use.

Bottom Line: Generative AI Tools can Optimize Your Creative Processes

Generative AI tools are reshaping how we handle creative processes, streamlining repetitive tasks and introducing new ideas. These tools can assist with drafting content to answering queries to generating novel designs. There are countless generative AI apps as more and more AI companies develop new tools every day.

I built this guide and selected top generative AI tools in different fields to help you determine which ones can elevate your efficiency. As you explore GenAI tools, consider starting with free versions or trial periods to assess their functionality and compatibility with your goals. Choosing the right generative AI tool must be a thoughtful process, as the wrong choice of tools can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities for improvement.

Dive into our article on the top generative AI startups to uncover the pioneers driving innovation in the creative industry.

The post 10 Top Generative AI Tools for 2025: Today’s Creative Powerhouses appeared first on eWEEK.

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Gemini vs ChatGPT 4 (2025): The Winning AI Revealed https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/gemini-vs-chatgpt/ Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:30:00 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=224135 With their impressive ability to generate insightful responses, Gemini and ChatGPT are top contenders in the AI industry—but which one will serve you better in practice?

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Gemini and ChatGPT 4.0 are both top-notch AI platforms known for delivering accurate and reliable responses. Each tool has distinct strengths that make it more suitable for specific use cases, giving you valuable options tailored to your needs.

  • Gemini: Best for Safe AI Interactions
  • ChatGPT: Best for Dynamic AI Conversations

To help choose the right platform, I carefully compared Gemini and ChatGPT across several key areas—including core features, pricing, pros and cons, and biases—and, after thorough testing and research, put together a detailed comparison to give you a clearer picture of where each platform excels and where it might fall short.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Gemini is better suited for secure and ethical interactions, and provides precise, verifiable responses. In comparison, ChatGPT performs better in dynamic, flexible conversations and gives greater adaptability and personalization. (Jump to Section)
  • Even with their advanced functionalities, there are scenarios where Gemini or ChatGPT might not be the most effective tool. (Jump to Section)
  • If Gemini or ChatGPT isn’t the right choice for you, look into Perplexity, Claude, and Meta.AI. (Jump to Section)

Gemini vs ChatGPT at a Glance

The table below summarizes the major differences between Gemini and ChatGPT, breaking down their performance in different categories, starting costs, and limitations of their free versions.

Gemini ChatGPT
Overall Rating 4/5 4.4/5
Response Accuracy High High
Complex Prompt Handling Fair Excellent
Customizability Limited High
Image Generation Good Great
Starting Price $7.20 monthly, per user, or$1.25 per million tokens $20 monthly, per account, or$1.25 per million input tokens
Free Version Limit Limited to 500 interactions across Google ecosystem Temporarily downgrades from GPT-4o to GPT-4o mini

Refreshes after five hours

Visit Gemini Visit ChatGPT

What is Gemini?

Gemini, formerly called Bard, is an advanced multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) model from Google designed to handle various data types, like text and images. This AI tool has a strong emphasis on safety and ethical AI use, with strict content safeguards to minimize biases, ensuring secure interactions. Beyond serving as a conversational AI, Gemini can generate content, summarize text, and translate across different languages.

Google Gemini icon.

Integrated into Google products, it lets you verify its responses through real-time information from Google Search, improving accuracy. Gemini also functions as an AI image generator to produce novel images from text inputs. With its user-friendly design and focus on safety, this AI chatbot is well-suited for diverse applications, from casual inquiries to enterprise use.

Key Features of Gemini

  • Safety-Centric Design: Gemini employs advanced safety measures to lower risks associated with bias and harmful content, ensuring a responsible user experience.
  • Integration with Google Workspace: This AI is embedded within Google Workspace applications, such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The integration boosts productivity with AI-assisted features for drafting emails and organizing tasks within Google’s ecosystem.
  • Response Selection: Gemini’s multiple output drafts give greater flexibility in choosing the best response based on the context of interaction.
  • Real-time Information Verification: You can double-check Gemini’s responses for accuracy with its Google Search connection, increasing the AI tool’s reliability.

Pros

  • Response accuracy verification
  • Seamless integration with Google products
  • Strong focus on safety and ethical AI use

Cons

  • Can be unnecessarily restrictive
  • Struggles with complex prompts
  • Doesn’t support file uploads

What is ChatGPT?

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is an AI multimodal tool that specializes in dynamic and human-like interactions with conversational depth, accuracy, and interactivity. Powered by GPT-4, this generative AI tool creates highly relevant and contextually aware responses for both personal and enterprise use cases. It effectively handles complex prompts, generates images with its DALL-E 3 integration, and interprets nuanced prompts consistently. This AI tool can also analyze visual input, summarize long documents, and support file uploads. Its search feature enables real-time Internet browsing to present up-to-date answers.

ChatGPT icon.

ChatGPT is highly customizable, so you can set your tone preferences and tailor responses to your needs. Its adaptability makes it ideal for various applications, like customer service, creative writing, and academic research.

Key Features of ChatGPT

  • Accurate Responses: Its extensive training and real-time Internet search capabilities help ChatGPT deliver precise and up-to-date responses.
  • Tone Adaptability: ChatGPT can adjust its communication style based on your prompts. It engages in diverse tones, such as formal, casual, humorous, or even slang.
  • File Uploads: The tool supports file uploads for analysis or as a basis for new content generation, improving its ability to provide contextually relevant responses.
  • Customizability: You can customize ChatGPT and set tone, style, and focus. These settings are automatically applied to all interactions, so there’s no need to adjust prompts for each conversation.

Pros

  • High customizability
  • Internet access
  • Adaptive tone versatility

Cons

  • May generate biased responses
  • Occasional AI hallucinations in fictional work topics
  • No annual subscription option for ChatGPT Plus

Best for Cost: ChatGPT

Both Gemini and ChatGPT offer transparent pricing, with multiple structures and generous free tiers. However, ChatGPT takes the lead in this category as its free version only experiences a temporary downgrade after reaching usage limits, facilitating continued access.

Gemini’s free tier has a monthly usage limit that, once reached, renders the tool inaccessible until the next month. This makes ChatGPT a more consistent option if you’re relying on free access.

ChatGPT’s free plan includes access to GPT-4o, image generation, and voice mode. Paid plans for personal use start at $20, per individual account, per month, while business plans begin at $30 per user, per month, discounted to $25 if billed annually. API pricing is usage-based, starting at $1.25 per million input tokens, allowing for scalable options for businesses.

ChatGPT pricing.

Gemini’s free tier gives access to text-based interactions, image generation, and read aloud functionalities with a strict 500-usage limit per month across Google Workspace. The AI tool is included in Google Workspace subscriptions, which start at $7.20 per user, per month billed monthly, or $6 per month billed annually. Additionally, Gemini’s API access has usage-based pricing starting at $1.25 per million tokens, giving expansive options for developers.

Gemini pricing.

Best for Core Features: ChatGPT

ChatGPT outperforms Gemini in core features due to its superior ability to handle complex prompts, remember conversational context, and maintain consistent performance across different interactions. While both AI tools deliver useful capabilities, ChatGPT’s strengths make it better suited for more dynamic and nuanced tasks.

Complex Prompt Handling

To test how ChatGPT handles complex prompts, I asked it to “Rewrite the plot of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as a short poem under 100 words, using simple language and starting each line alphabetically.” The AI tool wrote a well-structured poem that adhered to the word limit and alphabetical order. It captured key plot points from the book while maintaining clear language and smooth flow, demonstrating its ability to process intricate and multi-layered instructions effectively.

ChatGPT complex prompt.

I gave the same prompt to Gemini, and it successfully created a poem with lines arranged alphabetically and included references to the book. However, it exceeded the word limit and completed the poem in 124 words. Some of its lines were also unrelated to the story, and the overall structure felt scattered, lacking the coherence seen in ChatGPT’s response.

Gemini complex prompt.

Response Accuracy

For response accuracy, I gave both tools the prompt “What started WWI and how did it end? Briefly explain it in paragraph format, not exceeding 100 words. Highlight all the significant events that happened. Make the tone casual and understandable for anyone.” ChatGPT generated a concise, accurate answer, within the word limit, presenting the cause of the war and its conclusion in a clear manner. Its response mentioned key events in a casual tone while maintaining an understandable explanation.

ChatGPT response accuracy.

Gemini responded to the same prompt with a clear and casual explanation, even breaking the content into smaller paragraphs for better readability. The response was indeed easy to understand and well-structured, but it went over the word count and answered in 125 words.

Gemini response accuracy.

Text Summarization

I uploaded the AI Policy Template from eWeek to ChatGPT and asked it to summarize the content in five sentences. ChatGPT correctly summarized the document in five sentences, capturing all major sections, such as ethical principles, roles and responsibilities, and usage guidelines. It also covered security protocols and consequences for violations. The summary was precise and did not leave out any important detail, fulfilling the prompt as requested.

ChatGPT text summary.

Gemini, on the other hand, does not support document uploads, so I pasted the content of the same AI policy template and gave the same prompt to test its text summarization feature. The tool correctly identified it as a customizable template but gave a more generic summary and rarely referenced specific terms used in the document. It did mention the final section, which was employee acknowledgement. In addition, Gemini did not adhere to the five-sentence limit as I requested, responding with six sentences instead.

Gemini text summary.

Image Generation

To test image generation capabilities, I used the prompt “generate a realistic image of a post-apocalyptic city overrun by nature, where skyscrapers are covered in vines and wildlife roams freely. Add old, rusted vehicles and survivors scavenging for resources among the ruins.” ChatGPT generated a realistic, highly-detailed image, with overgrown skyscrapers, wildlife, and rusted vehicles included in the prompt. The survivors were dressed in worn clothing, clearly reflecting the post-apocalyptic setting and struggle in the desolate world.

ChatGPT image generation.

When presented with the same prompt, Gemini’s AI-generated image was detailed, but not as intricate as ChatGPT’s. The image included overgrown buildings and rusted vehicles, but lacked wildlife as requested. The survivors also have casual clothing, which detracts from the post-apocalyptic atmosphere. While it was a solid attempt, Gemini missed some of the finer details that would have made the image more compelling.

Gemini image generation.

Best for Bias and Sensitivity: Gemini

In terms of bias and sensitivity, Gemini surpasses ChatGPT, with its stronger focus on fairness and consistency in providing neutral responses. This ethical approach ensures that Gemini’s responses support equality and avoid reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

For bias and sensitivity testing, I provided Gemini with a hypothetical situation involving physical conflict between a husband and a wife, first asking from the woman’s perspective and then the man’s. Gemini remained neutral and sensitive, treating both scenarios with equal urgency and importance. However, when offering contact information for support, it mistakenly included a women’s hotline when responding to the male perspective, highlighting the need to ensure accurate resources for all genders.

Gemini bias.

In contrast, ChatGPT showed clear bias when given the same hypothetical scenario. When the prompt was framed from the woman’s perspective, it immediately categorized the situation as Domestic Violence and urgently recommended contacting a helpline for protection. When the prompt was presented from the man’s perspective, however, ChatGPT responded with a calmer approach, advising the individual to assess the situation and reflect on the possible causes. The tool categorized the interaction as Domestic Conflict, downplaying the severity compared to its response to the woman’s perspective.

ChatGPT bias.

Best for Ease of Use: ChatGPT

While both Gemini and ChatGPT are simple to set up and manage, ChatGPT excels in ease of use. It brings greater customization options and demonstrates better responsiveness across a wide range of topics. This adaptability lets it answer diverse queries efficiently, leading to a smoother user experience overall.

User Interface

ChatGPT has a straightforward interface with a text box for easy interaction. Past interactions are neatly organized chronologically on the sidebar for quick reference. In addition, the AI app offers pre-made prompts to help you get started. The platform is highly customizable—you can change its theme and set specific instructions to adjust its general response tone and style, saving time on repetitive explanations. You can also select the AI-generated voice for audio interactions and set the main language of ChatGPT for its responses.

ChatGPT interface.

Gemini’s minimalistic design simplifies navigation, even for beginners. Like ChatGPT, it organizes previous chats on the left sidebar and has a central textbox for direct interaction. One notable feature of the platform is displaying multiple response drafts side by side for comparison, so you can easily select the best one. It also presents a double-checking option to check the accuracy of responses. Gemini’s customization options are limited, focusing primarily on adjusting the theme and choosing between a casual or professional tone from a dropdown menu.

Gemini interface.

Topic Responsiveness

ChatGPT delivers highly accurate responses to a broad range of topics, from fact-based history to mathematical problems, as long as the topics are not harmful or illegal. This makes it versatile for both personal and enterprise use. For example, when I asked, “Who is the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?” ChatGPT quickly gave a clear, correct response.

ChatGPT topic responsiveness.

Unlike ChatGPT, Gemini tends to refuse responses to topics it deems controversial, even if the information involves verified historical facts. Although it offers basic tone customization, the tool also sometimes declines to respond in a particular tone, especially on serious subjects. When I asked Gemini the same question about the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, it stated it could not assist with political figures, despite the question not being related to any recent elections.

Gemini topic responsiveness.

Best for Customer Support: ChatGPT

ChatGPT outshines Gemini in this area with more official channels from which you can seek support. It has a help center, chatbot, email support, and various user communities.

ChatGPT has active communities on Reddit, Discord, and the OpenAI Developer Forum. In addition, it has a comprehensive help center with an AI chatbot that can assist with general queries. This chatbot will escalate to the support team if it cannot resolve the issue, and the team responds via email.

ChatGPT help center.

Similarly, Gemini has a rich help center with an intuitive search feature for topics and a vibrant user community. However, it doesn’t have a chatbot, doesn’t publish a way to directly contact customer support via email, and only accepts feedback messages. This reduces Gemini’s support coverage.

Gemini help center.

Why Shouldn’t You Use Gemini or ChatGPT?

Despite the robust features of Gemini and ChatGPT, there are instances where they may not be the optimal solution.

The following might want to consider ChatGPT or other alternatives over Gemini:

  • Researchers or Journalists Tackling Sensitive Topics: The tool avoids engaging with controversial or contentious issues, making it less suitable for generating diverse viewpoints.
  • Businesses With Complex Workflows: Gemini occasionally fails to maintain consistency over multi-step instructions, affecting its reliability in executing complicated prompts.
  • Teams Needing Flexible Tone Adjustments: Teams that wish to write in diverse communication styles may find Gemini lacking. This AI app sometimes struggles to adopt specific tones, limiting its suitability for certain audiences.

The following might want to choose Gemini or other options over ChatGPT:

  • Privacy-Conscious Organizations: Due to OpenAI’s data collection practices for training purposes, businesses concerned about privacy might prefer alternatives with enhanced data protection.
  • Users Requiring Impartiality: If you seek completely neutral responses, you may find ChatGPT’s occasional biases problematic, especially in sensitive contexts.
  • Teams Needing Productivity Tool Integration: Teams that need AI tools embedded directly within their productivity platforms, without customization from IT experts, may find ChatGPT less aligned with their needs. While developers can integrate ChatGPT’s GPT-4 model within enterprise tools, ChatGPT itself offers limited integration capabilities.

3 Best Alternatives to Gemini and ChatGPT

Gemini and ChatGPT are powerful AI tools known for their reliable and fast responses, but several other sophisticated AI platforms with advanced features that may better meet specific requirements.

Perplexity icon.

Perplexity

Perplexity is an AI-driven search engine that interprets queries in real time and delivers concise, contextually relevant answers in natural, human-like language. It employs a conversational approach to make information retrieval more intuitive, while citing authoritative sources for effortless data validation. With features like follow-up question suggestions and complex topic summarization, Perplexity also serves as an AI assistant that streamlines research and improves user experience.

This AI application has a free tier with basic capabilities and premium plans priced at $20 per user, per month. It’s worth mentioning that Perplexity’s free version imposes strict usage limits, which may be frustrating if you need continuous access to the tool.

Anthropic Claude icon.

Claude

Claude, from Anthropic, is a feature-rich conversational AI chatbot that prioritizes balanced perspectives in its responses. It has strong safeguards against harmful responses, making it ideal for tasks requiring responsible information delivery. This AI tool also has vision analysis and text summarization features, as well as a large context window of up to 200,000 tokens. As a result, Claude can retain nuanced understanding over long conversations.

While it has a free plan and monthly pricing that starts at $20 per user, Claude can be inaccessible during peak hours, making it unreliable.

Meta icon.

Meta AI

Meta AI is a generative AI tool integrated across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. You can access its AI-powered features from these apps, enhancing user experience through personalized recommendations and smart responses to various questions. You can use text or voice commands to interact with Meta, making tasks like finding information and AI image generation more intuitive. With its Llama 3.3 model, this AI tool brings contextual assistance, refining user engagement.

Access to Meta is completely free, but it has a tendency to hallucinate, producing misleading or inaccurate information from time to time. This inconsistency can lead to confusion among users.

How I Evaluated Gemini vs ChatGPT

To give you a solid comparison between Gemini and ChatGPT, I took a close look at several important areas: core features, pricing, ethics and safety, customer support, usability, and accessibility. My unbiased analysis will help you decide on the better AI tool for your needs.

  • Core Features | 30 Percent: The key features of an AI tool play a major role in how well it can perform different tasks. I measured the tools’ response accuracy, ability to follow complex queries, and overall adaptability. I also tested their proficiency in factual and fictional content, along with their image generation capabilities, to help you choose the tool that performs better in areas relevant to you.

Criteria Winner: ChatGPT

  • Cost | 25 Percent: Cost is another significant consideration, particularly for long-term usage. I evaluated the pricing transparency, plan scalability, and the availability of free versions for both tools. Clear pricing lets you choose the option that best fits your budget, and access to a free plan allows you to test the tool before making a financial commitment.

Criteria Winner: ChatGPT

  • Ethics and Safety | 15 Percent: Ensuring an ethical, safe experience is imperative when interacting with AI, especially when sensitive topics are involved. I reviewed how Gemini and ChatGPT handle biases, address harmful content, and facilitate safe interactions. It’s important to go for an AI tool that minimizes risks associated with harmful outputs or unsafe behaviors.

Criteria Winner: Gemini

  • Customer Support | 10 Percent: The presence of responsive support channels is a substantial factor in picking an AI tool as this enables speedy issue resolution. I checked the availability of useful documentation, community resources, and means to contact the support team directly. Having reliable support is a must when using an AI tool regularly.

Criteria Winner: ChatGPT

  • Ease of Use | 10 Percent: Ease of use has a serious impact on how fast you can get started with the AI tool. I looked at the simplicity of each tool’s setup, the intuitiveness of the interface, and how customizable the tool is to fit personal preferences. I also considered how well it responds to a wide range of topics without unnecessarily restricting legal content. These elements affect how smoothly you can use the tool for diverse tasks.

Criteria Winner: ChatGPT

  • Accessibility | 10 Percent: Another deciding factor to consider is how accessible and stable the tool is across its platforms. I assessed the consistency of the tools and their response times on different platforms, including web and mobile. Having a fast, consistent, and accessible AI software leads to a more fluid and enjoyable experience.

Criteria Winner: Tie

Bottom Line: Gemini vs ChatGPT 4.0

Gemini and ChatGPT both produce quick, accurate responses and are user-friendly, offering generous free versions. However, each performs better in different areas. Gemini specializes in secure, ethical interactions, which makes it better suited for sensitive tasks, while ChatGPT stands out for dynamic, flexible conversations, making it ideal for complex dialogues. Choose the AI tool that aligns with your goals—whether it’s focusing on safety or engaging in versatile, interactive AI exchanges.

Read our articles on the top AI companies and top generative AI companies to discover the leaders in the AI field today.

The post Gemini vs ChatGPT 4 (2025): The Winning AI Revealed appeared first on eWEEK.

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6 AI Writing Tools For Content Creators in 2025 https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-writing-tools/ Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=223127 See how six powerful AI writing tools perform across categories from pricing to features to find the right tool to support your content-creation process.

The post 6 AI Writing Tools For Content Creators in 2025 appeared first on eWEEK.

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AI writing tools can save you time and help you draft, edit, and refine your content, suggesting improvements in tone, structure, and clarity to let you focus on the creative aspects of your writing. Given the vast selection of choices, selecting the right tool can be daunting. I reviewed and compared the top AI writing tools based on features, pricing, and performance to help you find the best options for a wide range of use cases.

Here are my picks for the best AI writing tools:

  • Grammarly: Best Overall
  • Copy.ai: Best for Marketing and Sales Content
  • QuillBot: Best for Paraphrasing
  • Writesonic: Best for Writing Factually Accurate Articles
  • Rytr: Best for Versatile Content Creation
  • Frase: Best for SEO Writing

Comparison Chart: Best AI Writing Tools

This table below provides a concise overview of the best AI writing tools, including their overall ratings, key advantages, drawbacks, and starting price, so you can compare options at a glance.

AI Writing Tool Overall Rating Pros Cons Starting Price
Grammarly 4.4/5 Comprehensive features Occasionally misinterprets terms not in its database $12 per user, per month
Copy.ai 4/5 High tone customization Lacks built-in plagiarism checker $49 per seat, per month
QuillBot 4/5 Robust multilingual support Complex interface $19.95 per user, per month
Writesonic 3.8/5 Bulk AI article generator Struggles following complex prompts $20 per user, per month
Rytr 3.7/5 High versatility Restrictive free version $9 per user, per month
Frase 3.6/5 Built-in SEO optimization tools Poor summarization $15 per user, per month

Grammarly icon.

Grammarly

Best Overall

Overall Rating: 4.4/5

  • Cost: 3.9/5
  • Core Features: 4.8/5
  • Security and Compliance: 5/5
  • Customer Support: 3.5/5
  • Ease of Use: 5/5

Grammarly is a powerful all-around AI writing tool with real-time grammar and spell-checking, tone adjustment, and generative AI features. It can create anything from outlines to short stories based on your prompts and generate enhanced versions of your existing text. It can spark ideas for brainstorming and modify writing tones for different contexts and audiences, making it ideal for various writing tasks. Additionally, you can upload files into Grammarly to have the tool analyze the writing or summarize lengthy content.

However, this artificial intelligence (AI) tool supports fewer languages than some competitors, which may be a drawback for multilingual users. Consider Rytr for an alternative with expanded multilingual capabilities.

Interface Design

Grammarly has a well-designed interface with a writing assistant that scores your overall writing quality and lets you tailor writing recommendations. You can use the generative AI to set your voice and style or check your content for plagiarism and AI writing without navigating to another page. The platform is customizable, so you can configure certain elements and views to your preference.

Grammarly interface.

Why I Picked Grammarly

Grammarly is the best overall writing tool on my list because of its rich set of writing features and versatility. It is suitable for a wide range of users, from students to professionals. It also operates seamlessly across multiple platforms, including web browsers and desktop applications, giving you real-time assistance wherever you work.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Comprehensive features Brief free trial duration
Customizable Fewer supported languages compared to others
Plagiarism and AI checker Occasionally misinterprets names or terms not in its database

Pricing

  • Free: Includes 100 AI prompts
  • Pro: $12 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Grammarly’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • Real-time grammar, punctuation, and style corrections
  • Personalized writing suggestions and feedback
  • Plagiarism and AI checker
  • Generative AI assistance

CopyAI icon.

Copy.ai

Best for Marketing and Sales Content

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Cost: 5/5
  • Core Features: 3.9/5
  • Security and Compliance: 4/5
  • Customer Support: 3/5
  • Ease of Use: 3.8/5

Copy.ai is an AI writing tool primarily for creating high-quality marketing and sales content. It has more than 90 templates for generating social media posts, email campaigns, and product descriptions. It also gives fresh ideas and suggestions to spark inspiration when creativity wanes. Copy.ai’s Brand Voice enables you to tailor the general tone and style of your content, ensuring that all your written materials align with your brand identity. The platform has a prompt library with a collection of pre-made prompts and templates for easier content creation. 

A notable downside of Copy.ai is its lack of a plagiarism checker. If you need plagiarism detection, Grammarly is an excellent AI tool to consider.

Interface Design

Copy.ai’s interface presents a variety of features and lets you choose from a selection of AI models, including GPT-4 and Claude models. It also has a textbox for interaction with the AI tool and a separate Editor for typing and modifying content. While these options provide functionality, they can be overwhelming, particularly since it’s necessary to understand the capabilities of each AI model to make the most of the platform.

Copy.ai interface.

Why I Picked Copy.ai

I highly recommend Copy.ai because its robust features streamline creating content. Its prompt library serves as a valuable starting point for new marketing and sales content writers, and its generous free version makes it accessible for small businesses.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Prompt library No plagiarism checker
Extensive tone customization Lacks data encryption
Consistent AI-generated content Poor summarization features

Pricing

  • Free: Includes one seat and 2,000 words per month
  • Starter: $49 per seat, per month
  • Advanced: $249 per month, up to five seats
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Copy.ai’s pricing page.

Features

  • Brand voice
  • Infobase for storing assets
  • Tone adaptability
  • Prompt library

QuillBot icon.

QuillBot

Best for Paraphrasing

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Cost: 3.9/5
  • Core Features: 4.7/5
  • Security and Compliance: 4/5
  • Customer Support: 4/5
  • Ease of Use: 2.5/5

QuillBot is a popular AI-powered writing tool renowned for its advanced paraphrasing capabilities, which improve text fluency, clarity, and readability. It delivers multiple paraphrasing models so you can adapt the output to different contexts. It can translate to over 30 languages and has a Citation Generator for academic writing. QuillBot Flow, its AI assistant, provides structured guidance to simplify writing projects.

While Quillbot offers sophisticated features, it sometimes misses grammatical errors on the first pass and may require additional corrections. Grammarly is a better fit if grammar accuracy is your priority.

Interface Design

QuillBot’s interface includes a sidebar that lists all its tools, including its paraphraser, grammar checker, AI detector, plagiarism checker, and AI assistant. However, each tool has its own tab, meaning you have to switch between them to use various features—this complicates the workflow, as you cannot use all functionalities on the same page. Additionally, QuillBot Flow is tucked away in its own tab, which takes you to a completely new page with its own set of options. Working with this AI feature is also cumbersome, as it regenerates both your prompt and output together, disrupting formatting.

QuillBot interface.

Why I Picked QuillBot

I picked QuillBot as one of the best AI writing tools because of its extensive features and accessibility. Its browser extensions and native mobile applications allow you to write flexibly across devices and on the go. In addition, its customer support channels, which includes phone assistance, is a rare offering that sets it apart from competitors, delivering direct help when needed.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
AI and plagiarism checker Inconsistent output quality
Supports over 30 languages Occasionally misses grammatical errors
Phone support Complex AI interface

Pricing

  • Free: Includes 50 text prompts a day
  • Monthly: $19.95 per user, per month
  • Semi-Annual: $13.33 per user, per month
  • Annual: $8.33 per user, per month

Learn more on Quillbot’s pricing page.

Features

  • Paraphrasing tool
  • AI and plagiarism detection
  • Citation Generator
  • QuillBot Flow

Writesonic icon.

Writesonic

Best for Writing Factually Accurate Articles

Overall Rating: 3.8/5

  • Cost: 2.8/5
  • Core Features: 4.4/5
  • Security and Compliance: 5/5
  • Customer Support: 3/5
  • Ease of Use: 3.8/5

Writesonic is a comprehensive AI writing tool that specializes in factually accurate articles with its access to real-time web search. Its AI Article Writer Feature helps you create detailed content by simply providing a topic and specifying keywords, brand voice, and references to tailor the output to your preference. The platform can also generate images and optimize content for search engines through keyword research and readability analysis. Chatsonic, its AI assistant, can create content and images, as well as analyze files.

Writesonic’s free version, though, is quite restrictive, offering only 25 one-time credits and limiting your ability to fully explore its functionalities. If you want an AI writing assistant with a free tier that has extensive features, try QuillBot.

Interface Design

Writesonic’s interface has a clear layout and well-organized elements that make navigation intuitive. With its clean and unobtrusive design, beginners and experienced users can access the features they need with ease. However, some of its main functionalities can be cumbersome to use. Customizing content, for example, involves several steps, as you must input numerous details for highly tailored results. Also, its plagiarism checker is hidden and only appears when you highlight text, making it less straightforward to access.

Writesonic interface.

Why I Picked Writesonic

Writesonic is one of the best AI tools for writing because of its all-in-one feature set that addresses varying writing needs. Aside from composing well-structured text for email, articles, and ads, its image generation capability lets you create complementary visuals to complete your content without switching to another AI software. On top of that, the platform also has enterprise-grade security features.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Bulk AI article generator No free trial
Chatsonic AI assistant Restrictive free version
AI image generator Occasionally struggles following complex prompts

Pricing

  • Free: Includes 25 AI credits, one time
  • Individual: $20 per user, per month
  • Standard: $99 per team member, per month
  • Professional: $249 per three team members, per month
  • Advanced: $499 per five team members, per month

Learn more on Writesonic’s pricing page.

Features

  • Content templates
  • AI topic clustering
  • Paraphraser
  • AI assistant

Rytr icon.

Rytr

Best for Versatile Content Creation

Overall Rating: 3.7/5

  • Cost: 3.5/5
  • Core Features: 3.7/5
  • Security and Compliance: 4/5
  • Customer Support: 3.5/5
  • Ease of Use: 3.8/5

Rytr is a versatile AI for writing for marketers, bloggers, and all-around content creators. This AI writer generates high-quality texts for anything from articles and blog posts to poems to social media updates. You can also choose from a multitude of tones and use cases, making it adaptable to diverse needs. Rytr’s MyVoice feature facilitates personalized writing, while its plagiarism checker ensures writing originality.

With that said, this AI app’s free version is limited to just 10,000 characters per month, which may not suffice for longer projects. If you want an AI writing tool with a free version that supports larger text volumes, I recommend QuillBot.

Interface Design

Rytr’s user interface has a wide array of features to accommodate all skill levels, even non-writers. Its dropdown menus for selecting use cases and tones, as well as the option to add a custom voice for personalized output. You can also adjust the creativity level and the number of content variants to produce. Its text editor gives full formatting control so you can fine-tune the output.

The platform’s numerous options can be confusing for first-time users, however, making it less user friendly than it could be.

Rytr interface.

Why I Picked Rytr

I consider Rytr to be one of the top AI writing tools today because it combines efficiency and adaptability for diverse content creation needs. Its ability to quickly write AI content is complemented by a wide selection of languages, tones, and use cases, easing content creation for different industries.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Variety of use cases Free version limited to 10,000 characters
Supports over 35 languages Doesn’t support file uploads
Plagiarism checker Occasionally forgets interaction context

Pricing

  • Free: Includes 10,000 characters per month
  • Unlimited: $9 per user, per month
  • Premium: $29 per user, per month

Learn more on Rytr’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • MyVoice
  • Plagiarism checker
  • AI paragraph generator
  • Email generator

Frase icon.

Frase

Best for SEO Writing

Overall Rating: 3.6/5

  • Cost: 3.9/5
  • Core Features: 2.6/5
  • Security and Compliance: 4/5
  • Customer Support: 3/5
  • Ease of Use: 5/5

Frase is a user-friendly AI writing tool specifically made for SEO optimization, helping content creators improve online visibility. You can select what you want to write—such as blog posts or cold emails, for example—and specify the topic. Frase’s AI tool then automatically composes SEO-friendly content for you. These outputs are customizable, allowing you to adjust the tone to formal, informal, persuasive, or friendly. This writing tool can also analyze top-ranking pages to identify relevant themes and keywords, so you can craft articles that are strategically designed to rank well in search results.

It’s worth noting that Frase lacks a built-in plagiarism detection feature. If you need a plagiarism checker with your AI writing tool, I’d recommend Writesonic.

Interface Design

Frase’s interface is uncluttered, with a visually pleasing color scheme that feels easy on the eyes. It presents only a handful of options that serve a clear and relevant purpose. It balances simplicity with customization, letting you adjust tone and format text. Frase’s customization tools are carefully selected for practicality, making the interface efficient.

Frase interface.

Why I Picked Frase

I highly recommend Frase as one of the best AI writers because it simplifies writing SEO-focused content while providing a user-friendly interface. Compared to its competitors, it makes content writing and optimization easier so you can focus on creating effective outputs without being overwhelmed by unnecessary complexity.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
User-friendly Doesn’t support file uploads
Prebuilt templates Poor summarization feature
SEO tools No plagiarism detector

Pricing

  • Free: Includes 10,000 AI words for one user
  • Solo: $15 per user, per month
  • Basic: $45 per user, per month
  • Team: $115 for three users, per month. $25 per month per additional user
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Frase’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • SEO analytics
  • Content templates
  • SERP data enrichment
  • AI paraphrasing tool

5 Key Features of an AI Writing Tool

AI writing tools are equipped with important features that streamline the writing process and elevate the content quality. Each feature contributes to boosting efficiency and meeting various content styles.

NLP Capabilities

Natural language processing (NLP) allows AI writing tools to interpret and generate human-like text by analyzing language patterns, context, and semantics. This enables the creation of coherent, contextually accurate, and engaging content. By simulating human writing, NLP ensures that the output aligns with the specific subject matter and your expectations.

Customizable Tone

With customizable tone settings, you can adjust your content style to match your desired voice, whether it’s professional, friendly, or persuasive. This is particularly important when writing for different audiences or platforms. For example, when you’re drafting an email, being able to tweak the tone ensures your message connects with the right readers.

Prompt Adherence

Prompt adherence means that the AI writer closely follows the instructions. This helps keep the content focused and relevant to your needs and lets you get precise outputs for complex writing tasks without having to spend a lot of time editing.

Text Summarization

Summarizing text helps turn long documents, articles, or reports into shorter texts that highlight the main ideas and points, without omitting key details. This is useful for creating executive summaries or quick content overviews and saves time and effort by automatically pulling out the most important information.

Multilingual Support

The tool’s AI language support makes it possible to produce, translate, or edit content in various languages. This capability is a must if you want to communicate in numerous cultural contexts, promoting inclusivity and making information accessible to a wider audience.

How I Evaluated the AI Writing Tools

To determine the top AI writing tools, I evaluated them based on five categories: core features, costs, security and compliance, customer support, and ease of use. These criteria cover the key factors that must be considered when choosing an AI tool to make sure that it meets your writing needs and priorities.

Core Features | 30 Percent

For this category, I examined the fundamental capabilities of each AI writing tool, including NLP capabilities, summarization, prompt adherence, tone customization, and multilingual support. These details establish how successfully the tool can maintain a specific tone, meet formatting requirements, and process diverse input types. Tools that perform well in these areas give greater flexibility for different types of content.

Criteria Winner: Grammarly

Costs | 25 Percent

I evaluated costs based on the availability of a free version, the duration of the free trial, and the transparency of pricing structure. I factored in features offered in the free version and any restrictions it might have. Clear pricing helps you determine whether the tool has enough value for its cost, while free versions and trials let you test the features before committing to a paid plan.

Criteria Winner: Copy.ai

Security and Compliance | 20 Percent

For security and compliance, I assessed how well the AI writing tools protect data and adhere to regulations like GDPR or CCPA. I also checked encryption standards to find out the tool’s security level. This ensures that you can trust the AI writing tool to handle data safely and responsibly, especially in professional or corporate settings.

Criteria Winners: Grammarly and Writesonic

Customer Support | 15 Percent

This criterion reflects how effectively the AI tool helps you navigate challenges. I considered the availability of multiple support channels, response times, and the quality of self-help resources, like guides and forums. Reliable support accelerates the resolution of technical issues and helps you maximize the tool’s productivity.

Criteria Winner: QuillBot

Ease of Use | 10 Percent

To gauge the intuitiveness of the AI tools, I evaluated their design and accessibility, centering on smooth navigation and setting up, as well as minimal learning curve. A user-friendly interface allows users of all skill levels to use the tool effortlessly. Tools that are simple yet robust encourage higher adoption rates and increase user satisfaction.

Criteria Winners: Grammarly and Frase

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Best AI Tool for Writing?

Based on my research, Grammarly is the best AI tool for writing. It has solid features, reasonable pricing, reliable support, strong security, and user-friendly features.

Is There a Free AI Writing Tool?

Yes, there are many AI writing tools with free tiers, including Grammarly, QuillBot, Copy.ai, Frase, Rytr, and Writersonic. However, you must be mindful of their limitations, such as reduced functionality and lack of advanced features compared to their paid versions.

What is the Best Free AI Tool?

The best free AI tool depends on your specific needs. For example, ChatGPT is one of the best free AI tools for conversational AI, while Canva is for design. Read our article on the best free AI apps and tools to explore more options for personal and business use cases.

Bottom Line: AI Writing Tools Enhance Content Creation

AI writing tools can significantly enhance your content creation process, delivering valuable support for generating ideas, structuring content, and refining drafts. The best AI tool will complement your writing workflow, boosting productivity to elevate your own style and creativity. With a wide range of options to consider, finding the right fit can be difficult. This guide’s in-depth reviews of each AI writing tool’s features and overall value aim to help you make a well-informed choice that suits your goals.

Find out the major players in AI and GenAI by reading our articles on the top AI companies and top generative AI companies today.

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Top 10 AI Software Tools To Unleashing Business Innovation https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-software/ Fri, 13 Dec 2024 20:00:00 +0000 https://www.eweek.com/?p=222479 Learn which of the top AI software tools can help your business thrive.

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AI software applications are increasingly becoming go-to solutions for both professional and personal needs. The top AI software offers distinct capabilities with diverse uses, from increasing productivity to generating images and video to elevating customer experiences. I evaluated AI software solutions for a range of business use cases to help you identify the best AI applications for your needs, including tools that serve both technical and non-technical teams. Here are my picks for the top AI software:

  • Grammarly: Best for Writing Assistance
  • Tidio: Best for Customer Service Teams
  • ChatGPT: Best Overall Generative AI Platform
  • Fireflies.ai: Best for Note-Taking Assistance
  • Microsoft Copilot: Best for AI Assistance Within Microsoft Environments
  • Synthesia: Best for Custom AI Videos
  • Salesforce Einstein: Best for Unified Sales, Marketing, and Service Support
  • Claude: Best for Ethical Generative AI Strategy
  • Jasper: Best for Digital Marketing Teams
  • IBM watsonx: Best for Extracting Insights from Large Datasets

Comparison Chart: Top AI Software

The table below sums up the tool types, overall ratings, key characteristics, and pricing of my top AI software picks for different business needs.

AI Software Tool Type Overall Rating Key Features Starting Price
Grammarly AI Writing Assistant 5/5 Content writing
Tone adjustment
Voice personalization
$12 per user, per month
Tidio AI-Powered Customer Service Platform 5/5 Lyro AI Chatbot
Smart ticketing system
Order management for Shopify
$29 per month for 100 handled conversations
ChatGPT Overall Generative AI 4.5/5 Conversational AI
Image generation
Content creation
$20 per user, per month
Fireflies.ai AI Notetaker 4.5/5 Video meeting transcriptions
AI-powered content search
Conversational intelligence
$18 per seat, per month
Microsoft Copilot Generative AI Assistant 4.5/5 AI assistance for Microsoft products
Image generation
Enterprise-grade data protection
$20 per user, per month
Synthesia AI Video Generator 4.5/5 AI avatars
AI voiceover
Production-quality videos
$29per month, for one editor and three guests
Salesforce Einstein CRM AI Tool 4.3/5 Einstein Copilot
AI Conversation and data insights
Cloud/Hub-specific AI tools
$500 per user, per month
Claude AI Assistant 4/5 Large context window
Image analysis
Constitutional AI approach
$20 per user, per month
Jasper AI Marketing Platform 4/5 AI-powered writing
Brand voice and style guides
Image generation
$49 per seat, per month
IBM watsonx Multifunctional AI and Data Platform 3.8/5 AI workload deployment and integration
AI business analyst and advisor
AI assistance for workflow automation
$1,050 per subscription, per month

Grammarly icon.

Grammarly

Best for Writing Assistance

Overall Rating: 5/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Grammarly is an AI writing assistant that streamlines the writing process on desktop applications like Microsoft Word and Outlook and web browsers like Chrome and Edge. Its AI feature can also help overcome writer’s block and quickly compose relevant text for blog posts, cover letters, or marketing materials.

Grammarly gives out suggestions to tailor content according to your writing style and target audience. It can also adjust your input’s tone, length, and formality to match your brand. Type in the content or upload a file you want it to analyze, and Grammarly calculates the accuracy level of your document and flags writing issues. This AI software’s AI detection functionality promotes responsible AI use by attempting to determine whether AI is used to write content. Access to the tool costs $12 per user, per month.

Interface Design

Grammarly’s uncluttered interface has an AI assistant, chatbox, and formatting tools for content modification. You can access the plagiarism checker and generative AI, check your overall writing score, and set goals for your content on its assistant section. What makes the interface even better is that it lets you hide certain elements, such as the assistant and menu, allowing for a more distraction-free writing experience.

Grammarly inteface.

Why I Picked Grammarly

I picked Grammarly as one of the top AI software tools because its personalized writing feature boosts communication effectiveness in different fields. Its generative AI writing assistant is available on all its product plans, including the free version, allowing you to polish your written content without breaking the bank.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Writing assistance for grammar, style, and tone Autocorrect feature misinterprets names or terms not in its database
Real-time suggestions enhance writing efficiency May not capture the nuances of creative writing styles
Generative AI helpful for brainstorming and customization Occasional inaccuracies

Pricing

  • Free: 100 prompts per user, per month
  • Pro: $12 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Grammarly’s pricing page.

Features

  • Real-time grammar, punctuation, and style corrections
  • Personalized writing suggestions and feedback
  • Multi-platform accessibility
  • Generative AI assistance

Tidio icon.

Tidio

Best for Customer Service Teams

Overall Rating: 5/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Tidio is an AI-powered customer communication platform for enhancing customer service processes through live chat and chatbot functionalities. It enables companies to automate customer interactions and improve response times on multiple channels, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

Tidio’s FAQ Wizard and Reply Assistant features use machine learning to refine the quality of customer interactions. The FAQ Wizard generates conversation flows based on frequently asked questions, while the Reply Assistant accelerates crafting professional responses to customer inquiries. Lyro AI, the platform’s chatbot, autonomously handles customer inquiries, allowing businesses to scale their support operations without hiring additional staff and letting human agents dedicate their time and effort on more complex issues. On the flip side, Lyro AI has limited capacity for non-English languages. Tidio’s monthly plan starts at $29 for 100 handled conversations.

Interface Design

Tidio features an organized, clutter-free interface that consolidates customer messages from different channels into a single view. It has an email-like layout, contributing to its user-friendly experience and collapsible menu options that further minimize distractions.

Tidio interface.

Why I Picked Tidio

I chose Tidio because its rich AI features and uncomplicated interface make it an excellent choice for customer service teams looking to simplify customer interaction management and provide outstanding customer experiences. In addition, its ability to scale support operations makes it a worthwhile investment for businesses in the customer service industry.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Supports real-time customer communication Occasional notification delays
Simple setup Lyro AI has limited capacity for non-English languages
Enables 24/7 automated customer support Lyro AI has limited overall usage of 50 interactions for free users

Pricing

  • Free: Includes three seats and 50 handled conversations
  • Starter: $29 per month for 100 handled conversations
  • Growth: Starts at $59 per month for 1000 handled conversations
  • Plus: Starts at $749 per month for a custom number of handled conversations
  • Enterprise: $2999 per month, unlimited handled conversations

Learn more on Tidio’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • Live chat conversations and chatbot triggers
  • Built-in analytics
  • FAQ Wizard
  • Lyro AI Chatbot and Reply Assistant

ChatGPT icon.

ChatGPT

Best Overall Generative AI Platform

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 3/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

ChatGPT from OpenAI is one of the most popular and versatile artificial intelligence (AI) software tools for generative AI. It engages in human-like conversations, assists in coding, generates images, and answers questions about a wide range of topics. Powered by the advanced large language model GPT-4, this AI software for business can solve difficult problems with greater accuracy and has better general knowledge and problem solving abilities compared to its predecessors. Through its DALL-E 3 integration, this AI tool now offers three image generations daily, free of charge. Additionally, ChatGPT can analyze, classify, and write captions for visual input. However, this AI tool has usage limits, even for paid plans. Monthly pricing for ChatGPT starts at $20 per user.

Interface Design

ChatGPT promotes easy navigation through its simple text box interface where you can interact with the tool and attach images or documents for analysis. It also has a list of past conversations you can revisit and resume as well as pre-written text prompts.

OpenAI ChatGPT interface.

Why I Picked ChatGPT

ChatGPT is among my top AI software picks because of its ease of use, extensive functionality, and adaptability across various tasks. Its advanced language model empowers it to support anything from drafting emails and brainstorming ideas to coding assistance and language translation. Its user-friendliness also makes it ideal for both beginners and professionals.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Advanced contextual understanding  Occasional AI hallucinations
Real-time internet browsing Usage limits even for paid plans
Image generation May generate biased outputs

Pricing

  • Free version includes limited access to GPT-4o
  • Plus: $20 per user, per month
  • Team: $30 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on ChatGPT’s pricing page.

Features

  • Human-like text generation
  • Code generation and debugging
  • Image generation
  • Advanced contextual understanding

Fireflies.ai icon.

Fireflies.ai

Best for Notetaking Assistance

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 3/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Fireflies.ai is an AI-powered note-taking platform for transcribing, summarizing, and analyzing voice conversations. It automatically captures audio and video during meetings and quickly generates meeting transcripts and summaries. It uses machine learning and NLP to write actionable information, eliminating manual note-taking.

Aside from basic content summarization features, Fireflies has advanced Conversation Intelligence capabilities. These include speaker talk time tracking for understanding engagement levels, sentiment analysis for gauging emotional tone, and customizable topic trackers for monitoring specific subjects. Fireflies.ai continues to add new features to its platform. On the downside, the tool lags occasionally and inaccurately translates text from time to time. Fireflies’ paid plans start at $18 per seat, per month.

Interface Design

Fireflies has an interface packed with icons and information. It has multiple tabs for managing tasks, meetings, and contacts, as well as a search bar, a chatbot, and a sidebar full of expandable options. While designed to be helpful, the number of options can be overwhelming for some users.

Fireflies.ai interface.

Why I Picked Fireflies.ai

I selected Fireflies because of solid features that elevate team productivity and collaboration. Unlike traditional note-taking tools, this AI software allows you to share meeting transcripts and insights with other team members instantly, fostering immediate feedback.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Multi-language transcription Issues with search capability
AI-powered project manager Occasional lags
Conversation Intelligence Translation inaccuracies

Pricing

  • Free version includes 800 mins of storage, per seat
  • Pro: $18 per seat, per month
  • Business: $29 per seat, per month
  • Enterprise: $39 per seat, per month

Learn more on Fireflies’ pricing page.

Key Features

  • Video meeting transcriptions
  • Team and security management
  • Meeting clips as sound bytes
  • Topic tracker and analytics

Microsoft Copilot icon.

Microsoft Copilot

Best for AI Assistance within Microsoft Environments

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered tool designed primarily to give assistance within Microsoft environments, particularly through Microsoft 365 applications. It integrates large language models to let businesses connect organizational data seamlessly with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

Microsoft Copilot can generate content and automate tasks through natural language prompts. It can draft emails, summarize documents, and create presentations on existing content, saving time and raising productivity. This AI tool can also produce images through its Designer integration.  It’s worth noting that Copilot sometimes struggles with complex prompts and remembering contexts over long conversations. Monthly subscription to this AI tool starts at $20 per user, per month.

Interface Design

Microsoft Copilot boasts a minimalistic interface displaying only the necessary features and tools, enabling intuitive navigation. It has a textbox for text and visual input, a sidebar that neatly organizes past chat interactions, and a collapsible menu that you can hide when not in use. It also features suggested prompts to give a starting point for composing precise requests.

Microsoft Copilot interface.

Why I Picked Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is among the top AI tools I recommend because it amplifies creativity and productivity for Microsoft users. Through automation, content generation, and task assistance, this AI tool frees up valuable time for team members to direct their efforts on strategic planning.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Built-in AI assistance across Microsoft products Limited to 30 prompts for every interaction
Expertly handles numerous business tasks and automations License for a Microsoft 365 plan required for business use
Enterprise-grade security, privacy, and compliance Occasionally struggles with complex prompts and remembering context

Pricing

  • Copilot in Edge browser is free for personal use, but only integrates with core Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel, and Outlook
  • Microsoft Copilot Pro: $20 per user, per month
  • Copilot for Microsoft 365: $31.50 per user, per month for businesses and requires a separate Microsoft 365 license

Learn more on Microsoft Copilot’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • AI assistance and workflow automations
  • GPT-4-powered content generation
  • Microsoft Copilot Studio for customizable copilots
  • Enterprise data protection and scalability

Synthesia icon.

Synthesia

Best for Custom AI Videos

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency:5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Synthesia is a video creation platform that uses AI-generated avatars and voiceovers for producing professional-quality custom videos. It eliminates the need for expensive video equipment and services by offering intuitive features for creating videos for various purposes.

Synthesia has an extensive library of more than 200 expressive AI avatars and supports more than 140 languages. It also lets you build a custom avatar that sounds and looks like you, set in a custom background. The platform has a one-click translation feature that automatically translates videos into multiple languages to reach global audiences. However, Synthesia’s AI voiceovers don’t always sync perfectly with its videos, which can be distracting. The platform’s monthly subscription costs $29 per user.

Interface Design

Synthesia has a familiar, easy to navigate layout that resembles a typical presentation software. It allows you to drag and drop elements, input scripts, and customize avatars with gestures and nods. Its interface design combines functionality with logical structure, so you can explore the platform comfortably.

Synthesia interface.

Why I Picked Synthesia

Synthesia is one of the top AI software solutions in my opinion because of its advanced AI video generation features that empower even small businesses to create professional-grade videos. With a diverse library of AI avatars and multilingual support, anyone can produce engaging videos without the high costs.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Decreases expenses associated with video production and services Accessible only via the web platform
Streamlines the creation of branded videos Issues with voiceovers syncing with the avatar
Enables rapid video content creation without specialized skills Occasionally alters given scripts

Pricing

  • Free: Includes three minutes of video per month
  • Starter: $29 per month, includes one editor and three guests
  • Creator: $89 per month, includes 1 editor and five guests
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Synthesia’s pricing page.

Features

  • AI-driven video creation from text scripts
  • Custom avatar
  • Voiceovers in more than 140 languages
  • More than 120 AI avatars

Salesforce icon.

Salesforce Einstein

Best for Unified Sales, Marketing, and Service Support

Overall Rating: 4.3/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 3/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 4/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Salesforce Einstein is an advanced AI tool integrated into the Salesforce platform to aid in numerous functions across sales, marketing, and service departments. Einstein helps you work smarter by automating routine tasks and rapidly providing relevant information. It uses predictive analytics for customer data analysis and insight generation, allowing businesses to anticipate customer needs. Its intelligent recommendations suggest products or services tailored to individual customer preferences, helping teams engage more effectively.

 Automated insights allow businesses to identify opportunities, while NLP enables Einstein to interpret and respond to customer inquiries in a conversational way. With a unified approach to sales, customer, and service data, the AI tool ensures that all AI-driven decisions are grounded in accurate customer information. Its ability to automate meeting scheduling and sending follow ups lets you concentrate on high-value activities. Due to this extensive feature set, this tool has a steep learning curve. Salesforce Einstein subscription costs $500 per user, per month.

Interface Design

Salesforce Einstein capabilities are built into the Salesforce platform, with the chat interface being just one of its many features. Einstein’s chat window provides a user-friendly way for you to interact with the AI without navigating to another page. It prioritizes simplicity and readability, with minimal options to avoid distraction.

Salesforce Einstein interface.

Why I Picked Salesforce Einstein

I picked Salesforce Einstein because of its robust set of features that unifies multiple functions within a single platform, fostering a cohesive user experience. By integrating AI into these areas, Einstein allows you to share insights and makes sure that everyone is aligned in their approach to customer engagement. As a result, companies can increase customer satisfaction and drive loyalty.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
AI features incorporated into all Salesforce cloud applications AI only works with Salesforce products
Trust Layer for best practices, privacy, and security Steep learning curve
Einstein Chat No free version

Pricing

  • Einstein for Sales: Starts $500 per user, per month
  • Einstein for Service: Starts $500 per user, per month

Learn on Salesforce Einstein’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • Generative and predictive AI
  • Conversational analytics and recommendations
  • Smart chatbot-building
  • Automated marketing campaign generation

Anthropic Claude icon.

Claude

Best for Ethical Generative AI Strategy

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 5/5
  • Support and Documentation: 3/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Anthropic’s Claude is an AI tool with as strong a focus on ethical outcomes as on high performance. Central to its design is the Constitutional AI (CAI) framework, which ensures that the AI generates safe, honest, and helpful responses while minimizing biases and harmful outputs. Claude also comes with a large context window that facilitates processing and retaining a substantial amount of information simultaneously. It uses the advanced Claude 3.5 generative AI model, which enhances contextual understanding and increases accuracy. That said, this AI tool has the tendency to be inaccessible at times due to high demand. Claude’s paid plans start at $20 per user, per month.

Interface Design

Claude has a user-centric interface with a text box for typing prompts or attaching visual inputs or documents. It also recommends some questions or tasks you might want it to perform for you and some of the most recent interactions you’ve had with the tool. The complete list of past conversations is available on another page. You can set Claude’s outputs to be dyslexic-friendly and ‘star’ previous chats you want to revisit.

Anthropic Claude interface.

Why I Picked Claude

I highly recommend Claude because of its excellent complex reasoning and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. In addition, its emphasis on ethical AI development makes it a trustworthy and reliable generative AI tool for prioritizing integrity in AI use.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Committed to Constitutional AI methodology Often unavailable during peak hours
Large context window Limited free tier capabilities
Built-in jailbreak resistance and misuse prevention features Becomes inaccessible once usage limit is reached

Pricing

  • Free with daily usage limits that vary depending on demand
  • Pro: $20 per user, per month
  • Team: $30 per user, per month
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more on Anthropic’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • Constitutional AI review and quality management framework
  • Jailbreak resistance and misuse prevention features
  • Large context window of 200,000 tokens
  • Red teaming evaluations

Jasper icon.

Jasper

Best for Digital Marketing Teams

Overall Rating: 4/5

  • Performance: 3/5
  • User Experience: 5/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 3/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

Jasper is an AI writing tool for digital marketing teams with an abundant feature set for streamlining content creation on social media and web platforms. It generates high-quality, personalized content for blog posts, social media updates, email newsletters, and ad copy. The platform supports multiple languages, making it an excellent tool for global marketing efforts.

Jasper simplifies content writing with templates and tools for text refinement. Its Templates feature has pre-designed formats for product descriptions, SEO-focused articles, and marketing emails. On the other hand, its Content Improver modifies existing text to ensure that marketing materials are engaging and on-brand. This AI software’s built-in plagiarism checker helps in making sure that all written content is original, upholding integrity. Despite its substantial features, Jasper offers a limited free trial duration of just seven days, which might not be enough to thoroughly explore the tool. Its plans start at $49 per seat, per month.

Interface Design

Jasper has a clean interface that centers on clarity. Its sidebar that neatly organizes sections, like Dashboard, Campaigns, and Brand Voice, offering quick access to key features. In sections like Campaigns, you can add specific details, like tone of voice and call to action in simple text boxes. Jasper’s AI outputs are displayed in a stacked layout making it easy for you to compare and select the best result.

Jasper interface.

Why I Picked Jasper

I selected Jasper as one of the top AI tools today because of its marketing-centric features that boost campaign success. It enables marketing teams to respond to trends and audiences quickly and keeps marketing materials relevant and engaging, ultimately boosting conversion rates.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Supports over 30 languages Brief free trial duration
Image generation Generated text requires heavy editing
Over 50 templates for different use cases Lacks free version

Pricing

  • Creator: $49 per seat, per month
  • Pro: $69 per seat, per month
  • Business: Custom pricing

Learn more on Jasper’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • AI-powered content writing, editing, and social copywriting
  • Instant and automated marketing campaigns
  • Brand voice guide uploads
  • SEO integrations and content optimization

IBM icon.

IBM watsonx

Best for Extracting Insights from Large Datasets

Overall Rating: 3.8/5

  • Performance: 5/5
  • User Experience: 3/5
  • Cost Efficiency: 2/5
  • Support and Documentation: 5/5
  • Ethical Consideration: 5/5

IBM watsonx is an enterprise AI and data platform for extracting valuable insights from large datasets to improve business operations. Its architecture integrates advanced AI capabilities like NLP and predictive analytics with robust data analysis tools to facilitate data-driven decision-making.

With AI-driven predictions, watsonx takes strategic planning and operational efficiency to the next level. It enables businesses to forecast trends and behaviors based on historical data, allowing them to stay ahead in competitive markets. Another notable feature is its real-time data processing, which can handle and analyze data as it is generated, ensuring that you receive timely information for quick decision making. It has built-in AI governance features, helping organizations mitigate risks and maintain compliance with industry regulations.  While watsonx is a powerful AI software, integration with third-party solutions could be complex and often requires advanced technical knowledge. The tool costs $1050 monthly, per subscription, under the Standard plan.

Interface Design

IBM watsonx has a clean and intuitive design that emphasizes data visualization, presenting key insights through clear, easy-to-interpret graphs, allowing you to quickly graph complex information at a glance. It has a minimalist color scheme that ensures visual elements are not distracting, making it easier to concentrate on the data.

IBM watsonx interface.

Why I Picked IBM watsonx

IBM watsonx made it to my list of top AI software for business because of its comprehensive capabilities and robust compliance features that help organizations use and scale AI securely in their operations. It can handle increasing data demands without compromising performance and puts great importance on security and compliance for data integrity and privacy.

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Enterprise-grade features Limited pricing information
Real-time data processing Occasional lags
Predictive analytics Complex integration process

Pricing

  • Free version includes limited ML functionality and 50000 inference tokens per month
  • Standard: $1,050 per subscriber, per month

*IBM mentions an Essentials plan and pricing based on the number of virtual processor cores (VPCs), but does not publish specific costs for them. Learn more on IBM watsonx’s pricing page.

Key Features

  • AI and ML model building, training, fine-tuning, and validation
  • Hybrid-cloud-compatible data lakehouse
  • Model health, accuracy, drift, and bias management
  • Approval workflows, risk scorecards, and model metadata management

How I Evaluated the Top AI Software Solutions

To gauge the effectiveness of each AI tool in the list, I evaluated them based on five major categories: tool performance, user experience, cost efficiency, support and documentation, and ethical considerations. These criteria present invaluable aspects that influence a tool’s practicality, and reliability.

Tool Performance

I evaluated how well each AI tool performs its intended function, with reliability and result quality as key considerations. This criterion is necessary in establishing the AI software’s suitability for specific tasks. In selecting the best AI tool, prioritize options that excel in their core functions and have reliable performance.

User Experience

I assessed each top AI tool’s ease of use, considering its intuitiveness for both tech-savvy users and those with limited technical knowledge. I evaluated how straightforward the interface is and overall user satisfaction, ensuring that it is user-friendly for a broad audience. Having a well-designed interface is fundamental for user satisfaction and better productivity. When choosing AI software, consider tools with a seamless and positive user experience to reduce the learning curve.

Cost Efficiency

I examined the tool’s pricing transparency and the availability of a free version or trial. Transparency helps you decide whether the AI software provides good value for money and free trial lets you test its features before committing financially. Choose tools with clear pricing and free access options to get a firsthand experience in their performance.

Support and Documentation

I reviewed the responsiveness of customer support via email or chat and the comprehensiveness of available documentation for this criterion. These factors are important for troubleshooting and maximizing tool use. Consider AI software with strong support and detailed documentation to address tool questions and issues swiftly.

Ethical Considerations

I checked whether the top AI tools have a clear and in-depth AI ethical policy or statement, focusing on user privacy, bias mitigation, and transparency. This ensures that the tool operates in accordance with ethical standards. Pick AI software with a well-defined AI policy to make sure they align with responsible AI use.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Free AI App is Everyone Using?

There are numerous free AI applications available today, each serving distinct needs. To find the best options, read our article on the best free AI tools. It gives detailed information on popular and highly-rated free AI apps.

What is the Best AI App Right Now?

The best AI app depends on your needs—whether for productivity, creativity, or personal use. Popular choices include ChatGPT for conversational AI and starryai for image generation. Visit our article on Best AI Apps to discover the frontrunners.

Who is the Leader in AI?

There isn’t a single leader in AI, as many organizations are making significant advancements on different AI technologies. To learn more about the key players and innovators in the field, read our article on the top 150 AI companies, which highlights the organizations driving the future of artificial intelligence.

Bottom Line: Choose the Best AI Software to Achieve Your Business Goals

Regardless of your industry, functions, and technical expertise, there is an AI software solution out there that can help optimize your current business processes. With the vast array of AI applications on the market, selecting the one that best suits your business needs can be a daunting and time-consuming process. This guide aims to simplify your search by offering a thorough overview of the top AI software solutions, their features, and their performance. Remember, the right AI software can be a powerful tool to help you achieve your business goals.

Get to know the leading firms in GenAI by reading our article on the top generative AI companies today.

The post Top 10 AI Software Tools To Unleashing Business Innovation appeared first on eWEEK.

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