AI is the hottest topic in the tech industry, but the headlines often overlook how ordinary people can actually use the technology. The answer comes in the form of an AI software package. AI software packages can be used to create websites and articles, help programmers generate computer code, or conjure up entire pieces of music. If you want to engage with AI in a practical rather than theoretical way, you need AI software.
What is AI software?
AI software is the front end of artificial intelligence, the layer that sits between backroom technology and the people trying to use AI. It's a way of packaging technology into a form that the average person can actually use.
If you dig deep enough, you'll find that a lot of AI software uses the same AI intelligence behind the scenes. Some of the major companies that are actually developing core artificial intelligence technologies include OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
AI software directs that intelligence and molds it into a format suitable for a specific job.
What are the different types of AI software?
The most famous type of AI software is chatbots. We also often use written prompts like chatbots to interact with AI, even though the AI software has a much more specific purpose than conversational chatbots.
For example, AI art generation tools typically provide a verbal description of how they want the image they create to look. There are many generative categories such as text, images, music, etc.
Long before the explosion of interest in chatbots, another type of generative AI software package emerged. It's a computer code helper. These often act like autocomplete for programmers and are used to dramatically speed up development jobs.
Top AI software
We are in the midst of an explosion in AI software, with startups and established companies all looking to take advantage of the field's rapid development and attention. This also means that there are many implementations that are not worth trying, or that they may piggyback on similarly named AI software packages.
Below are some of the most interesting and useful applications of AI that can actually be incorporated into the average person's daily life, including work and play. Some require a subscription, but many offer free access with a limited feature set or time period.
framer
Remember when you had to learn HTML to create a website? Framer uses AI to create websites. No coding required. Just write a short paragraph describing the website you're looking for and Framer will create it for you.
This is a useful tool for anyone who wants to create a simple, bespoke website for their hobby or small business. You can try Framer for free, but subscriptions that unlock more complex designs and drive high-traffic sites cost between $5 and $25 per month. Framer hosts her website and makes the process of getting your site online very quick and easy.
grammatically
Take your humble spell checker and inject it with AI to make it smarter and more useful, and you get Grammarly. Not only can it check your spelling and grammar, but it can also make suggestions for tone and style, and even rewrite your writing.
Grammarly also has a free version, but it lacks more advanced features, such as the ability to change the tone of your writing, check for plagiarism, and rewrite your work. Signing up for a year costs $12 per month.
Sunglasses
When chatbots first appeared, comparable music generation tools were pretty terrible. Suno is a very good music generator that allows him to create 2 minute songs based on text prompts. That's a lot of fun for the average person, but it's downright depressing for musicians who want to work in the commercial music field.
These songs have lyrics, and you can specify lyrics or create your own. It's free to use. Just create an account on his website at Suno. There are paid Pro ($8/month) and Premier ($24/month) subscriptions that allow you to use the songs generated for commercial purposes and create more songs each month.
Otter.ai
This AI software is perfect if you need to record meetings or many interviews as part of your job. This is a transcription tool that can summarize what happened in each session thanks to advanced AI that was added relatively recently.
That's pretty smart. Otter.ai can recognize different speakers in a conversation. A recent addition to the app also includes a chatbot, allowing you to ask questions about past meetings without having to dig through old transcripts.
You can try Otter.ai for free, but the paid version lets you record even more minutes of chats over a month. You can also upload audio and video files after the fact, but the free version requires the app to effectively record live.
jasper
Jasper is one of the most popular AI software tools for people who need to generate marketing copy for things like corporate websites or create newsletters and marketing emails.
It came out in 2021, before ChatGPT exploded. While you could ask a chatbot to draft such content, Jasper has an interface tailored to the job and offers multiple “brand voices” at higher level subscriptions. These subscriptions start at $39 per month. There is no free tier, but there is a free trial.
cursor.sh
One of the main uses of AI is to speed up programming and help beginners learn how to code. Cursor.sh is one of the better examples of this in action.
You still need to process the code, but you can use it to generate new code from a simple text prompt. Alternatively, it can be an effective learning tool because it can explain what a selected piece of code actually does.
This AI software has a free version that limits the number of instructions you can execute each month. The less-limited Pro version costs $20 per month. Cursor runs on GPT 3.5 and GPT 4, the technology behind ChatGPT.
delete.bg
What about something really simple? Remove.bg is an online AI software that allows you to remove the background of photos and other images.
You can also replace the background with another background from your site's archives, such as a block color or gradient. It is very effective, handles hair well, and deftly handles elements that can be difficult to judge, such as car windows. This AI software is free to use online.
conclusion
AI is changing the world. But if you want to know how and why, just look at the quality of AI software out there.
We can already automate jobs that would normally take hours to complete, and at least do a fair job in the process. Ever wonder if AI can help your job? Quite possibly, but according to some futurists, there will be few areas of work that won't be affected by AI.
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