Free AI Models to Paid AI
Artificial intelligence’s upbringing and rise are so prevalent today that even your grandma has opinions! Artificial intelligence was in our world before applications like ChatGPT were popularized. Now, everyone can fulfill their desires in every field with these new modern technologies. However, these services only scratch the surface of the full capabilities of the extent artificial intelligence is capable of. This is where paid AI programs come into play. Free AI is expected only to provide what free can give you, but AI behind a paywall provides you your money’s worth and the full extent of these applications’ abilities. The four fields of AI are paid and free options for chatting, translating, designing, and using voice software.
Chatbots / ChatGPT
OpenAI has created one of the most notorious AI programs to date, accumulating over 2 billion user visits in just a month, making it one of the most popular AI chatbots in providing general knowledge to its users. It’s known overall for its convenience to the public and its ability to answer questions for a wide variety of subjects, even showing mastery over certain subjects.
ChatGPT (GPT-2 and GPT-3.5 Version)
ChatGPT, by far, is one of the most popular AI bots, and for good reason, as its capabilities in their response to user’s prompts in their free version have been publicly acclaimed by many and can do things such as write essays, suggest strategies for games, and even give advice all while having a real-time conversation. GPT-2 was only up to 2019 information upon its free release; the now free GPT-3.5 version is up to date with information, and this expresses how much the free version gives to users and doesn’t have many restraints behind it. ChatGPT, however, has had some complaints about the newer version being slower than the older version, but of course, the results in the newer version are still better in quality.
ChatGPT (GPT-4o Version)
Despite ChatGPT’s very popular and amazing work, its paid version (GPT-4o) has been critically acclaimed by the many who used it and has convinced many free users of the switch, with OpenAI providing them with a few questions from GPT-4o. The paid plan is able to provide the latest GPT-4 language model compared to the free model’s GPT-3.5 and is described to have both improved in its coherence and knowledge. It has the latest plugins available and API keys for users to implement this application’s tool on their own, which have been helpful for its target audience. In my opinion, the general public should stick to the free model with its state right now as its newer uses are helpful for businesses and content creators who constantly use these tools now, and it is still in the air how much their application could be developed.
Popular gaming and coding YouTuber DougDoug streamed his use of ChatGPT to make an AI bot of himself in real-time to answer questions (Using an API key in Python and letting ChatGPT’s capabilities shine).
Translate AI
When we talk about chatbots, another previously popular AI that has been reintroduced and is also rapidly advancing in the AI game is automatic translation. I’ll start off by reintroducing the most popular and free AI software that is still growing, Google Translate. Google Translate’s artificial intelligence uses generative and neural machine learning to interpret users’ data. A more advanced and accurate artificial intelligence application is DeepL. DeepL advertises to be the most accurate and secure translator with ease of access for the user in exchange for a paid subscription.
Google Translate
Google Translate was made in 2006 and has been the most popular option for users because of its connection to Google and Google’s already easy accessibility in its integration to the browser. This service has claimed over 500 million people in its daily use! It uses predictive algorithms and language processing primarily and uses previous documents given by its creators to gather its linguistic data. Google Translate has always been beloved and ingrained in artificial intelligence history but has always been known to only be decent (while still struggling with complex texts) and statistically has only been accurate in around 82.5% of its translation. Google Translate is good for people who want to get a general idea of what another language is saying and should not be relied on to learn a different language.
DeepL
DeepL is another language translation AI application and has been well-reputed for its accurate translations and for being able to send whole files to the program. On the website, it even says that it’s, “3 times more accurate than competitors”. DeepL has been said to match their description to a tee and has been very accurate in being human-like and natural-sounding. DeepL uses a similar model in its artificial intelligence model but shines in the information they provide; as it’s regarded as giving high-quality data and is pre-assessed in what is given. Both are good services in this field but if you’re looking to talk to others I’d recommend DeepL in learning and getting into the details of your desired language.
Graphics AI
AI isn’t limited to just text anymore and is widely popular in its field of generative image AI, and two of the most popular applications for that, that are used by every consumer alike, are graphic design and artificial intelligence. Canva is one of the most popular applications for all sorts of organizations in the promotion of graphic design and artificial intelligence has created the Magic Design generator that helps in the steps of the creative process. It does just that but is more focused on the help of creating instead of taking the sole job of a designer. A paid option is Adobe Creative Graphics gives members access to Firefly AI, an AI that specializes in generative AI. It lets users still get help in the creative step process but also generative AI, tools to enhance material with amazing graphics with the help of AI, and assets from Photoshop and Illustrator.
Canva (Magic Design)
Canva is a well-known application to everyone with a business and anyone interested in graphic design as it’s used for promotion, posters, and collaboration in design creation and it has amassed a total of 170 million users. It’s no surprise that when its Magic Design creator came out to help provide designs for the prompts with things such as videos, posters, or presentations.
The Magic Design generator has already been trained and reviewed by their team and has prided itself in its safe auto-generation as well. This artificial intelligence model is good for everyday content creators and only builds upon their already successful Canva application which makes me recommend this to anyone who creates for others.
Adobe Creative Graphics (Firefly AI)
Adobe Creative Graphics is another application that has a built-off artificial intelligence tool they created based on it. Adobe Creative Graphics by itself is another editing application that isn’t bound to just the templates and basic editing tools Canva has and itself is meant for even broader things such as websites, packaging, and images. Firefly AI automates the basic tasks needed and also just helps the user get started with their project. Firefly AI is superior in being more certain about its copyright-free rights to your projects by making sure its model is trained on sources that ask creators’ permission and paying them for their work. I think they’re both equal in the value they provide but more professional creators should go for Adobe Creative Graphics for their VFX and more realistic pieces in quality and their assurance to credit to creators.
Voice AI
As content creation and artificial intelligence become more prevalent, Bark is a free and open-source generative voice AI provided on GitHub that is free and unlimited to use with voice clones and songs and is available in many different languages. ElevenLabs is another generative voice AI that is very popular and is promoted for its realism and tools for creators who use voice AI. It provides users with the best models developed over the years with the program, the latest being Turbo v2.
Bark
Bark is a free option for voice artificial intelligence. It may not be as popular as the other options in this essay, as its code is open-sourced and made by a group on GitHub primarily for research purposes. It’s acclaimed to be a great generative voice artificial intelligence model, but its only limitations come from the need for memory requirements needing a pretty advanced computer. Developers are slowly patching this issue. Bark is an overall amazing free alternative for casual users who use it a few times. It does the same tasks as ElevenLabs but requires a bit more advanced setup to use it to the extent intended.
Elevenlabs
ElevenLabs is one of the most popular artificial intelligence programs known for its voice cloning software, which is almost identical to the voice from a user’s prompts. ElevenLabs provides a synthesizer, multiple stored voices, and realism in its product, depending on your package. I’d consider it more catered to content creators using voice AI. Realism is a key difference between these two applications. Withthe API key and custom voices, I think ElevenLabs takes the cake with more languages available and its more realistic sound.
Popular coding content creator DougDoug streamed his use of an ElevenLabs and ChatGPT API key to make an AI depiction of a character named ‘Pajama Sam’ narrate and play his own point-click adventure game in real time for his Twitch audience.
Final Thoughts
From chatbots to translation, graphics, and voice AI, we’ve seen how these tools have evolved, offering us free and paid options. Some of these AI models’ free alternatives serve their purpose well, but the paid services shine when users can pay and support them.