False Starts

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It is important to distinguish between a real new beginning in someone’s life and a simple defensive reaction to an ending. Each may exert strain on a relationship, but the new beginning must be honored. The defensive reaction is simply a new way of perpetuating the old situation and needs to be considered as such.

Unfortunately, there is no psychological test you can take at such times. It is often difficult to be sure whether some path leads forward or back, and it may be necessary to follow it for a little way to be sure. But there are two signs that are worth looking for before you start. The first is the reaction of people who know you well: not whether they approve or disapprove, but whether they see what you propose to do as something new or simply a replay of an old pattern. The second indication comes from the transition process itself: Have you really moved through endings into the neutral zone and found there the beginning you now want to follow is this “beginning” a way of avoiding an ending or aborting the neutral zone experience?

William Bridges, Transitions

13 Ways to Spot AI Writing

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Tips for determining if an article is likely written by AI.

OVERUSED WORDS. AI-written articles tend to come back to the same terms multiple times. Examples would be comprehensive, delve, meticulous, versatile and pivotal. Before 2024, overused AI words in scientific research papers were typically nouns. More recently, researchers say AI excessively uses "style" words—mostly verbs and some adjectives. The phrases AI picks up can often make the text sound more like marketing material than academic scholarship or quality news writing.

TORTURED ACRONYMS. Generative AI will sometimes pick up the wrong words for an acronym. For instance, a data science paper might use "CNN" to refer to "convolutional brain organization" instead of "convolutional neural network.”

NONSENSICAL PARAPHRASES. An academic paper written by AI might have “glucose bigotry” instead of “glucose intolerance,” where it changed a single word and did not recognize the context.  

ACADEMIC CITATIONS. AI-written articles with academic citations have been known to include incorrect or incomplete references. AI writing has been also known to take quotations out of quotation marks, paraphrase them, and delete the citation.

STYLE CHANGES. A sudden change in writing style within an article or essay may indicate that the author’s work was rewritten using AI.

PERFECT GRAMMAR. A typo, particularly in student writing, could indicate the article or essay is not wholly the work of a bot. Mistake-free writing is, ironically, a red flag. However, savvy writing prompts may ask the AI to include some errors in order to mislead inspectors.

MECHANICAL STYLING. AI tends to mechanically repeat expressions that appear often in the internet material that it was trained on. The result is often uninspired and generic prose that often lacks any specific point. 

ARTICLES. AI will make errors in the use of definite and indefinite articles, often because it does not recognize the context to determine whether an article is required and which one. For example, AI editors will often fail to use the definite article before common nouns such as “participants” and “results” when referring to a study.  “Results show that…” is a general reference while “The results show that…” are those of the present study. Generative AI will miss this distinction.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT. AI often fumbles subject-verb agreement when the verb does not immediately proceed the verb. 

VERB TENSE. Generative AI will confuse when to use past tense and present tense.

LINKING WORDS. AI editors tend to delete words linking sentences and paragraphs, such as “however,” “therefore,” “in contrast,” and “moreover.”

ARCHAIC LANGUAGE. Since older texts from the early twentieth have been more available to use as training data sets for LLMs than current writing samples, some researchers have found overuse of words that were popular then but have since fallen out of common usage as evidence of generative AI.  

PREDICTABILITY. Text is more likely to be human than AI when it includes sarcasm, current pop-references or insults the reader. Writing that doesn't match predictable patterns is more likely to be human generated.

 More about spotting fake news

Taking Action

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It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in quantum physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it. Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action. It’s as simple as that.

Successful people know that a good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed someday. They don’t wait for the “right time” or the “right day” or the “right (impossible) circumstances”, because they know these reactions are based on a fear and nothing more. They take action here and now, today – because that’s where real progress happens.

Angel Chernoff

10 AI Prompt tools and articles

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AI Hallucinations "can be remarkably useful"

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Innovators are finding that A.I. hallucinations can be remarkably useful. “The public thinks it’s all bad,” said Amy McGovern, a computer scientist who directs a federal A.I. institute. “But it’s actually giving scientists new ideas. It’s giving them the chance to explore ideas they might not have thought about otherwise.” A.I. hallucinations are reinvigorating the creative side of science. They speed the process by which scientists and inventors dream up new ideas and test them to see if reality concurs.

-William Broad writing in the New York Times

18 Professional Journalism Organizations

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The Common Mistake in Premarital Counseling

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The failure of premarital counseling to affect the divorce rate today may be due primarily to the fact that the approach is often directed toward the couple's relationship. The focus on personality, psychodynamics, and transactions has deprived couples of a more enriching perspective from which to evaluate their problems and their future. By switching the focus to the bride and groom's families of origin, not only can premarital counseling be made more effective in its own right, but the very experience also becomes an opportunity to affect more than one couple and far more than one generation.

Edwin Friedman, Generation to Generation

AI Definitions: Unsupervised training

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Unsupervised training - Just as children mostly learn to explore their world on their own, without the need for too much instruction, in this type of AI training, the AI is turned loose on raw data without a human first labeling the data. Instead of the AI being told what to look for, it learns to recognize and cluster data possessing similar features. This can reveal hidden groups, links, and patterns within the data and is really helpful when the user cannot describe the thing they are looking for—such as a new type of cyberattack. Not as expensive as supervised learning, it can work in real-time but is also less accurate.

More AI definitions here

16 Webinars This Week about AI, Journalism & Media

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Tue, Jan 14 - AI Innovator Collaborative

What: A regular gathering for ONA members already using AI in journalism to connect and share ideas.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to ONA members ($75 annually, $25 students)

Sponsor: Online News Association

More Info

 

Tue, Jan 14 - Writing and Pitching Reported Personal Essays

What: The popular personal essay is still in demand, but many editors now seek the hybrid reported personal essay, which combines research, interviews, expert quotes, journalism skills, and creative nonfiction storytelling. In this webinar, we will differentiate types of personal essays with an emphasis on the format, process, and tools needed for the reported personal essay genre. We’ll also share advice on markets such as style, travel, life, parenting, health and opinion sections and provide tips on how to pitch editors.

Who: ASJA member and New School writing professor Candy Schulman; Karen Blum, an ASJA member, heads ASJA’s Virtual Education Committee.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members, $20 for nonmembers

Sponsor: The American Society of Journalists and Authors

More Info

 

Tue, Jan 14 - Fact Checking - A Global Update

What: While all good journalists already fact check their stories, independent fact-checking organizations have sprung up around the world to address the increased misinformation being promoted in social media and by many political figures.

Who: Angie Holan, Director of the International Fact Checking Network, will talk about how the IFCN is helping groups and journalists around the world. Dulamkhorloo Baatar is the founder of NEST Mongolia, the Mongolian affiliate with the IFCN. She will discuss the importance of having an independent fact checking organization, especially in a fledgling democracy, like that in Mongolia.

Retired journalist and educator Jeff South will moderate the session.

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

More Info

 

Tue, Jan 14 - Create Captivating Marketing Videos Fast using PowerPoint

What: This session will show you how to use PowerPoint to create all of this kind of content so that it’s impactful, shows off your brand in the best light, and effectively communicates. Plus, see how you can not only create it quickly in PowerPoint, but then repurpose the content easily into multiple other formats. You’ll be amazed at what’s possible, and so will your clients. Understand the process for creating visuals for your content that communicate effectively Become a wizard with PowerPoint to create and repurpose content quickly and easily Transform your visual content for use across multiple channels

Who: Richard Goring Director, BrightCarbon

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

More Info

 

Wed, Jan 15 - Build Smarter Campaigns with AI-Powered Communication Strategies

What: This interactive workshop teaches participants how to use AI tools like ChatGPT or Jasper to craft personalized donor communication campaigns. Attendees will engage in a hands-on exercise, drafting email templates and social media posts using AI tools with live feedback from experts. They will also learn about how TechSoup’s AI Services can enhance donor engagement and overall impact for nonprofits.

Who: Lisa Quigley Tapp Network; Kayla Walsh Tapp Network.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

More Info

 

Wed, Jan 15 - A digital safety primer for journalists

What: Best practices and resources on digital safety for journalists. Attendees will learn how to gauge their own risks, assess their habits and leave with a list of resources they can deploy to improve their digital safety.

Who: Jyoti Madhusoodanan Civic Science Fellow, AHCJ; Alison Joyce Senior analyst, New York Times Information Security Team; Tat Bellamy-Walker Program manager of digital safety training and resources (media), PEN America.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Association of Health Care Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers

More Info

 

Wed, Jan 15 - Report for America Information Session

What: Report for America is a national service program that places early-career and experienced journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities across the United States and its territories. The application is now open for 80+ corps member reporter positions in RFA host newsrooms. If you have any questions or are just curious about RFA, this info session is for you!

Who: - Earl Johnson is Report for America's Vice President of Recruitment and Alumni Engagement. Tim Lampley is Report for America's recruitment manager.  

When: 1:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Report for America

More Info

 

Wed, Jan 15 - Reporting Responsibly on Immigration Policies and Issues in Times of Crisis

What: A conversation with journalists, elected officials, and community activists about responsible reporting on immigration policies and issues. ⁠

Who: Liz Rebecca Alarcon, founder and CEO of Pulso

When: 6 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Latinas Represent, The Pivot Fund

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - Covering tariffs: What journalists need to know

What: Panelists will discuss how steel tariffs in the early 2000s affected exports, production and employment; What broad-based tariffs could mean for U.S. consumers in 2025 and beyond.[A brief history of tariffs in the U.S. Ideas for humanizing stories about international tariffs and interpreting research for a general audience.

Who: Lydia Cox, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Doug Irwin, the John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College; Alex Goldmark, executive producer of National Public Radio’s Planet Money.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Harvard’s Shorenstein Center

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - 2025’s Top Media and Advertising Data Trends

What: Dive deep into predictions for trends, changes, and new challenges in the wide world of data. You’ll find out: How convergence is shaping the entire ecosystem, data privacy, and how to plan for the future. Predictions for the tactical future of GenAI applications across media and advertising.

Who: David Fisher, industry principal media & entertainment, UK & EMEA, Snowflake; David Wells, industry principal Adtech & Martech, Snowflake: Erin Foxworthy, industry principal, agencies & advertisers, Snowflake.  

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Snowflake, Adweek  

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - Trump's vowed to deport millions. Are you ready to cover the story?

What: This isn’t just a border story – it could have a significant impact throughout the South, including where you live. It’s time to prepare to cover this critical story. Don’t know anything about immigration? Never covered deportations? We’ll help you get started. We will offer local reporters practical tips on  how to cover immigration, immigration enforcement, detentions and deportations far away from the U.S.-Mexico border. This webinar is geared toward journalists in Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi but is open to journalists across the U.S. 

Who: Award-winning Memphis-based reporter Daniel Connolly has reported on immigration issues for news outlets, including The Associated Press, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal and national legal news service Law360. He wrote a book on Mexican immigration to the South, “The Book of Isaias,” published in 2016.   

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - How Influencers Are Changing Our Information Ecosystem

What: An overview of the landscape for influencers in today’s media environment, followed by a conversation about how we can understand the role of influencers and consume their content wisely.

Who: Robert Downen, Democracy Reporter, The Texas Tribune; Malynda Hale, actress and activist; Kurt Sampsel, Senior Program Manager, PEN America; Bridget Todd, creator and host, iHeartRadio’s There Are No Girls on the Internet podcast; host, Mozilla Foundation’s IRL podcast.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Pen America

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - Simplified Video Workflows for Newsrooms

What: This session is designed to equip your newsroom with a simplified process for integrating vertical video into your reporting. Come for a hands-on experience that covers the entire short-form video creation process from pre-production to post-production, while streamlining workflows for you and your team to consistently produce verticals. Also: Leveraging local reporting opportunities, the ins and outs of filming yourself, and a few tricks to boost social engagement while building your presence on social platforms.

Who: Oriel Danielson, video editor at LinkedIn News.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Knight Foundation’s Newsroom Collective

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - IJNR’s Tools for Environmental Justice Reporting  

What: The reporting grants and fellowships offered by the IJNR. These resources are designed to empower journalists to tell impactful stories on environmental justice and natural resource issues. 

Who: Dave Spratt, Chief Executive Officer; Adam Hinterthuer, Director of Programs; Francisco Ramirez Pinedo, Program Associate; Melissa Mylchreest, Director of Communication

When: 5:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources

More Info

 

Thu, Jan 16 - The Rise of Citizen Journalism: What does it mean under the Trump 2.0?

What: A panel discussion for creators, journalists, podcasters, photographers, and videographers.

When: 8 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: FrameShift Foundation

More Info

 

Fri, Jan 17 - Negotiate Like a Rockstar with FSP and IIJ

What: A collaborative discussion of rate negotiation, a vital skill freelancers should leverage both individually and collectively. A panel of experienced freelance journalists from across the industry will discuss strategies for gauging fair rates, setting a ground floor, and pushing for higher pay, better contract terms, and other points of negotiation. Then, attendees and speakers will share success stories, tips, and tricks in facilitated small groups to build our collective wisdom.

Who: Lily Meyer - Moderator, writer and organizer with the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project; Joseph Lee - Freelance journalist and author; Mónica Ortiz Uribe - Freelance journalist; Erin McGregor - Program Manager, Association of Independents in Radio Katherine; Reynolds Lewis - founder of the Institute for Independent Journalists.

When: 12 noon, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Institute for Independent Journalists and the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project

More Info

AI Definitions: GPT

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GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) – G for Generative because it generates words. P for Pre-trained because it’s trained on a lot of text. This step is called pre-training because many language models (like the one behind ChatGPT) go through important additional stages of training known as fine-tuning to make them less toxic and easier to interact with. T for Transformer which is a relatively recent breakthrough in how neural networks are wired. They were introduced in a 2017 paper by Google researchers, and are used in many of the latest AI advancements, from text generation to image creation. So GPT refers to a LLM (large language model) type of AI that first goes through an unsupervised period (no data labeling by humans followed by a supervised "fine-tuning" phase (some labeling).

More AI definitions here

The Top 8 AI Video Tools

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Adobe Firefly

An all-in-one solution for video production, Adobe’s AI-driven multimedia production tool is easy to use. It can do AI video editing, 3D modeling, text-to-image and text-to-video generation, photo editing, AI-enhanced scene transitions, auto-resizing and color correction. Of course, it has a smooth integration with Adobe Creative Cloud. Because it was trained on Adobe Stock images, there are no copyright issues. All the generated images safe for commercial use. The downside: it doesn’t do well with complex queries. Free version provides 25 monthly generative credits or $4.99 a month.

Captions AI

An AI phone app for video editing that adds captions including a feature to automatically transform your voice into any of 27 languages. Easy to use. Includes a teleprompter, an AI script-writing assistant, and a suite of AI editing features.  

Descript 

Edit a video or audio file as you would a Google Doc. You can delete words to edit out sections of your video or audio. Add transitions, titles, and music. Can remove background noise and filler words. Cannot edit a video using natural language.   

Eddie AI

Users can edit interview videos with natural language . Explain what you want in your own words. Cannot be used to add transitions, titles, or special effects. Free (but not for long). Basic explanation of how it works here. 

Hypernatural

Make short videos of text, audio, a link, etc. with AI. No editing skills needed. The results are less generic than other AI-video makers, partly because the user makes stylistic choices along the way, narration, color palette, transitions, video orientation, or use your own photos. Make 10 free 30 second videos (no longer) and after than paid accounts start at $12 a month.

Ideogram

An excellent AI image and video generator. A paid account isn’t needed to get quality images, this one is easier to use for beginners than tools like Midjourney. It has a simple to use interface. Text in the images comes out more readable than most AI image creators, which is important for social media graphics, thumbnails, logos, etc. Ten credits a day free (about 5 images). Free users can only download a 70% quality JPEG image, not the full-resolution version. Images are public when using the free version. Paid accounts starts at $7 monthly for more images and quicker rendering than the free version along with advanced features like Canvas, which lets you modify images. Paid accounts can use negative prompts (what you don’t want in the image).

Invideo.io

Video editing tool that works in a Chrome browser, Plenty of templates and tools. Can take a while to upload media to it. Users can edit particular scenes. The free plan allows 10 minutes of video and 4 exports a week. Some user reviews have been negative about hidden fees and other issues with paid accounts.  

Sora

OpenAI's AI high-quality video generator with watermarks. Similar to other video editing tools with frame views on the bottom and various editing tools. Available to ChatGPT Plus users (50 videos a month) and ChatGPT Pro users (10 times more usage).

 

Other text to video creators

Hotshot.co – 5 free generations per day.

LumaDreamMachine – 30 free generations per month.

Kling AI – 6 free generations per day.

Runway – 125 free one-time credits. Paid accounts starting at $12 per month

Ideogram.ai – 40 generations per day free, paid plans start at $8

Hailuoai.video

PixVerse – free

Pika.art - 250 initial free credits and then 30 daily credits. Paid accounts from $8 to $58 per month

Kaiber – limited and typically used to create animations and transform existing videos into different styles. 60 free credits as part of a trial.

More AI Tools

Showing AI skills in your job search

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Given the emerging and quickly developing nature of AI tools, it can be tricky to display your expertise in a particular skill as a job candidate. Job applicants can build up their AI skills and stand out from the competition in three key ways:

Stay on top of developments. Find online resources and sign up to email lists to read about the latest trends and developments. The technology is moving so fast, the challenge is staying up to date. It is important to try  and build a fundamental knowledge of what’s going on behind the scenes with AI news.

Use AI in your own work. Seek out opportunities in your work to try and use these tools. That’s when you really start to understand the strengths and weaknesses and can learn to write smart prompts to get the best application out of them.   

Show how you’ve used AI successfully to achieve a specific goal. Indicate that you’ve added commercial value to your organization by using it. 

Adopted from a CNBC article by Jennifer Liu

The Top 8 AI Image Creation Tools

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Adobe Firefly

An all-in-one AI solution for video and photo production from the people who brought you. Easy to use, it can do AI video editing, 3D modeling, text-to-image and text-to-video generation, photo editing, AI-enhanced scene transitions, auto-resizing and color correction. Of course, it has a smooth integration with Adobe Creative Cloud. Because it was trained on Adobe Stock images, there are no copyright issues. All the generated images safe for commercial use. The downside: it doesn’t do well with complex queries and is not consistent when generating text within images. Free version provides 25 monthly generative credits or $4.99 a month.

Bing AI Image Creator

This feature in Microsoft’s search engine Bing is powered by OpenAI’s DALL-E. It allows users to generate realistic and creative images from text prompts. Free but with a limit of 25 images each day.

Canva

The graphic design platform has integrated generative AI into all its products including: image, and text creation, photos, audio, and video editing. Use Canvas drag-and-drop to create social media graphics, headers, slides, flyers, photo collages, posters, infographics, even mind maps for concepts. Share to social media straight from the app or download for posting. Limited editing tools so it’s more for beginners. Free. $12 a month gets you more options.

DALL-E

OpenAI’s tool that turns written text into images using AI. Named after painter Salvador Dali and Disney Pixar’s WALL-E. Understands long, complex queries. Includes a helpful edit feature. Select an area of a generated image and prompt it to change that part. However, not as reliable at generating accurate text than Ideogram or Flux. A limited number of images are free. $20 per month for ChatGPT Plus.

Ideogram

An excellent AI image and video generator. A paid account isn’t needed to get quality images, this one is easier to use for beginners than tools like Midjourney. It has a simple to use interface. Text in the images comes out more readable than most AI image creators, which is important for social media graphics, thumbnails, logos, etc. Ten credits a day free (about 5 images). Free users can only download a 70% quality JPEG image, not the full-resolution version. Images are public when using the free version. Paid accounts starts at $7 monthly for more images and quicker rendering than the free version along with advanced features like Canvas, which lets you modify images. Paid accounts can use negative prompts (what you don’t want in the image).

Microsoft Designer's Image Creator

One of the best image creators, it is powered by DALL-E 3. Accessible in the same place that you access Microsoft's AI chatbot Copilot. Free (though you must create a Microsoft account).

MidJourney

One of the best AI image generators, it uses machine learning to create high-quality pictures based on text. The interface has been improved since it first launched. There is a limited free version but paying the monthly cost will avoid annoying ads. You’ll find a good prompt book here and a guide to get started here.

Stability AI's DreamStudio

A more accessible version of Stable Diffusion, which requires some technical skills. Users can create images through AI with many customizations, such as telling it what to avoid. An account must be created sign in with Google or Discord accounts. $1 for 100 credits, one image costs two credits.

 

Others worth Considering 

Leonardo.AI

Originally meant to help folks create gaming assets, it produces impressive and clear images. Useful but limited editing tools. There’s no post-editing on the free plan and the privacy plan is weak. Free plan allows up to 150 images each day.

Flux AI

Use this AI image generation tool for free through HuggingFace or Freepik. It creates gorgeous images and doesn’t require any special prompting lingo.

Whisk

Google’s new AI tool Whisk uses image prompts instead of text. Input a collection of images without a prompt and choose a style to generate a new image. Unlike traditional AI image generators, which allow users to specify exactly what they want, Whisk enables users to experiment and draw inspiration without the constraints of text inputs. Users can tweak the final image. Intended as a fun AI feature, rather than a refined professional work tool.

 More AI Tools

The Top 7 Chatbots for Writing

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ChatGPT

Trained on the most data so it is the most powerful overall AI. Faster than other chatbots and can answer more difficult, complex questions than many other chatbots with better memory. Processes up to 25K words and can use both images and text as inputs. It doesn’t do sourcing and does not pull from the most recent info. Can browse the internet with Bing. Performed faster than other chatbots in tests, offering more-thorough answers, and answers more-difficult, complex questions. The advance voice mode makes it easy to chat with while you are on the go, making it a useful replacement for search quires. There’s a feature that allows users to customize the tone and voice to their own style of writing. There is a limited free version or pay $20 a month for ChatGPT Plus.  

Perplexity AI

A good research option among the generative AI tools when accuracy is critical. It acts like a search engine but includes results from the web (unlike ChatGPT).Automatically shows where the information came from, so it’s more reliable than ChatGPT. Users can specify where they want the information to be drawn from among a few categories such as academic sources or YouTube. Users can also upload documents as sources and ask it to rewrite prompts. It suggests follow-up questions you might not have considered. Less useful for creative writing. In tests, it was better at summarizing passages, providing information on current events and do coding better than other chatbots. Unmatched speed and accuracy in processing millions of data makes it very useful to data scientists for advanced predictive models. The free plan allows 3 pro searches every four hours. Video tutorial here.

ChatSonic

Created by WriteSonic built on top of the same technology that powers ChatGPT. Can assume personas such as a philosopher or stand-up comic. Create up to 100 AI-generated images each month for free. Connected to the internet, so it can provide real-time, up-to-date answers, which ChatGPT cannot do. Free.

Claude

Writing, coding, in-depth analysis AI. Designed to be inoffensive. Like ChatGPT, it can act on text or uploaded files. Useful for summarizing long transcripts, clarifying complex writings, and generating lists of ideas and questions. Can analyze huge documents, up to 75K words at a time. In tests, it is more conversational, gives direct answers, sometimes links to sources, and offers better creative writing suggestions than other chatbots but can be slower. It can mimic your writing style and users have the option of three presets: formal style, concise, or explanatory style. Trained on the AP Stylebook. Free plan allows up to 40 messages a day.

Gemini

Google claims this large language model is better at math, coding and other tasks than many other programs. It provides real time responses with the help of Google’s search engine. Besides text, it can take commands that come as videos, images, voice and code. It has access to more timely and updated information than ChatGPT. Gemini Advanced costs $20 a month after the trial period ends.

Jasper AI

AI story writing tool for fiction and nonfiction. Pick a tone of voice for style. Pre-built templates available. A more business-focused AI that is particularly helpful for advertising and marketing. Remembers past queries, However, no sources are provided and limited to pre-2022 information. Short free trial. $29 month.

Poe (Platform for Open Exploration)

Created by Quora, this AI lets users create a personalized chatbot using one of 70 bots (such as OpenAI or Anthropic). Poe lets you compare and contrast models to find the right fit for your specific need in any given moment. (Poe doesn't have its own large language model.) Free.

 

AI Text Tools for Everyday

ChatGPT for quick inquiries

Claude as an everyday workhorse

Perplexity for research

NotebookLM to condense large amounts of information

Infography.in for text to infographics

Napkin AI to convert text into visuals and charts.

More AI Tools