Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools having emerged into the spotlight, reflect a journey marked by years of extensive development and consistent efforts. With most significant AI tools released in 2023, and some in 2022, one can safely say that 2023 marks a significant year for AI.
The generative AI tools – generating new content based on user inputs – that came out all through the year have made humanity rethink, in both optimistic and pessimistic ways, the very way of life it had once taken for granted.
In today’s time, generative AI is performing, if not perfectly, certain tasks that were once thought to be impossible for computer software to accomplish – from engaging in meaningful conversations (as with ChatGPT) to creating stunning images (as in Midjourney), to generating music and synthetic voices.
OpenAI opened the doors
Founded by Sam Altman, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk among others, OpenAI became a light bearer of AI by releasing revolutionary tools such as ChatGPT and Dall-E 2, which now many top tech players are attempting to replicate.
The company April 6, 2022, released DALL-E 2, a generative AI tool for image generation. It quickly gained popularity within the designer community. Subsequently, other tools, such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, entered the game of generating images from text prompts using diffusion models.
In the latter half of 2022, precisely on 30 November 2022, OpenAI released its conversational generative AI tool ChatGPT powered by GPT-3 large language model (LLM). It blew the internet up. Within five days of launching, i.e. on December 5, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that it had crossed one million users.
Two months after its release, ChatGPT became the ‘fastest-growing consumer application’ as the user base was estimated to have reached 100 million in January, a UBS study said.
Top 10 AI tools of 2023 that created a buzz
The world witnessed many incredible AI tools that are innovative in many ways. Here we bring together some of the most useful generative AI tools of different use cases.
Disclaimer: None of the tools listed here are sponsored or promotional in nature. This is a list of what we think are some of the top AI tools. However, readers are free to not limit themselves to this list, as there are plenty of other tools that did not make it to the list but deserve wider recognition.
1. ChatGPT
As we saw earlier, ChatGPT, an acronym for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, is a chatbot that generates natural language or conversational texts based on the user’s text or recently added voice inputs.
According to the official website, it can be used for engaging in conversations, gaining insights and automating tasks. Currently, the tool is being used for various purposes such as content creation, an alternative to search engines, coding among others. Businesses can use GPT for various use cases with the help of OpenAI API.
2. Midjourney
Midjourney generates images from natural language descriptions, called prompts. The tool is created by a US-based research lab Midjourney, Inc. The AI image generator can currently only be accessed through their official Discord server. Users utilise the ‘/imagine’ command within the server to input prompts and generate images based on their imagination.
Midjourney is extensively used by visual artists and the general public alike to produce striking visuals for various purposes, including character art, environmental art, concept art, illustrations, among others.
3. Bing
Microsoft announced the launch of the AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser February 7, 2023. The company claimed that the integration delivers improved search functionality, more comprehensive answers, a new chat experience, and the ability to generate content.
Microsoft stated that Bing is now running on a new, next-generation OpenAI large language model that is more powerful than ChatGPT and customized specifically for search. It incorporates key learnings and advancements from ChatGPT and GPT-3.5, the company said.
The company also mentioned that they have included an AI model in their core Bing search ranking engine that will provide relevant search results.
4. Notion AI
Notion AI is a writing assistant that can help with brainstorming, editing, summarizing, and more. It can also help with spelling and grammar errors, and translation. It simplifies the work of marketers by writing brand new pages, extracting key insights from databases and pages, and quickly producing the information needed.
Notion AI can help users work faster and enhance their productivity. This AI tool can also help with taking notes, reading documents and writing content.
5. Runway Gen2
In the domain of generative AI tools for video generation, Runway has emerged as a leading company. According to the official website, Runway is an applied AI research company shaping the next era of art, entertainment, and human creativity.
Its product Runway Gen2 is claimed to consistently and realistically generate new videos based on text prompts.
In addition to this, Gen2 has integrated other tools, such as the motion brush feature for animation in specific parts of the image and camera movement to add dynamics to the scene. Gen2 offers numerous other features that users can explore.
Currently, Gen2 is being utilised for various purposes, including ads, animation, short films, music video creation, among others.
6. Krutrim AI
Co-founder and CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal December 15 launched Krutrim AI, “India’s first multilingual LLM”, which reportedly understands 20 Indian languages and can generate content in 10 Indian languages.
The company behind this product is Krutrim Si Designs. Krutrim AI is said to be responsive to voice commands and possesses real-time coding capabilities in addition to engaging in text-based conversations.
While the tool is not yet available, it is anticipated to be released in January 2024, with its API expected to be launched in February 2024.
In addition to Krutrim AI, various AI tools and startups, including BharatGPT, Sarvam AI, and CoRover, that are actively shaping the AI landscape in India.
7. Copilot by Github
GitHub Copilot is a popular AI developer tool made by GitHub in collaboration with OpenAI. GitHub Copilot is built on the OpenAI Codex model.
It can assist users by seamlessly integrating into popular code editors, such as Visual Studio Code, and supports developers by suggesting entire lines or blocks of code as they type. It proves to be a valuable tool for accelerating development, streamlining repetitive tasks, and providing assistance with syntax.
8. MusicLM
MusicLM, a product of Google, on its official website writes “describe a musical idea and hear it come to life with AI.”
Users can sign up to try it in the AI Test Kitchen on the web, Android, or iOS. Just type in a text prompt describing the type of music they want and MusicLM will create two versions of the song based on inputs.
Another noteworthy AI tool that music enthusiasts can try is Soundraw.io.
9. ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is one of the finest text-to-speech AI tools available, delivering a more human-like sound. In the tool, users can choose from a variety of voices, accents, tones, emotions, among others, to generate voices of their liking. One can clone their own voice using the voice cloning feature.
ElevenLabs can be handy for video creators, podcasters, and businesses.
To modulate one’s voice into a celebrity voice using AI, a tool called Voice.ai can be utilized.
10. Framer
Framer, a tool used for website creation and publication, has introduced a ‘Start with AI’ feature. Utilizing this, users can create and publish fully responsive websites with their text prompt.
The AI also generates copy for the website. Users can change the colour theme as well as the typography. For finer details adjustment, a bit of coding knowledge is required; otherwise, you are good to go with the designs created.
This AI tool can be used to create business websites, portfolios, landing pages, etc.