Let’s discuss the best AI tools of 2023. This year we saw a burst of new artificial intelligence technologies.
So how do you maximize the impact of these tools on your life? Whether you use AI for development or as a creative professional, there are hundreds of new AI tools available.
Our talk will focus on several factors. We considered the usefulness of each tool, ease of use, overall cost, and potential to change an industry. That means our list of the best AI tools includes AI image generators, chatbots, voice generators, and other useful products.
What is A.I?
The short answer is: AI encompasses theories and practices that use machines to replicate human decision-making.
That includes learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. If that sounds familiar, you’ve been paying attention to the news. Chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard recently made waves across the working world for their ability to communicate almost as well as a human.
This isn’t a new field of study. Artificial intelligence earned headlines in the 1950s when Christopher Strachey designed a checkers-playing program. Since then, the field has exploded in popularity.
Today, we use AI tools for various tasks, from speech recognition and image processing to autonomous driving and medical diagnosis. In simple terms, AI is a way to make machines “smart” and capable of doing things that normally require human intelligence.
AI is also transforming industries, such as healthcare, finance, and manufacturing, by improving efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making.
So, What are A.I Tools?
We use the term “AI tools” for software/applications or platforms that utilize artificial intelligence techniques to perform specific tasks, automate processes, or augment human decision-making.
AI tools can range from simple chatbots to complex machine-learning algorithms and can be used for various purposes.
The number of AI tools available is growing rapidly, with new tools being developed and released all the time. These are designed to make AI accessible to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. They can also help companies streamline their operations, reduce costs, and improve their bottom line.
Types of AI Tools
There are several common uses for AI tools. Let’s talk about some of the best time-saving uses.
AI Presentation Generator
Presentation generators are some of the most popular AI tools of the year. So, what do they do? You can use AI presentation generators to replace your current slide-building process in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Different tools have different benefits, but most offer help with content writing, automating layouts, and improved structuring.
That means you don’t have to spend hours putting together a sales presentation. Just plug into something like Tome or beautiful.ai to make something in minutes.
AI Coding Partners
Another commonly-used AI tool is a coding partner. These systems do the coding for you. You just need to know how to ask for help. If you’re already a talented coder, an AI coding partner saves hundreds or thousands of hours of repetitive work.
There’s a reason everyone to be using these. We’ve seen many AI tools for developers, but the leading choices (aside from Bard or GPT) remains GitHub’s Copilot.
AI Productivity Tools
We rely on tools like Motion to save time with everyday tasks. Some help with our own scheduling and to-do lists, but they also function as part of the daily workflow on the job. We evaluated AI tools for home and business uses, and productivity tools seem to have the most overlap in those two worlds.
Try Motion for help with your to-do lists, or use it for much larger and more complex tasks. It even works as an AI project management tool.
Top 16 Best AI Tools in 2023: Our Top Picks
After evaluating dozens of services, we came up with the following list of AI tools you need to know in 2023.
Our evaluations considered both the helpfulness of the service and the cost for the user. We considered both free AI tools and those with paid monthly subscription fees. Here are the results.
1. ChatGPT – Super-Popular Chatbot
- AI tool type: Chatbot
- What it does: Answers questions. Solves problems.
- Why we love it: ChatGPT offers an expansive, easy-to-use solution
- Price: Free (with paid options)
Why we chose this AI tool:
We evaluated dozens of AI tools, and ChatGPT earned top marks in every category. Not only did OpenAI create a free entry point for their new chatbot, but they also made an exceptional user interface and immediately delivered eye-wateringly amusing responses.
Data scientists should recognize the underlying infrastructure behind this popular AI tool. It’s a large language model (LLM) that uses natural language processing (NLP) to develop human-sounding responses to an unlimited number of topics.
Best of all, ChatGPT (and its little sister, Google Bard) uses machine learning to fine-tune results. That means these AI ML tools get smarter as more people use them. Consider what that means with a hugely-popular launch. People asked this chatbot millions of questions and, with the ease of a conversation, trained it to give them more accurate responses.
Now like all tools, there are ways to interact with this AI tool like a professional. In general, the centers around the concept of AI prompt engineering to get the best responses.
Plus, if you’re looking for something more specific, like ways to enhance your Digital Marketing work, you can even use a ChatGPT cheat sheet designed for Digital Marketing.
2. Murf – AI Voice Generator
- AI tool type: AI Voice Generator
- What it does: Converts text to speech
- Why we love it: Generates voices in up to 20 languages
- Price: From $29/month or $228/year (Check current pricing)
Why we chose this AI tool:
Murf.ai improves on traditional text-to-speech technology with AI-generated voices in up to 20 languages. The service includes soundtracks and royalty-free music with its paid plans, and users can also use the service for transcription.
As with our other top AI tools, we loved the ability to enhance our results with quick edits. Murf enables the addition of images, video, and music in addition to voice modifications on pitch, style, speed, and emphasis.
Our evaluation revealed value for podcasters, video producers, social media managers, and others who need to quickly create high volumes of content. Limitations on the free trial reduce overall access for many potential users.
3. Fireflies – Meeting and Voice Analyzer
- AI tool type: AI Transcription
- What it does: Transcribes meeting notes
- Why we love it: Automates meeting recordings, transcriptions, and notes
- Price: Free with paid options from $10 per seat/month (Check current pricing)
Why we chose this AI tool:
We love AI tools that provide value to everyone on the team. Many of the services and software we evaluated only benefit a single person at a time. That’s where Fireflies differentiates itself.
This AI meeting analyzer records meetings, transcribes them, and makes them searchable for weeks, months, or years down the road.
That means you don’t need to delegate a single member of your team to update your Google Docs. Fireflies does that heavy lifting automatically. And the built-in transcription feature relies on artificial intelligence to process and analyze language.
Best yet, it integrates with Zoom, Google Meets, and other popular webcam software. The team doesn’t have to change where they already meet. With free and paid options, our evaluation ranked this as one of the top AI tools of the year.
4. Midjourney – AI Image Creation
- AI tool type: Image Generator
- What it does: Generates images in countless styles
- Why we love it: Free option creates stunning art
- Price: Free with paid options from $10 (Check for current pricing)
In what should come as no surprise to anyone who used artificial intelligence to create images this year, our evaluation ranks Midjourney as the best at its specific function.
For better or worse, this popular AI tool requires Discord to function. Input your prompt, wait a minute, and the generator produces surprising and impressive results. Users have already embraced Midjourney’s prompt submissions as a form of art.
We’re eager to see what else comes from this AI tool. With generous commercial terms and an expansive free trial version, we expect to see much more news from Midjourney throughout the year.
5. DALL-E 2 – AI Image Generator
- AI tool type: Image Generator
- What it does: Generates images
- Why we love it: Made by the genius team at OpenAI
- Price: 115 Credits for $15 (Pricing info in the OpenAI help section)
Why we chose this AI tool:
Created by the genius team at OpenAI, Dall-E 2 works in a very similar way to Midjourney. It uses natural language processing and understanding to translate text prompts into images. Plus, it doesn’t require Discord.
We included DALL-E 2 on our list because, after evaluation, it still ranks as a viable competitor in the space. That said, the pricing model reduces its ranking below that of its peer. While there used to be a valuable free option, that’s no longer the case for new subscribers.
If you have the extra money to spend, it could be worth checking out DALL-E 2. Just make sure to try its competitor first.
6. Tome – AI Storytelling Partner
- AI tool type: Presentation Builder
- What it does: Create text, images, and slides for presentations
- Why we love it: Few tools offer such a robust service at such a low price
- Price: Free with paid options from $8/month (Check current pricing)
Why we chose this AI tool:
We evaluated Tome expecting it to function like an AI writing service. Instead, it used a single prompt to generate a six-slide presentation, including images and multiple paragraphs of text, within seconds.
Given the exceptionally-low price point, that’s an almost unparalleled value among the other AI tools we tested. We expect Tome to offer the best value to those who need to quickly create personalized presentations on a regular basis, and there are a few other communities who could benefit as well.
Tome also allows users to add their own images, edit presentations with a drag-and-drop web editor, and record narration. That means it should be a powerful AI tool for teachers, content creators, and small marketing teams.
7. Lumen5 – AI-Powered Video Creation
- AI tool type: Online Video Creator
- What it does: Quickly makes videos
- Why we love it: Simple online interface and works quickly
- Price: From $29/month (Check for current pricing)
Why we chose this AI tool:
We compared Lumen5 to Tome, which both offer online drag-and-drop editors to create presentations. The difference here is that one of them specializes in video. That’s Lumen5. It doesn’t take much effort to create a video quickly with this AI tool.
Unfortunately, it comes at a higher price than the presentation builder we mentioned earlier. Our favorite AI tools offer robust free tiers of service. Those help customers acclimate to the software and give the service a better chance of becoming an industry-standard in future years.
Because of the relatively low monthly fee, large stock library, and ability to add watermarks (for top-tier users), Lumen5 ranks well for business users. Those with a content budget can certainly save time with this popular AI tool.
8. NeuralText – AI Writing Assistant
- AI tool type: NLP Writing Assistant
- What it does: Improves content
- Why we love it: Cheaper than other AI SEO tools
- Price: From $19/month (Check current pricing)
Why we chose this AI tool:
Volume is the name of the game for many content production companies. That makes AI tools like NeuralText, a natural partner.
Using natural language processing, natural language understanding, and contextual data, these types of services save enormous amounts of time for low-paid content writers and overworked SEO managers. Popular AI tools for SEO also include Jasper and SE Ranking.
That said, we evaluated many so-called “writing assistants” for our list of the best AI tools of the year. There’s a caveat for their inclusion. Many of these services focus on improving SEO, and most of them are now overshadowed by ChatGPT.
9. LALAL – High-Quality Stem Splitting
Main feature: AI-powered platform for high-quality stem splitting
Considerations:
LALAL is an AI-powered platform for separating vocals and instruments from any audio and video. LALAL is useful because it provides an easy and accessible way for anyone to separate vocals and instruments from music tracks, allowing them to create new remixes, covers, or other types of audio content.
Its AI-powered technology delivers high-quality audio output files that can be used for professional purposes, saving time and effort for music producers, DJs, podcast producers, and other professionals alike. Some key features include AI algorithms for vocal and instrumental separation, high-quality audio output, an easy-to-use interface, and batch processing of files.
Use Cases:
- Music production
- Podcasts and voiceovers
- Audio restoration
10. Jitter – Animated Content Made Simple
Main feature: Jitter enables teams to create and edit animated content with ease.
Considerations:
Jitter uses advanced AI technology to automate the video creation process, making it easy and accessible for anyone to create high-quality videos. Jitter is useful because it allows anyone to create high-quality videos without the need for expensive equipment or extensive technical knowledge.
Its AI-powered technology streamlines the animated content creation process and makes it possible for users to quickly and easily produce engaging content for a variety of purposes. Some key features include AI-powered video creation, easy editing tools, and collaboration/sharing capabilities.
Use Cases:
- Social media content creation
- Marketing and advertisements
- Personal video content creation
- Education and training videos
BONUS: Our Honorable Mentions
Not every popular AI tool could make our top-ten list. That’s why we wanted to mention a few other noteworthy pieces of software and services.
11. TLDR this – Automatic Summarizer
Main feature: AI-powered summarizing and paraphrasing tool
Considerations:
TLDR is an AI-powered platform that allows you to summarize articles and web pages with just one click. It is useful for anyone who wants to stay informed but doesn’t have the time to read lengthy articles or who wants to get a quick overview of a topic before diving into a more detailed exploration.
Key features of the platform include a browser extension, the ability to customize the length and level of detail of the summary, allowing for metadata extraction, and eliminating any ads or graphics from the summary allowing for a distraction-free experience.
Use Cases:
- For students who are studying and need to summarize information
- Teachers who want to summarize large texts for their students
- Journalists and writers that need to summarize long articles
- Anyone who needs to gain a summarized level of understanding of a long article
12. WALLET.AI – Financial Behavior Analyzer
Main feature: AI-powered tool that informs you on your financial behavior
Considerations:
WALLET.AI is an AI-powered tool that can analyze your data and provide you with information about your financial habits. WALLET.AI is useful because it enables you to make wiser financial decisions.
To make sure that WALLET.AI’s engine is intelligent enough to understand your financial data and assist you in making smarter financial decisions, it was trained on vast volumes of financial data.
Use Cases:
- Analyze your financial data
- Make data-driven financial decisions
13. SUPER MEME – Text to Meme Platform
Main feature: Text to Meme platform powered by AI
Considerations:
SUPER MEME is an AI-powered text-to-meme platform that allows you to generate memes from text in natural language. The memes are 100% generated by AI, which also writes the appropriate captions based on the topic in the input text.
The meme-to-text platform also comes with over 1000 high-quality meme templates that are completely safe for work. SUPER MEME may benefit some social media teams, small marketing teams, or bored professionals.
Use Cases:
- Create content for marketing and ads
- Generate content for social media
- Educators can create fun and engaging content for students.
Final Thoughts
Our team evaluated the most popular AI tools available in 2023. We considered several facets while conducting our research, including the cost of the service, how the AI tools responded to queries, and whether we saw industrial value lasting more than a year. We looked for the tools that we already use, and we also considered new AI tools that had just launched in the past few weeks and months.
Chatbots outweigh most other popular AI tools for regular usage throughout the workday. That doesn’t make them the best, and not all chatbots are created equal. To help save you time, we listed the best AI tools in 2023 with respect to their performance and their value.
