SofTouch System’s AI Tracking Chart
The 5 W’s of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing business operations by offering tools to boost efficiency, creativity, and decision-making. This AI Tracking guide from SofTouch Systems answers the essential questions: What, Who, Where, When, and Why. It helps you unlock AI’s potential for your organization.
What is AI?
AI encompasses technologies that mimic human intelligence to perform tasks like text generation, image creation, video editing, and voice synthesis. These tools simplify workflows and enable the creation of engaging content while enhancing efficiency.
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Who Should Use AI?
This guide is designed for business leaders of all sizes who aim to stay competitive by leveraging technology. Whether you’re a small business owner or a corporate executive, AI can help you better serve your customers and communities.
Where Can AI Be Applied?
AI tools are versatile and can be applied across various domains:
- Crafting newsletters or marketing campaigns.
- Enhancing educational experiences with interactive content.
- Improving customer engagement in business operations.
- Improving efficacy in company systems and workflows.
When Should You Explore AI?
The time is now. Technology is advancing rapidly. Pricing options are also becoming more affordable, ranging from free open-source options to budget-friendly subscriptions. There’s no better moment to integrate AI into your daily processes.
Why Use AI?
AI saves time. It reduces costs. It empowers you to focus on what matters most: growing your organization or serving your community. By adopting AI tools strategically, you can boost productivity while fostering innovation and creativity.
Why Start AI Now?
AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a practical tool for transforming how you work. From automating repetitive tasks to enabling creative breakthroughs, these technologies can and will make a lasting impact on your organization.
You’ll find a detailed chart below. It tracks the leading AI companies and their products across text (LLMs). It also covers image, video, and audio generation. This chart provides an overview of each tool’s use cases, pricing structures, and capabilities. This helps you make informed decisions about which solutions are right for you.
AI Tracking Chart
The Living List
AI Models List
| Company | Products | Use Cases | Pricing | Abilities |
|---|
This AI Tracking chart captures the diverse ecosystem of companies innovating in generative AI across modalities as of November 2025.
Understanding the Differences of AI
What is an AI Text Generator and How Does It Work?
An AI text generator is a software tool. It creates human-like text based on patterns learned from vast amounts of data. These models use advanced artificial intelligence techniques. Techniques include natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. These methods help generate coherent and contextually relevant sentences.
For example, AI-powered tools like ChatGPT can write essays, answer questions, generate creative stories, or assist with business communication. They work by predicting the most likely next word in a sentence based on the input they receive. This ability makes them useful for content creation, brainstorming ideas, or even improving writing efficiency.
AI text generators are transforming industries by enabling faster and more efficient writing. Whether you’re a student, a business owner, or a content creator, these tools can help streamline your work.
What is an AI Generative Photo Model and How Does It Work?
An AI generative photo model creates realistic or stylized images based on input descriptions, sketches, or datasets of existing photos. These models use deep neural networks like GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks) to generate high-quality images that look as though they were created by human photographers or artists.
For example, tools like DALL·E and Stable Diffusion can generate stunning digital artwork, realistic portraits, and even product designs from simple text prompts. AI-generated images are widely used in advertising, game development, and social media content creation.
AI photo generation is making digital creativity more accessible to designers, marketers, and hobbyists alike.
What is an AI Generative Audio Model and How Does It Work?
An AI generative audio model is a type of artificial intelligence that can create music, speech, and sound effects from scratch. Instead of copying existing audio, the model learns patterns from huge datasets of songs, voices, instruments, and environmental sounds. Once trained, it can produce completely new audio that matches the style, tone, or structure of what it learned.
These models work by converting sound waves into numerical patterns the AI can understand. The system analyzes things like rhythm, pitch, tone, pacing, and speech inflection. When you give it a prompt—such as “create a calm piano melody” or “generate a realistic voice saying this sentence”—the model predicts what the audio should sound like and synthesizes it in real time. Modern systems can also clone voices, remove background noise, or remix audio based on simple text instructions.
Today’s generative audio tools, such as ElevenLabs, Stable Audio, GPT-4o’s voice mode, Google’s AudioLM, and similar platforms, are used for podcasts, music production, video content, training materials, and accessibility tools. They make it possible for anyone to produce professional-quality audio without recording equipment or studio experience.
What is an AI Generative Video Model and How Does It Work?
An AI generative video model is a type of artificial intelligence that creates realistic or stylized videos based on text descriptions, images, or existing footage. These models use deep learning and computer vision to analyze video patterns and generate new frames that mimic human creativity.
For example, platforms like Runway ML or Synthesia allow users to create high-quality videos by simply providing a script or a prompt. These models can generate animations, deepfake-style content, and even realistic human avatars.
AI-powered video generation is revolutionizing industries like marketing, entertainment, and education by making video production faster and more accessible. Explore more about AI video generators in this
What is a Multimodal AI Model and How Does It Work?
A multimodal AI model is an advanced type of artificial intelligence that can understand and work with different kinds of information at the same time—such as text, images, audio, and even video. Instead of being limited to just reading words or analyzing pictures separately, a multimodal model can combine these inputs, making it far more flexible and closer to how people naturally learn and communicate.
These models work by converting everything—text, pixels, sound waves, or video frames—into a shared numerical format the AI can understand. Because all data types are processed inside one unified system, the model can connect them. For example, you can ask it to explain a screenshot, describe what’s happening in a video clip, read a document and summarize it, or listen to audio and respond with spoken answers.
Modern multimodal models like GPT-4o, GPT-5, Gemini 2.0, and Claude 3.5 use this approach to create more useful, natural interactions. They power things like advanced assistants, real-time voice chatbots, AI tutors, accessibility tools, and creative applications that mix text, images, sound, or video. In simple terms: multimodal AI lets computers understand the world through more than one “sense,” leading to much smarter and more human-friendly behavior.
Understanding AI Pricing Models: Free, Subscription, Pay-Per-Use, and Enterprise Plans
AI companies use different pricing models based on how their technology is intended to be used, whether for individual creators, businesses, or large-scale enterprises. Here’s a breakdown of the most common AI pricing structures and what they mean for users:
1. Free and Freemium AI Models
Many AI companies offer free or freemium versions of their tools to help new users get started without paying anything upfront. A free plan usually includes basic access but comes with limits such as fewer daily prompts, slower response times, reduced output quality, or watermarks on generated images and videos. Freemium plans go a step further by giving free users some premium features while encouraging upgrades through optional paid tiers.
Today, large platforms like OpenAI, Google, Meta, Midjourney competitors, Canva, and Runway all use this model. For example, free versions may allow text chats, simple image generation, or short audio tasks, while reserving higher-quality models, advanced editing tools, or commercial-use rights for paying members. This lets people try the technology without committing financially, while still giving professionals and businesses reasons to upgrade.
Who is this for? Free and freemium plans are ideal for students, hobbyists, creators experimenting with AI, and anyone who needs lightweight or occasional use. They offer an easy entry point, letting users learn how modern AI works before deciding whether advanced features or faster performance are worth paying for.
2. Subscription-Based AI Models
Many AI companies use monthly or yearly subscription plans to unlock full access to their tools. These paid tiers usually include faster performance, higher-quality outputs, priority access during busy hours, and early availability of new models and features. Subscriptions often remove restrictions found in free plans, such as usage caps, watermarks, or limited processing power.
In 2025, this model is used by platforms such as ChatGPT (Pro and Team), Midjourney, Claude, Perplexity, Runway, and many image/video generation tools. For example, paid subscribers may gain access to more advanced models, longer context windows, better video and audio generation quality, or increased daily usage limits. Some platforms also offer commercial-use rights, which are important for anyone creating content for work.
Who is this for? Subscription plans are ideal for freelancers, content creators, small businesses, and professionals who rely on AI regularly for writing, design, research, or media production. They offer predictable monthly costs and provide the performance and reliability needed for consistent, professional-grade work.
3. Pay-Per-Use AI Models (API-Based Pricing)
Some AI models charge based on usage, meaning users only pay for what they consume. This is common in AI APIs, where businesses integrate AI features into their own software without a monthly commitment. Pricing is often based on factors like the number of words generated, image resolutions, or minutes of AI-generated speech.
Example: OpenAI’s GPT API charges per 1,000 tokens (units of text), while ElevenLabs AI voice generation charges per second of generated speech. Similarly, Stable Diffusion API charges per image request.
Who is this for? Developers, startups, and businesses integrating AI into apps, chatbots, or creative workflows without needing a fixed subscription.
4. Enterprise AI Solutions (Custom Pricing & Licensing)
For large-scale businesses, AI providers offer custom enterprise pricing, which includes dedicated server access, enhanced security, and customized AI models trained on proprietary data. These contracts often include bulk discounts and priority support.
Example: Google’s Gemini AI, Microsoft Azure AI, and OpenAI’s Enterprise GPT provide large organizations with tailored AI models, private cloud hosting, and compliance-focused features. Companies like Adobe and Nvidia also offer enterprise AI solutions for creative industries and AI-powered computing.
Who is this for? Large corporations, research institutions, and government agencies looking for secure, scalable AI solutions.
Which AI Pricing Model Is Right for You?
- Casual Users: Free/Freemium plans work well.
- Freelancers & Creators: Subscriptions provide better AI-generated content and priority access.
- Developers & Businesses: Pay-per-use APIs allow flexibility and scalability.
- Enterprises: Custom AI solutions offer advanced features, security, and large-scale support.
Understanding these models helps users decide which AI tools are suitable for personal use. It also helps determine which tools are designed for large-scale business applications.