Generative AI

The number of generative AI tools available is rapidly increasing. Rather than attempt to list all of them, this page lists the most well-known text and image generating models and tools, as well as a few alternatives. Each tool is accompanied by a description, a note on its current status, requirements to create an account, costs to use the tool, information about privacy, and other key notes. Note that a tool's inclusion on this list is not an endorsement.

Updated: April 2024

Cedille by Coteries

• Description: Cedille AI is claimed to be the largest language model in French by its Swiss company, Coteries.
• Status: Cedille AI is publicly available.
• Accounts: To create an account, Cedille requires an email address and password.
• Cost: The free version of Cedille permits 10 uses per month; subscriptions of increasing usage range from 9 to 139 Euros per month, which is about $13 to $200 CAD.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Focus on French and German language models.

HuggingChat by HuggingFace

• Description: HuggingChat is an open source generative AI tool that uses Meta's Llama 3 model and other models.
• Status: HuggingChat is publicly available.
• Accounts: A HuggingFace account is required to use HuggingChat. A HuggingFace account requires an email address and a full name.
• Cost: HuggingChat is currently free.
• Privacy: HuggingChat conversations are not shared with model authors.
• Notes: Previous conversations with HuggingChat can be saved or deleted.

ChatGPT by OpenAI

• Description: ChatGPT by OpenAI is the most well-known text generating tool.
• Status: ChatGPT is publicly available.
• Accounts: ChatGPT accounts require an email address, full name, and date of birth.
• Cost: The free version of ChatGPT uses the older GPT-3.5 model; ChatGPT Plus uses GPT-4 and costs $20 USD per month, which is about $27 CAD.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Despite the openness suggested by its name, OpenAI is a for-profit, private company, and ChatGPT is neither open source nor transparent in how it operates. Beware of impostor apps and sites posing as ChatGPT.

Copilot by Microsoft

• Description: Microsoft's generative AI tool, powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 model. Replaces Bing Chat.
• Status: Copilot is publicly available.
• Accounts: Copilot permits limited use without an account. A Microsoft account is required for increased use. A Microsoft account requires full name, date of birth, and country of residence.
• Cost: The free version of Copilot still has limited use compared to Copilot Pro. Copilot Pro costs $27 CAD per month and includes integration with Office apps and 100 image generations per day instead of 15.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool. However, University of Ottawa students, staff, and faculty have access to Microsoft Copilot with commercial data protection if they sign in to Copilot with their uOttawa account. Look for the uOttawa logo and the green shield icon that says "Protected" once you have logged in.
• Notes: Uses the same language model as ChatGPT.

Gemini by Google

• Description: Google's generative AI tool. Replaces Bard.
• Status: Gemini is publicly available.
• Accounts: A Google account is required to use Gemini. A Google account requires first name, date of birth, gender, and mobile phone number for SMS verification.
• Cost: The free version of Gemini uses the 1.0 Pro model; Gemini Advanced uses 1.0 Ultra and costs $27 CAD per month.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Gemini presents the following message when you first use it, "Your conversations are processed by human reviewers to improve the technologies powering Gemini Apps."

Claude by Anthropic

• Description: Claude is a generative AI chatbot by Anthropic, a public-benefit corporation formed by former members of OpenAI.
• Status: Claude is currently not available in Canada. It is available in the US and UK.
• Accounts: A Claude account requires an email address and full name.
• Cost: The free version of Claude provides limited usage; Claude Pro provides five times more usage of the free version and costs $20 USD per month, which is about $27 CAD.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Claude is currently not available in Canada.

Meta AI by Meta

• Description: Meta's generative AI tool, powered by Llama 3, and integrated into Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp, and the latest Meta AR/VR devices.
• Status: Meta AI is publicly available.
• Accounts: Meta AI permits limited use without an account. A Facebook is required to generate image and access additional features. A Facebook account requires a name, email address or mobile phone number, date of birth, and gender.
• Cost: Meta AI is currently free.
• Privacy: Since Meta AI is being integrated with Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, any privacy concerns related with those apps apply while using Meta AI.
• Notes: Meta AI is currently only available in English.

Stable Diffusion by Stability AI

• Description: Stable Diffusion is an image generating model by Stability AI. Stable Diffusion can be accessed via DreamStudio or Stable Assistant.
• Status: Stable Diffusion is publicly available via DreamStudio or Stable Assistant (with a subscription).
• Accounts: Stability AI offers access to Stable Diffusion through DreamStudio or Stable Assistant. A Stability AI account requires an email address.
• Cost: DreamStudio offers 25 free credits to create images, after which credits must be purchased. Stable Assistant offers subscriptions of increasing usage range from $9 to $99 USD per month, which is about $13 to $135 CAD.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Beware of impostor apps and sites posing as Stable Diffusion. Stable Diffusion is currently officially accessible through DreamStudio or Stable Assistant.

Dall-E 3 by OpenAI

• Description:  Dall-E 3 by OpenAI is an image generating tool.
• Status: Dall-E 3 is publicly available via ChatGPT Plus.
• Accounts: Dall-E 3 accounts require an email address, full name, and date of birth.
• Cost: Dall-E 3 is available via ChatGPT Plus. ChatGPT Plus costs $20 USD per month, which is about $27 CAD.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Despite the openness suggested by its name, OpenAI is a for-profit, private company. Dall-E 3 is not open source.

Midjourney by Midjourney

• Description: Midjourney is an image generating tool.
• Status: Midjourney is publicly available through Discord.
• Accounts: Access to Midjourney requires a Discord account. Discord accounts require an email address and date of birth.
• Cost: Midjourney offers 4 subscription tiers, costing $10, $30, $60, and $120 USD per month, which is about $14, $41, $82, and $163 CAD respectively.
• Privacy: As with any generative AI tool, do not enter any information you don't want to be retained by the tool.
• Notes: Beware of impostor apps and sites posing as Midjourney. Midjourney is currently accessible through Discord only.

Meta AI by Meta

• Description: Meta AI uses Meta's image generating model, Emu.
• Status: Meta AI is publicly available.
• Accounts: A Facebook account is required to generate images with Meta AI. A Facebook account requires a name, email address or mobile phone number, date of birth, and gender.
• Cost: Meta AI is currently free.
• Privacy: Since Meta AI is being integrated with Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, any privacy concerns related with those apps apply while using Emu.
• Notes: Meta AI is currently only available in English.