By Gary Hudoff — Dec 7, 2023 11:00 AM
If you've spent time on the conference circuit or read some leading higher-ed publications recently, you know that artificial intelligence is a hot topic in higher-ed marketing.
While traditional productivity and marketing programs have been available for decades, a new class of AI-powered tools has recently flooded the market.
However, finding the right tools to help your team work efficiently and effectively can be challenging.
That's why we've narrowed it down to 10 AI-powered tools to help your higher-ed marketing teams work more efficiently. Take a look at our suggestions, along with some great alternatives, below.
Large Language Models/Text Generation
Best Overall Pick: ChatGPT
Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has seemingly dominated the conversation around AI and large language models (LLMs). The text-based generative AI tool from OpenAI can explain complex topics, check the reading levels of text, analyze the tone of written passages, summarize analytics results, write code, and even solve math equations. While competitor Google Bard has better access to up-to-date data, ChatGPT has a distinct edge in creating high-quality written content and summarizing provided text.
Pricing: Free access to GPT-3.5; Plus plan with access to GPT-4 starts at $20/month
Best Alternative: Google Bard
Bard, Google’s foray into the generative AI space, launched in March 2023. Bard is capable of many of the same tasks as ChatGPT but has better access to up-to-date information, is directly connected to Google’s search engine, and can integrate with other Google services through optional extensions.
Pricing: Free
Image Generation
Best Overall Pick: DALL-E 3 or Bing Image Creator (Powered by DALL-E)
If you’re looking for an AI image generator, it’s hard to beat OpenAIs DALL-E 3 and the Bing Image Creator.
Launched in January 2021, DALL-E is a text-to-image model that can generate digital images from text prompts. Initially available only as a developer preview, DALL-E 3 is now available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers and can generate high-quality images in many artistic styles.
Bing Image Generator, which uses underpinnings from DALL-E, can be accessed in the Edge browser using Microsoft’s new Copilot AI assistant.
Pricing: $20/month with ChatGPT Plus account; Free in the Edge browser
Best Alternative: Canva Image Generator
Canva Image Generator is an easy-to-use text-to-image app integrated into the Canva design suite. While Canva’s AI image generator holds its own and can create interesting images, free users are capped at 50 image generations. Canva Pro subscribers receive up to 500 images per month.
Pricing: Free basic access with Canva Free account; $14.99/month for pro
Video Generation
Best Overall Pick: Runway
While text-to-image generators have been in development for some time, text-to-video generators have only recently begun to gain popularity. While the technology is still new, a few services offer simple text-to-video output.
Runway, an AI-based text-to-video generator, allows users to translate text prompts into basic video files. Runway’s Gen-2 model can generate video files, upscale them to a higher resolution, and save them in the Runway cloud. While the sample files shown on Runway’s website look promising, the technology comes at a price. Each video generated with Runway’s Gen-2 model costs $0.05 per second.
Pricing: Free for Basic plan access; Standard plan starts at $12/month
Best Alternative: Pictory
While competitor Runway mainly focuses on generating video with a cinematic style, Pictory specializes in AI-generated video content for social media. Pictory’s text-to-video platform allows users to create promotional videos for social media that feature realistic AI avatars. Pictory’s AI-powered platform can also transform text-based content like blog posts into short-form videos.
Pricing: Free trial (with 3 video projects); Starter plan starts at $19/month
AI Chatbots
Best Overall Pick: Dante AI
AI-powered chatbots have experienced a surge in popularity. Dozens of companies have sprung up and now offer AI-powered intelligent chatbots, most driven by OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 large language model. Dante AI allows customers to design, train, and deploy custom AI chatbots on their websites without writing any code. Dante AI’s easy-to-use system lets users train their GPT-powered chatbots by uploading files and links to the company’s servers. Dante AI says that most users can deploy their chatbots in minutes.
Pricing: Free basic account; Entry plan starts at $10/month
Best Alternative: ChatSimple
Like Dante AI, ChatSimple allows users to quickly and easily set up AI-powered chatbots with minimal effort and no coding. ChatSimple’s chatbots is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 large language model and can be trained with user-supplied information like files and links.
Pricing: Free trial (with 25 free messages per month); Starter account starts at $29/month
Social Media Automation
Best Overall Pick: Sprout Social
Sprout Social, a social media management tool geared toward multi-account management, now offers several AI-powered features in its suite of tools, including social caption recommendations, message filtering and prioritization, and advanced analytics and reporting. Sprout Social allows users to manage up to 5 social profiles at once, features an all-in-one social inbox, and offers suggestions with its “AI Assistant.”
Pricing: Free trial (with 30 days of access); Basic plan starts at $249/month
Best Alternative: SocialBee
While SocialBee lacks some of the more advanced features that Sprout Social boasts, its suite of AI-powered tools is impressive, especially considering the price point. With its “Social Media Copilot,” SocialBee serves platform-specific suggestions and allows users to build custom content strategies and schedules.
Pricing: Free trial (with 14 days of access); Bootstrap plan starts at $24/month
Conclusion
While navigating the rapidly changing landscape of AI-powered marketing resources can be daunting, we hope this curated list of top-performing tools like ChatGPT, DALL-E 3, Runway, Dante AI, and Sprout Social will help you make better-informed decisions.
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