The Tools: Where Is AI Used and What Are the Differences?
You now understand what AI is and how it works. But what concrete tools actually exist? The landscape is vast — here's your overview.
The Five Major Categories
Text AI (Large Language Models)
The all-rounders among AI tools. They understand and generate text, answer questions, write code, summarise, and translate.
Image AI (Image Generation)
From text to image: describe what you want to see and the AI generates it. Image editing (background removal, upscaling) is also part of this category.
Audio AI (Audio & Voice)
Speech to text, text to speech, real-time translation, and voice cloning. Quality has improved drastically over the past two years.
Code AI (Developer Tools)
AI assistants that help developers with programming: code completion, bug detection, refactoring, and building complete applications.
Specialised Tools
Tools optimised for specific tasks: research, note management, data analysis, video generation, and much more.
Your Checklist: How to Find the Right Tool
With the flood of tools out there, it's important to approach things systematically. Ask yourself these questions before every decision:
What exactly do I want to achieve?
Define your goal clearly: write text? Create an image? Analyse data? The more precise, the better.
Do I need internet access?
Some AIs (e.g., Perplexity) can search the web. Others work only with their training knowledge.
What about data privacy?
Never enter sensitive personal or business data into an AI whose privacy policy you haven't reviewed.
Is the free version enough?
Always test the free tier first. Only upgrade when you hit real limitations.
Does the AI cite its sources?
For fact-based tasks, tools with source citations (e.g., Perplexity) are worth their weight in gold.
Can I export the results?
Make sure you can easily copy or export your work.
Data Privacy: What You Need to Watch Out For
Despite all the enthusiasm for AI tools, data privacy is a topic you should take seriously from the start. Here are the most important ground rules:
- Don't enter personal data:Don't input full names, addresses, dates of birth, or health information into AI tools you haven't vetted for privacy compliance.
- Protect business secrets:Internal company data, code, or strategies don't belong in public AI services. Many providers use your inputs for further training.
- Check settings:Many tools offer options to disable training with your data. Look in settings for “Data Privacy” or “Training opt-out.”
- Consider European alternatives:Providers with servers in the EU are subject to the GDPR — this gives you additional protection.
- Verify results:AIs can hallucinate — meaning they invent facts. Always check important information against independent sources.
Practical Tip: How to Get Started
Don't pick ten tools at once — start with a single text AI tool(e.g., ChatGPT or Claude in the free version). Use it for a week across various everyday tasks: drafting an email, creating a summary, brainstorming an idea. This way you'll get a feel for the strengths and limitations before specialising further.