Token (AI)
The basic unit of text that an AI model processes, which can be a word, part of a word, or even a single character.
Think of a 'token' as the smallest piece of language an AI model can understand and work with. It's not always a whole word; sometimes 'running' might be broken into 'run' and '##ning', or a common phrase might be treated as a single token. This allows the AI to handle a huge variety of texts efficiently.
For small businesses, tokens are important because they often determine the 'length' limits of AI responses and inputs, as well as the cost of using AI services. Many AI platforms charge per token. Understanding tokens helps you estimate usage, manage costs, and craft prompts that fit within an AI's processing capacity.
When an SMB uses an AI writing tool, their input prompt and the AI's generated response are both broken down into tokens, affecting the tool's usage cost and the maximum length of the output.