Back in 2019, developers placed language and speech at the top of the list of their most commonly used artificial intelligence APIs.
A little over three years later, large language models and generative AI have taken the world by storm. Product managers are using all types of AI-powered features to enhance their products:
- AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) enables apps to understand and respond to user inputs in a more human-like manner.
- AI algorithms can analyze and understand visual content, allowing apps to perform tasks like image recognition, object detection, sentiment analysis, and content moderation.
- AI-powered voice recognition technologies enable hands-free and intuitive interactions within apps.
Besides chatbots and voice assistants, AI is being used to introduce features such as facial recognition, speech-to-text transcription, and image generation. AI is also being used to perform background functions, such as transaction monitoring, fraud detection, and advanced analyses, and provide personalized recommendations to users.
Using AI-powered features can be a competitive advantage. Here are some of the best face-recognition, speech-to-text transcription, and image-generation APIs to consider.
1. Imagga
Imagga is ideal for product managers looking to introduce a visual search or face-recognition feature to their app. You can use Imagga's machine learning models or train your own using your data set and Imagga's AI. In either case, Imagga's API supports visual search, face recognition, tagging, cropping, coloring, and categorizing all types of images. These features can support all types of apps in the following sectors:
- Banking — for authentication and identity verification, as well as scanning, tagging, and categorizing financial documents
- Media and entertainment — for content moderation and image search
- Retail — for enhanced product discovery by tagging product colors and visual search
- Real estate — for categorizing real estate images and powering image search
- IoT — for object recognition to identify and connect with IoT devices in one's vicinity
- Advertising — for visual search to allow users to find products or services related to the advertised content, as well as object categorization
Imagga's pricing varies based on the number of API requests. For face-recognition features, the price is $349/month, which supports 300,000 API requests. You can also go for a custom-built package or try the free version to check for compatibility and response rates. The company provides detailed documentation, so you can set up the free version and test it out yourself.
2. Vision AI
Vision AI or Cloud Vision helps product managers introduce image labeling features to their products. Some of the main features of Vision AI include face and landmark detection, optical character recognition (OCR), and tagging of explicit content. You can also train your own ML models using Vision AI and gain access to Vertex AI Vision, a platform for app development where you can create new apps. Vision AI is being used in:
- Industrial QA automation — to automate visual inspection processes
- Zoological applications — to identify endangered species, as well as other species of interest
- Environmental apps — to identify signs of pollution and assess the environmental impact of human activities and natural disasters
- News apps — to find objects and people of interest in archived and new photos, which may lead to new stories
The API has tier-based pricing where the first 1,000 units of all features are free, and it then goes to $1.50 per thousand units from 1,001 to 5,000,000 units per month. The pricing is not based on API calls since each call can ask for multiple features and, hence, multiple units.
Use the company's documentation to set up a free account and test different features.
3. IBM Watson Speech to Text
With IBM Watson Speech to Text API, you can introduce transcription-based features to your product. The API offers pre-trained speech models that support 14 languages. The speech-to-text features include:
- Real-time speech transcription — which can be used to build chatbots or virtual assistants.
- Speaker diarization — which can detect up to six different speakers in an instance. It can be used to create transcripts from audio files and videos with multiple participants.
- Word spotting and filtering — which help you filter for specific words. It can be used for content moderation.
- Smart formatting — which takes special values, such as dates, times, currencies, email addresses, etc., from text and converts them into their conventional formats. It can be used to enhance voice assistants, i.e., asking your voice assistant to set an alarm for half past six, and it understands that you mean 6:30.
The IBM Watson Speech to Text API is used for quality assurance apps used in performance evaluation for call centers, voice-based instruction features used in CRMs and ERPs, and interactive voice response (IVR) for customer service.
There's a Lite version of the API that gives you up to 500 free minutes per month. After that, it is a pay-as-you-go model. You can get an estimate based on your requirements. Use the company's product guide to set up a free version and test the features yourself.
4. Google Cloud's Speech-to-Text
Through Google Cloud's Speech-to-Text API, you can introduce speech recognition and content filtering features to your product. The API offers support for more than 140 languages. The product offers features such as real-time speech recognition and content filtering. You can also host the technology on your own servers and train your own ML models.
Google Cloud's Speech-to-Text is used in different mobile and web applications for:
- Customer sentiment analysis — to identify customer sentiment and rate the quality of all conversations between customers and your sales/service representatives
- Online learning — to support real-time language conversation practices for more than 140 languages
- Audio search service — to support voice-based search in different apps
- Customer service apps — to create voice-based chatbots
As for pricing, you get 60 minutes' worth of audio transcription and analysis free every month. The price varies based on the number of features you use. Follow the company's guides to set up the API and test some of the features from the free version for accuracy and performance.
5. Stream's Auto Moderation
Stream's automated moderation uses AI to flag prohibited content, remind users about community standards before they send messages with prohibited content, and give moderators all the information they need to review flagged content and take appropriate action. The content moderation feature is currently available to Stream's Enterprise Chat customers and requires no additional coding or integration for it to work if you are already using the chat API.
Stream's auto moderation is valuable for many app use-cases, including:
- Virtual events — to block spammers and harmful behavior from disrupting events
- Marketplaces — to detect and prevent scammers and fraud from buyers and sellers
- Social messaging — to block bots, trolls, and commercial spam from social communities
- Education — to regulate inappropriate or hurtful language and content from live lectures
- Gaming — to ensure positive gaming interactions and regulate bullying or toxic messages
6. DeepAI
If you want your users to be able to generate their own images through your app, use DeepAI's Text to Image API. It is an AI-based image generator that takes instructions in the form of text and produces artwork in 29 different styles.
DeepAI does not produce photorealistic images like Midjourney, but the different styles of artwork it can generate have uses in:
- Marketing — to transform product descriptions or concepts into visual representations
- Storytelling — to generate images based on written stories, narratives, or educational content
- Gaming — to generate characters, environments, or objects in video games
- Social media — to convert text-based posts or quotes into visually appealing images
Currently, the pricing stands at $5 per 100 API calls or $5 per 500 API calls for DeepAI Pro subscribers. It is easy to set up and works with JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and C#.
7. Pixray
Products that cater to graphic designers, illustrators, or artists can benefit from Pixray. It is an image-generation system that works with Replicate, a cloud-based infrastructure platform that helps run machine learning models. The demo version of the text-to-image tool is available online, and the paid version is available via API. It can generate images in seven different styles.
Pixray can be used by content creators, such as:
- Graphic designers — to create concept visualization and design mockups
- Illustrators — for art style exploration and creating visual elements for storytelling
- Artists — to create concept art, reference imagery, and even commercial art
It can also assist in quickly generating visual representations of product mockups or prototypes. So, it's also suitable for use in apps that cater to product managers.
The pricing varies from $0.012 per minute to $0.138 per minute, depending on the kind of infrastructure you choose. The pricing does not depend on the API calls; rather, it depends on CPU usage and the amount of time it takes for the CPU to generate your images.
Replicate offers complete instructions to integrate the Pixray API with your product.
Explore the Possibilities of AI APIs to Stay Competitive
With the acceleration of AI, there are many ways to leverage the technology to advance your product in a saturated market. Determine which AI-powered APIs would drive the most value for your particular niche and audience. Lean into those features that will put the user's safety, convenience, expertise, and satisfaction at the center of your product.
