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With so many AI large language models available, I've categorized them based on their primary functions to help you choose the right one for your needs. Here are the categories and some recommendations I find easy to use – focusing on practicality and getting started quickly!

1. Text Generation Models: All-around for Writing, Chatting, and Polishing

These models specialize in text understanding and generation. Whether it's writing articles, translating, polishing text, or just chatting, they can handle it all.

  • Great & Free Options (China):

    • DeepSeek Chat (chat.deepseek.com): A versatile choice for text-based tasks, simple and easy to use.
    • Tencent Yuanbao (yuanbao.tencent.com): Feature-rich and handles daily text processing with ease.
    • Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) (chat.qwen.ai): Stable and reliable, suitable for various text requirements.
  • Worth Trying (International):

    • Grok (grok.com): Especially suitable for tasks requiring real-time search, seamlessly integrates with data from platform X (formerly Twitter), providing up-to-the-minute information.
    • Gemini (via Google AI Studio, aistudio.google.com): Almost free and unlimited, excels in text generation, translation, and polishing, and even handles mixed text and image layouts – just not video generation.

2. Text-to-Image Models: Turning Sentences into Art

These models can generate images directly from your text descriptions, a great tool for unleashing your creativity.

  • Recommended (China):

    • Ji Meng (jimeng.jianying.com): In addition to generating images, it can also create videos, maximizing creativity, but the free quota is a bit stingy.
    • Tongyi Wanxiang (wan.video): Handles both images and videos well, with good results, but the number of free uses is also limited.
  • Strong Performers (International):

    • Grok: Not only excels at text, but also does a great job with image generation.
    • Gemini: Even more powerful, it can not only generate images independently but also insert them directly into text, providing a super cool experience.

3. Text or Image-to-Video Models: From Ideas to Short Clips

These models can turn text or images into short videos in seconds, suitable for those who want quick results.

4. Audio and Video Understanding Models: Understanding Audio and Video for Summarization

These models can analyze audio or video content, outputting text transcriptions or summaries, making them extremely practical.

My Usage Tips and Recommendations

The above are some of the large language models I use frequently, and my experience with them has been quite positive. Domestically, DeepSeek Chat, Tencent Yuanbao, and Tongyi Qianwen are stable and reliable for text-based tasks, and they're also free and easy to use.

Internationally, Grok is great for searching information thanks to its real-time data from platform X; Gemini is an all-rounder with almost free and powerful features, especially its ability to handle mixed text and image layouts. If you want to play with text-to-image or video, Ji Meng and Tongyi Wanxiang are good choices in China, but be mindful of the free quota.

If you're too lazy to choose and just want to use one, I highly recommend Gemini. Apart from not being able to generate videos, its other features are almost perfect, and its cost-effectiveness is ridiculously high, making it a pleasure for developers to use!