What Are Generative AI Tools? A Beginner's Guide

Generative AI tools are transforming how we interact with technology—from writing content and coding software to organizing our calendars and editing emails. As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in everyday workflows, many people are asking: Which tools are actually generative AI? Is ChatGPT part of it? What about tools like Siri or Grammarly?

This guide will break down key technologies—ChatGPT, GPT, Siri, and Grammarly—and provide a comprehensive gen AI tools list so you can understand which tools create original content, and which simply assist or automate.

What Are Generative AI Tools?

Generative AI refers to AI systems that can create brand-new content, such as text, images, music, or code, rather than just analyzing or retrieving information. These tools use advanced models—like transformers and deep neural networks—to learn patterns and generate contextually accurate results based on user prompts.

Unlike traditional AI, which might sort emails or recommend products, generative AI tools produce something that didn’t previously exist. That could mean a personalized poem, an original image, or even a legal document draft.

What Makes the Best Generative AI Tool?

Choosing the right generative AI tool depends on your specific needs—whether for text, images, video, or code. Here's what top-rated tools (like ChatGPT, DALL·E, Jasper, and Midjourney) share in common:

1. Multimodal Capability

Top generative AI tools work across multiple formats—text, audio, image, and video—so you can handle diverse creative tasks in one platform. 

2. Context-Aware Prompting

The best tools understand nuance and context. They interpret prompts with tone and style accuracy, delivering outputs that match your intent.

3. Customization & Fine-Tuning

High-quality tools let users fine-tune outputs—adjust tone, visual style, or train models on proprietary data for brand consistency .

4. User-Friendly Design

Even powerful tools must be easy to use. Simplicity in interface and guidance via templates ensure accessibility across skill levels. 

5. Smooth Integration

The best generative AI tools connect seamlessly with your existing workflows—CMS, design suites, video editors, or code repositories. 

6. Transparent & Trustworthy Models

Top-tier tools generative AI tools disclose training data origin, content safety controls, and bias-mitigation measures. Adobe Firefly, for instance, uses licensed/public-domain visuals to ensure "commercially safe" outputs. 

7. Scalability & Pricing Flexibility

Great tools grow with you—offering scalable pricing, pay-as-you-go options, or enterprise tiers. Whether you're a solopreneur or a global brand, the tool adapts.

Popular Generative AI Tools 2025

ChatGPT: A Leading Generative AI Tool

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is one of the most widely used and accessible examples of generative AI tools. It runs on powerful models like GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, depending on the version you’re using.

What Makes It Generative?

• Creates New Text: ChatGPT doesn't pull answers from a database. It generates unique content in real time.
• Understands Context: Conversations feel human-like because it remembers context and adjusts responses accordingly.
• Versatile Applications: From drafting resumes to brainstorming startup ideas, ChatGPT adapts to countless use cases.

Whether you're in education, marketing, programming, or customer support, ChatGPT is a flexible productivity enhancer with real generative power.

GPT: The Backbone of Generative AI

GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) refers to the family of large language models powering tools like ChatGPT and other custom AI solutions. These models are trained on massive text datasets from across the internet, learning how to predict and generate natural language.

Why GPT Matters

• Scalable Technology: Companies build custom applications on top of GPT via API.
• Custom Fine-Tuning: GPT models can be adapted for specific industries or tasks—law, healthcare, finance, etc.
• Cross-Tool Usage: Beyond ChatGPT, GPT powers platforms like Jasper, Copilot, and various enterprise chatbots.

When considering any text-generation platform, it's the GPT architecture that determines how strong, accurate, and creative it can be.

Grammarly: Smarter Writing, But Not Fully Generative

Grammarly has become a staple tool for writers, professionals, and students. It reviews grammar, spelling, tone, and clarity in real time. But is it a generative AI tool?

Where Grammarly Fits

• Correction Over Creation: Grammarly improves existing text rather than creating new text from scratch.
• Rephrasing Capabilities: Offers alternative phrasings or suggestions, using AI-driven feedback.
• Limited Creativity: While smart and helpful, Grammarly doesn’t originate full paragraphs or ideas like ChatGPT.

In short, Grammarly is an AI-powered assistant, but not a core generative AI tool—though it does borrow some generative techniques for refining text.

Did you know? Grammarly was launched in 2009.

Siri: Intelligent Assistant with Limited Generative Abilities

Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, is a classic example of natural language processing combined with machine learning. But does it qualify as generative AI?

What Siri Does

• Executes Tasks: Plays music, sets reminders, sends texts, answers basic questions.
• Scripted Responses: Siri responds based on pre-programmed commands or knowledge retrieval.
• Not Built to Generate Content: You won't find Siri writing blog posts or summarizing long emails.

While Siri includes conversational elements, it lacks the creative and spontaneous content-generation capacity seen in tools like ChatGPT or GPT-based systems.

The Generative AI Tools List: Today’s Most Notable Platforms

Here’s a snapshot of top generative AI tools being widely used across industries today. These tools support everything from creative content generation to data-driven personalization.

How to Tell if a Tool Is Truly Generative AI?

Use the following checklist to spot authentic generative AI tools:

• ✅ Creates Original Output: From text to images to code—gen AI always starts with a blank canvas.
   
• ✅ Predicts Based on Data: Learns from massive datasets to simulate human creativity.
   
• ✅ Adapts in Real Time: Responds dynamically to prompts and context.
   
• ✅ Doesn’t Rely on Scripts: Unlike rule-based bots, gen AI generates flexible, varied results.

If a tool merely automates a task or repeats set responses, it likely falls outside the generative category.

Wrap Up

Generative AI tools are evolving fast, offering practical solutions across industries. From ChatGPT’s dynamic text generation to GPT’s integration potential, these technologies are helping individuals and businesses scale creativity, efficiency, and communication.

Using the power of Gen AI, we at Glance are also evolving to enhance your experience with shopping, news updates, weather forecasts, and more. So, you experience Gen AI in your daily life. 

FAQs Related to Generative AI Tools

1. What are generative AI tools?
Generative AI tools are software powered by artificial intelligence that create original content, such as text, images, code, or music, based on user prompts. They analyze patterns from large datasets to produce unique, contextually relevant outputs, enabling applications like AI chatbots, image generators, and code-writing assistants.

2. What is an example of a generative AI?
ChatGPT is a well-known example of generative AI. It can produce human-like text, including answers, summaries, creative writing, and code, by generating content based on user prompts. Generative AI models like ChatGPT learn patterns from vast datasets to create coherent and contextually relevant outputs.

3. What are the different types of generative AI?
Generative AI comes in a few core types, each defined by how it learns and creates new content. The most common ones are Generative Adversarial Networks which use two models competing to produce realistic images, Diffusion Models which create high quality visuals by gradually refining noise into a final image, Variational Autoencoders which learn patterns and rebuild new versions of them, and Autoregressive Models which generate text or code one step at a time based on what comes before. Each type has its own strengths, so the model that works best usually depends on whether the goal is images, text, or something more complex.

4. What is the difference between AI and generative AI?
AI is a broad field that focuses on analyzing data, recognizing patterns, and making decisions. Generative AI is a specific branch within it that creates new content such as text, images, audio, or code based on what it has learned. The main difference is that traditional AI is built to interpret or classify information, while generative AI is designed to produce original material that did not exist before. This creative ability is what sets generative AI apart from the rest of the AI family.