What it means
AI models go through two stages. Training is when a model learns from large amounts of data, which is expensive and done by the provider. Inference is every time the trained model is used: each question answered, each document read, each image described.
When you pay for an AI API, you are mostly paying for inference, usually priced by tokens in and tokens out.
Why it matters for a business
Inference cost and speed decide whether an AI feature is practical at your volume. A model that is perfect but slow or expensive per request may not work for live chat or thousands of documents a day.
A business example
Things to watch
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Estimate monthly cost from real request sizes.
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Measure response time where people are waiting.
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Use smaller models for simple, high-volume steps.
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Cache repeated requests where possible.