Connecting AI to your own software.
WHAT AN API IS
A way for your software to send a request to an AI service and receive a response.
Rather than a person typing into a chat box, your application does it.
WHAT THIS ENABLES
AI capability inside your own product Processing at volume Automation Custom interfaces
HOW IT WORKS BROADLY
Your application sends text and instructions. The service returns generated output. Your application uses it.
WHAT YOU PAY FOR
Usually per token: the input you send plus the output returned.
Long prompts sent repeatedly cost more than people expect.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
Cost at your expected volume Response time Rate limits What happens to the data you send Reliability and what your application does when the service is unavailable
THAT LAST POINT
Build for failure. An application that breaks when the AI service is slow is a fragile application.
FOR NON-DEVELOPERS
You do not need to understand APIs to use AI. This matters when building something.
