what are tokens in AI? the units that decide cost, speed, and how much your model can read

AI doesn't read words — it reads tokens. They're why API pricing, context limits, and speed are all measured the way they are. Here's what a token… Aliteq Lena Fischer · AI & Local Compute Editor

A token ≈ ¾ of a word (~4 characters). Common words are one token; longer/rare words split into several.

AI reads and writes in tokens, not words or letters — that's the model's native unit.

Pricing is per token — cloud APIs charge per million input/output tokens.

Context windows are measured in tokens — how much text the model can consider at once.

Speed is tokens per second (tok/s) — the standard benchmark for how fast a model generates.

Rule of thumb: ~1,000 tokens ≈ 750 words ≈ 1.5 pages of text.

Read the full story

Aliteq what are tokens in AI? the units that decide cost, speed, and how much your model can read Read the full story on Aliteq