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VideoMotor Fuels Tax Minute Episode 114: Understanding AI Token Costs and Budget Risks
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In this episode of Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Leanne Sobel, Kelly Grace and Mark Soileau discuss a lesser-known aspect of AI: the cost of token usage. Mark explains how AI pricing differs from traditional software licensing, why businesses may encounter unexpected expenses as AI usage increases and how token consumption can impact technology budgets. The conversation also explores key considerations for businesses evaluating AI tools and process improvements, including potential applications within the motor fuel tax industry.
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Detailed Description of Weaver’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Episode 114
00:00:00
Kelly: Welcome to this week’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, where we talk all things motor fuel. Today, we are joined by Mark. He is part of our motor fuel tax team and has a pretty solid IT background.
00:00:11
Kelly: And today we’re going to dive into AI. Everyone’s talking about it. I know people love using it to make funny videos and fun pictures, and to ask it about what might be going on with their cat or dog.
But is there a cost, a hidden cost, that we don’t know about with all these searches, Mark?
00:00:30
Mark: Yeah. That’s a great point. Right now, with legacy IT systems, the cost is a fixed price for a license and also for the data.
00:00:43
Mark: With AI, there comes the hidden cost of tokens. Sometimes companies may exceed their budget within a few months because they don’t realize how many tokens certain processes are taking.
00:00:59
Kelly: Which is fascinating to me because I just imagine you build something for your company and you’re relying on it for returns or whatever. Is it possible that you all of a sudden hit your limit and you’re just like, “Oh, no.” Now I’m going to have to find a workaround?
00:01:14
Mark: Yeah. So some of the vendors, they’re providing AI. Some of them do have a fixed price, such as Microsoft Copilot. Even Microsoft Copilot is introducing some tokenization with its co-work application as well.
So, yeah, there are hidden costs where you could do some sort of process improvement using AI agents, and then, all of a sudden, you’ve run out of your budget because of that.
00:01:43
Kelly: That is wild.
00:01:44
Leanne: Well, all this AI is super interesting to me as an old person, and it’s only just going to get more and more interesting. Thank you, Mark, for joining us.
00:01:53
Leanne: I’m sure we’ll have you on again to talk a little bit more about AI and how we’re maybe going to be using it in fuel tax, besides the returns that Kelly was talking about. That was this week’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute.
