AI & Technology

What Is a Token in AI?

In AI language models, a token is a small unit of text — often a whole word, part of a word, or a punctuation mark — that the model reads and generates. Models measure input length, output length, and often usage pricing in tokens. In English, one token is roughly four characters, or about three-quarters of a word.

Tokens vs. Words

As a rough rule for English text, 100 tokens is about 75 words. Other languages, code, and numbers can use more tokens per word, so exact counts depend on the model’s tokenizer.

Why Tokens Matter

A model’s context window is measured in tokens, and many AI services charge per thousand or per million tokens processed.

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🔗 Related Terms

Context Window Large Language Model (LLM) Prompt Embedding (AI) Inference (AI)

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Last updated: September 29, 2026. This definition is for general educational purposes only. It is not financial, investment, tax, legal, or medical advice, and it does not recommend any product or course of action. For decisions about your own situation, consult a qualified professional.