Is There a Cost to Using CreateAI?

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A: Understanding CreateAI Usage and Cost for Faculty and Staff

B: Understanding CreateAI Usage and Cost for Students. 

 

A: For Faculty and Staff

One of the most common questions we receive from faculty and staff is:

“When I see the price listed next to a model in CreateAI, does ASU actually pay that? Should I be concerned about using it with a large class?”

The short answer is: AI usage has a real cost, but faculty, staff, and departments are not currently billed automatically for standard CreateAI usage. Projects have monthly usage limits, and builders are responsible for monitoring and managing the usage generated by the projects they own.

Who Pays for CreateAI Today?

Enterprise Technology currently funds standard CreateAI infrastructure and AI model usage within established project allocations.

Every prompt and response generates a cost that ASU pays to an AI provider. While builders are not currently sent an automatic invoice, each project has a monthly limit to help manage costs and keep CreateAI sustainable.

Who Is Responsible for Project Usage?

Usage and cost are attributed to the builder who owns the project. This includes activity generated by students, colleagues, and other app viewers.

Students and other app viewers are not charged for interacting with someone else’s project.

When preparing a project for a class or other large audience, builders should consider the number of expected users, frequency of use, conversation length, and selected model.

How Is AI Spend Calculated?

AI spend is calculated based on the tokens processed when a project receives a request and generates a response. The cost per token varies by model, so projects that use more tokens or higher-cost models will use their monthly allocation faster.

Why Does CreateAI Show Model Pricing?

Model pricing reflects the rates ASU pays AI providers and helps builders:

• Understand the real cost of AI usage.

• Compare the relative cost of different models.

• Choose a model appropriate for the project’s needs.

• Understand how model choice may affect the monthly allocation.

• Use university resources responsibly.

The displayed prices do not represent an automatic personal charge, but they affect how quickly a project uses its monthly budget.

What If I Am a Student Worker?

If you use CreateAI as part of your ASU employment, your work-related projects are included in the faculty/staff usage group—even if you are also enrolled as a student.

The student allocations described in this guide apply to projects you create for coursework or other student activities. Refer to the faculty/staff usage guidance for projects created as part of your job.

How Can I Review My Usage?

Open your profile menu in CreateAI Builder and select Usage.

The monthly usage view shows your active projects, including:

• Month-to-date spend.

• Monthly project limit.

• Percentage of the limit used.

• Projects approaching or currently at their limits.

• The applicable monthly reset date.

What Happens When a Project Reaches Its Limit?

When a project reaches its monthly limit, it may be temporarily paused until its allocation resets at the beginning of the next month.

If additional capacity is needed, the builder may request a higher limit. Requests may be reviewed based on the project’s purpose, expected audience, model selection, anticipated usage, and available funding.

How Can I Manage Project Cost?

Before requesting a higher limit, consider whether a more cost-effective model can meet the project’s needs. More advanced or expensive models may be appropriate for some use cases, but they should be selected intentionally.

For projects supporting large classes or high-volume use, review expected usage before launch and monitor the project throughout the month.

Could the Funding Model Change?

CreateAI’s funding and cost-management approach will continue to evolve as adoption grows. ASU may evaluate additional funding, allocation, top-up, or departmental chargeback approaches to keep the service sustainable.

Any material change to billing or funding responsibilities will be communicated before it takes effect.

Our Ask

Because AI usage has a real cost, even though ET currently covers standard usage, we encourage everyone to choose models intentionally and use resources responsibly. Thoughtful usage helps us continue providing broad access to the ASU community.

If you have any questions, please let us know. We’re here to support you!