AI Parse (Document AI)

Lakemeter UI name: AI Parse

AI Parse (Document AI) provides intelligent document parsing and extraction — converting PDFs, scanned images, and complex documents into structured data. Lakemeter supports two billing modes: DBU-based (direct DBU hours) and Pages-based (pages processed × complexity).

When to use AI Parse

Use AI Parse when you need to extract structured data from documents — things like invoice processing, contract analysis, form digitization, or medical record parsing. If you need to call a language model for text generation or chat, see FMAPI — Databricks Models instead.

Real-world example

Scenario: You are processing 50,000 scanned invoices per month on AWS us-east-1 (Premium tier). The invoices contain tables, logos, and multi-column layouts, so you classify them as "high" complexity. Each invoice is approximately 2 pages, totaling 100,000 pages per month.

Configuration

Field	Value
Workload Type	AI Parse
Billing Mode	Pages
Complexity	High
Pages (Thousands)	100

Step-by-step calculation

1. DBU rate per 1,000 pages

Each complexity level has a fixed DBU rate per 1,000 pages processed:

DBU per 1,000 Pages = 87.5 (High complexity)

2. Monthly DBUs and cost

Monthly DBUs = Pages (thousands) × DBU per 1,000 Pages
             = 100 × 87.5 = 8,750 DBUs
DBU Cost     = 8,750 × $0.07/DBU = $612.50
Total Cost   = $612.50 (no VM costs — always serverless)

note

These are example rates for illustration. Actual $/DBU depends on your cloud, region, and pricing tier. The $0.07 rate is the fallback for the SERVERLESS_REAL_TIME_INFERENCE SKU on AWS/us-east-1/Premium.

What about simpler documents?

For plain-text documents (letters, memos) with no tables or images:

DBU per 1,000 Pages = 12.5 (Low Text complexity)
Monthly DBUs        = 100 × 12.5 = 1,250 DBUs
Total Cost          = 1,250 × $0.07 = $87.50/month

That's 7× cheaper than high complexity for the same page count.

Billing modes

Mode	How it works	Best for
Pages	Pages (thousands) × complexity rate → DBUs	Document processing with known page counts
DBU	Direct DBU hours per month	Pre-calculated DBU budgets or mixed usage

Pages mode — complexity levels

Complexity	DBU per 1,000 Pages	Document types
Low (Text)	12.5	Plain text documents, letters, simple memos
Low (Images)	22.5	Documents with embedded images but simple layout
Medium	62.5	Mixed content — text with some tables and images
High	87.5	Complex layouts — multi-column, dense tables, forms, scanned images

Choosing complexity

When in doubt, use Medium. Reserve High for documents with complex table extraction or multi-column scanned PDFs. Use Low (Text) only for well-structured digital PDFs with no images.

Configuration reference

Field	Description	Default
Billing Mode	Pages or DBU. Pages mode uses complexity-based rates; DBU mode uses direct hours.	Pages
Complexity	Document complexity level (Pages mode only). Determines DBU rate per 1,000 pages.	Medium
Pages (Thousands)	Number of pages to process per month, in thousands (Pages mode only).	100
Hours Per Month	Direct DBU hours (DBU mode only).	0

How costs are calculated

Pages mode

DBU/1000 Pages = Complexity Rate Lookup[complexity]
Monthly DBUs   = Pages (thousands) × DBU/1000 Pages
DBU Cost       = Monthly DBUs × $/DBU
Total Cost     = DBU Cost (no VM costs — always serverless)

DBU mode

Monthly DBUs = Hours Per Month (direct input)
DBU Cost     = Monthly DBUs × $/DBU
Total Cost   = DBU Cost

SKU mapping

Workload	SKU	Fallback $/DBU
AI Parse (all modes)	SERVERLESS_REAL_TIME_INFERENCE	$0.07

Tips

• Estimate page counts accurately: If you process 10,000 invoices with an average of 3 pages each, that's 30,000 pages = 30 thousands. Don't confuse document count with page count.
• Batch by complexity: If you have a mix of simple and complex documents, create separate workload entries for each complexity level to get a more accurate estimate.
• Pages mode is usually clearer: Unless you already know your DBU budget, Pages mode gives a more intuitive estimate based on actual document volumes.

Common mistakes

• Confusing thousands with actual page count: The Pages field is in thousands. If you process 50,000 pages/month, enter 50, not 50,000.
• Over-classifying complexity: Not every document is "High" complexity. A well-formatted digital PDF with a simple table is "Medium" at most. Over-classifying inflates your estimate by up to 7×.
• Expecting VM costs: AI Parse is always serverless. $0 VM cost is correct.

Excel export

Each AI Parse workload appears as one row in the exported spreadsheet:

Column	What it shows
Configuration	Billing mode + complexity (if Pages mode)
Mode	Serverless (always)
SKU	SERVERLESS_REAL_TIME_INFERENCE
Monthly DBUs	Calculated from pages × complexity rate
DBU Cost (List)	At list price
DBU Cost (Discounted)	At negotiated rate
VM Cost	$0 (always serverless)
Total Cost	DBU Cost