What is Perplexity AI?

Writers are notoriously resistant to AI. But a new tool from Perplexity is forcing them to reconsider the benefits of using AI as part of their productivity workflow.

What is AI Perplexity?

The AI ​​Perplexity is billed as a multi-purpose tool for discovering information and satisfying curiosity. Really, that's a fancy way of saying that you can ask it a question and, using its magical artificial intelligence superpowers, Perplexity will search through a seemingly infinite database to help you find the answer.

Perplexity offers both a paid and a free version. If you’ve used something like OpenAI’s ChatGPT , you’ll probably be familiar with this type of interface. If you’re not, however, Quantrimang.com has put together a guide to help you better understand how artificial intelligence works .

Perplexity AI’s free plan allows you to ask basic questions, summarize emails and posts, and generate code. Perplexity also provides up-to-date source information so you can avoid the dreaded AI illusion problem.

Things get more interesting, however, when you sign up for the $20/month or $200/year Pro plan. For example, the Pro plan means you can switch your AI models from Perplexity’s default to something like Claude 3.5 Sonnet , Sonar Large, GPT-4o , or Grok-2.

Pro Searches are also more detailed and accurate than the free Quick Searches. Pro also gets you upgraded support, exclusive Discord, and the ability to upload unlimited documents for analysis.

How is Perplexity different from other desktop AI?

There are a lot of Generative AI chatbots out there, all with their own pros and cons. However, there are a few things that set Perplexity AI apart from other AI desktop assistants. The first is the built-in quoting feature.

Perplexity lists a number of references at the beginning of each query when providing you with an answer. Advanced researchers will appreciate the ability to track any source material Perplexity finds so they can check it before using it.

Second, Perplexity also updates information in real-time, meaning you'll get relevant answers to your questions and answers filled with the latest information.

Finally, there’s Copilot – an interactive search assistant that asks clarifying questions to help personalize answers to your search queries. It’s like having someone personally invested in finding the right answer for you.

Overall, the feature set is pretty extensive. However, there are a few features that stand out. Honestly, the fastest way to learn everything Perplexity can do is to try it out for yourself.

How to use Perplexity AI?

Perplexity is best at sorting and organizing information in an easy-to-understand way. Whether you need to buy a new couch or do academic research on the best breakfast foods, this tool is the perfect helper.

It doesn't do the work for you per se, but it does cut down on some of the clutter and time required to sort through information.

If you’re going to use it, the article recommends replacing your standard Google searches with this tool for a week and seeing if the answers you get are helpful. What’s more, Perplexity works better when you provide specific terms in your queries. Terms like “Are you an AKC certified dog trainer” or “Help me find evidence-based research” are extremely helpful.