Perplexity AI Review: How to Use It (Is ChatGPT Better?)

This is a complete review of Perplexity AI. I will show you how to use it, how it compares to ChatGPT and what is my take on the tool.

Let’s jump into it.

What is Perplexity AI?

Perplexity AI is a company that develops language AI models similar to ChatGPT by OpenAI.

An AI tool like perplexity generates text out of thin air. This can be useful for blog posts, homework, emails, and whatnot.

For example, here’s what Perplexity AI said when I asked it what it is:

Just head over to Perplexity AI’s website and ask it something.

What’s really cool is that you don’t even need an account. So getting started is super quick.

For example, here I’m asking it to create blog post topic suggestions for a tennis website:

Perplexity can even solve math problems:

But to be honest, this math solution doesn’t look that nice because the math equations aren’t formatted like they are in ChatGPT…

Perplexity has also a separate chatbot you can interact with.

To be honest, I don’t see how this differs from the main view of Perplexity as it basically seems to do the same kind of things.

This is very similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

For example, here I’m asking it to generate blog post topics:

Let’s be real, it’s really hard to compete against OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

ChatGPT AI is such a highly sophisticated cutting-edge technology that has been developed using millions and millions of dollars.

I think there’s no tool that comes even close to ChatGPT.

But also, I was surprised at how good perplexity is. So let’s do a quick comparison:

Language Model:
- ChatGPT’s free version is based on GPT 3.5.
- Perplexity AI’s free version is not based on OpenAI, but Perplexity’s own model
UI:
- Very easy and simple chat UIs
Sources:
- You need a Plus plan for web browsing AI and relevant links to cite resources.
- Perplexity AI mentions sources for its results even in the free version.
Real-time Information:
- ChatGPT’s free version data is limited to September 2021.
- Perplexity AI provides real-time information with relevant links or videos, even on its free access.
Search Engine Extension:
- ChatGPT uses Bing to do real-time searches with AI
- Perplexity can also search the web

I think ChatGPT is better by leaps and bounds. But Perplexity is easier to use and it gives the internet access for free.

To put it short:

ChatGPT is superior in its language model and ability to generate human-like conversations.
Perplexity AI shines with its free internet access version where you don’t even need to sign up.

Perplexity AI’s models are not powered by ChatGPT.

Instead, Perplexity AI has developed its own large language models.

These are trained on a variety of text data and can be used for a variety of applications, including NLP, chatbots, and translations.

No, but it’s 100% free and a bit faster.

Yes, the accuracy is good in Perplexity.

Although, I would still use ChatGPT as my free go-to AI writing tool.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to read my post about the best AI writing tools.