Welcome to the new phase of the hype surrounding artificial intelligence: the most important names in the market are working against the clock to integrate new algorithmic systems into their main products, and at the same time, competitors are emerging looking to position themselves in a market about to explode. One of them is Perplexity, an assistant we can access through its website, or use as a Chrome-compatible extension.
During January, ChatGPT reached 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing application in history. That same month, Microsoft made a 10 billion dollar investment in ChatGPT. Recently, Redmond doubled down by announcing a new version of Bing with an optimized build of ChatGPT. Google’s response is Bard, its own chatbot backed by the LaMDA model. But Bard made a high-profile error in its official presentation, and Google lost 100 billion dollars.
As you can see, the artificial intelligence market is on fire. The public wants tools like ChatGPT, and the tech giants are running in all directions to satisfy the demand. As if that weren’t enough, ChatGPT reminded us that the next “killer app” can come from anywhere, so we must prepare for a wave of competitors. At the end of last year, You.com presented its YouChat engine, but now it’s Perplexity’s turn, which has a Chrome-compatible extension.
Perplexity: An AI Assistant That Works with the Web
One of Perplexity’s biggest advantages is its direct connection to the Web. While ChatGPT is limited to events and news from 2021 (and earlier), Perplexity can obtain recent information and present it to the user without restrictions. But that’s not all: The information comes with its sources and the corresponding links. When ChatGPT responds, its expressions have no support whatsoever.
The concept of “followup” or “continue the conversation” also works wonders in Perplexity. With a simple click on “Ask a followup”, the user can expand the received information or request more specific data. The only detail is that to do this, the extension will send us to Perplexity’s official page.
Finally, I must mention one positive point and one negative point. The positive point is that we can ask questions in Spanish, and Perplexity will present its answers in the same language, something that ChatGPT only achieves by accident. The negative point is that despite the sources and updated information, Perplexity also makes mistakes. For example, when looking for information about the earthquakes in Turkey, it responded that they occurred between February 9 and 10, which is incorrect.
Nevertheless, Perplexity’s potential is gigantic. Can it compete with ChatGPT and Bard? Time will tell.
Official website: Click here
Download the extension: Click here
