What you need to know
- Perplexity.ai is a new chatbot based on OpenAI's ChatGPT that's currently completely free to use without the need for an account.
- It's based on GPT-3 and has both a web app and an app for iPhone.
- The performance is as fast as ChatGPT with the added bonus of providing citations for course information.
Everyone wants a piece of the AI revolution and it's impossible to go far online right now without bumping into a mention of ChatGPT. OpenAI's own chatbot is one of the most well-known, but the tech behind it is also used elsewhere, such as in Bing Chat.
Perplexity is one of the latest chatbots to pop up using GPT-3 and it's pretty interesting for a few reasons. The first is that it's completely free to use (at least for the time being) and doesn't require an account to use. Both ChatGPT and Bing Chat can be used for free, but you need to have an account for the respective platforms. Perplexity has no such requirement.
It's also extremely fast, performing at least as well as ChatGPT in its response time. But unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity will provide citations for its sources of information, much like Bing Chat does.
It's pretty basic to use, but that's fine. It's usable on Windows through a web app, but it's also getting some traction thanks to having a really slick iPhone app.
The fact it's completely free right now with no apparent drawbacks does make you wonder how this service will make money in the future. After all, accessing GPT doesn't come free. Its most recent funding round raised over $25 million in capital, so in the short term, there's cash on hand.
But eventually that's bound to change. Whether it follows the OpenAI model of charging for premium features or it goes down a different route, nobody really knows right now. It also isn't clear what the long-term future holds for handling user data. But right now it's free, fast, and really nice to use, and a pretty nice alternative to ChatGPT.
