If you haven't been following AI developments for the last two years, you probably don't know what the Perplexity tool is.
What Is the Perplexity Tool?
Perplexity is an AI chatbot and search engine in one, but as a search engine it works far better than Google. Why? Because you don't have to type and search by keywords—you can ask and search the way you would ask a coworker or friend for an opinion. You can ask it in Polish or English.
Testing Its Capabilities
First test: I asked it about simple online stores, ideal for so-called non-technical people. The result?
Completely different from Google—no paid results, no keyword-driven results. What did I get? A listed set of 8 suggestions, links to the proposed tools, related follow-up queries in context, and all of that in a chat view.
Second test: I asked about integrating a microinverter from a small photovoltaic installation with Home Assistant. To make it harder, I asked in both Polish and English. I received YouTube videos, links to code repositories with potential solutions, links to Home Assistant documentation, and a step-by-step tutorial if I wanted to do it myself.
For me, it's a blast.
How to Use It?
- Browser plugin for your favorite browser
- Website -> https://www.perplexity.ai/
- Desktop app, available for download on the website
- Mobile app
- My favorite method: setting Perplexity as the default search engine in your browser, using Google Chrome as an example
- Open Chrome
- Click the three dots in the top-right corner
- Click Settings
- Click Search engine
- Select Manage search engines and site search
- Scroll down to Site search and click Add
- In the Name field, enter Perplexity AI, in the Shortcut field enter @perplexity and in the URL field enter https://www.perplexity.ai/search?q=%s
Click Add
- Next to the newly added Perplexity AI entry, click the three dots and select Make default
How Much Does It Cost?
Zero, nada, nothing :). If someone needs more, they can buy the PRO option. I'm thrilled—what about you?
