While anything AI-related should be used with caution, Perplexity AI presents an interesting tool for higher education. Unlike ChatGPT, which is primarily a large language model (LLM), Perplexity is an LLM and search engine combined.
While Perplexity AI is not perfect, it can look for academic papers and other online sources of information, similar to how you would use Google or Google Scholar. It then summarizes the information from those sources into an easy-to-read synopsis so you can determine if the sources are worth further examination.
Free accounts get three free Perplexity Pro searches a day. Even while using a free plan, the results and summaries provide a solid foundation from which you can pursue further inquiry.
When searching, you can choose between Web, Academic, Math, Social, Writing, and Video focuses to assist with narrowing the results you get. We’ve found that the Web and Academic foci tend to be the most straightforward to use for getting results emblematic of Google, Bing, etc.
Some prompts to consider using as you begin using this tool include:
- Web Focus - Can you summarize the differences between [topic a] and [topic b]?
- Academic Focus - Show me research about [insert topic here].
- Writing Focus - Write two versions of a paragraph about [topic]. One version with a professional tone and the other version with a casual tone.
- Social Focus - What do people think about [topic]?
- Video Focus - Can you show me tips for traveling to [place]?
