AI chatbots like Chat GPT, Gemini and CO Pilot are becoming increasingly common every day. They can be used for all sorts of tasks including research, writing, general communication, and more. These open-source AI tools are (mostly) free, but they typically offer a premium version of the software with increased functionality and limitless conversations for an additional fee.

Today we are going to do a brief overview of one of our favorite AI chatbots, and as we do, we’ll try to show a few scenarios where this software might be especially useful.

Perplexity.ai is an AI chatbot that is designed to provide the most accurate and well-cited information possible. The answers it generates are all based off accurate and up-to-date information, and because the app provides citations within its response, you don’t have to wonder about the validity of any claims that it makes.

As a student writing an academic paper or even as a professional preparing product research, you would be hard pressed to find an easier way to gather information. Especially during the initial stage of research where you are still discovering the most relevant aspects of a given subject. Not only that, but the AI also does an incredible job of encouraging users to follow up on and dive deeper into specific areas of relevance by creating lists of follow-up questions that users can then dive into. And if the follow up question you wanted to ask isn’t already there, you can ask that question manually.

It’s also worth pointing out how easy the app is to use. Citations are numbered and linked directly to the research being referenced, so it’s incredibly easy to view or download whatever documents or studies are being referenced.

Also, any threads you start will be automatically saved on the left-hand side of the menu, so it’s easy to dive back into whatever research you’ve started and not worry about having to re-trace your steps.

And of course, since this tool is digital and available through all major app stores, users who require accessibility tools such as speech-to-text or text-to-speech can easily access the built-in tools that they already use.

Perplexity.ai is available via browser for PC and Mac or as an app that can be downloaded via iOS or Android. To learn more about Perplexity.ai, click here.

This post originally appeared on the AT Help Desk website.

Tags: apps, assistive technology, AT HelpDesk, Atlantic Regional Office