Perplexity AI: Artificial Intelligence-Based Searching Machine That May Replace Google?

Perplexity AI has attracted the attention of technology leaders and users (photo: x @perplexity_ai)

JAKARTA - Perplexity AI has caught the attention of technology leaders and users. From Jeff Bezos' support to "almost daily" use by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Perplexity AI looks like an app that can change the way we do the search.

But actually, what is AI Perplexity and can you use it as a substitute for Google?

What Is AI Perplexity, And What Can Be Done?

Perplexity AI is a conversation search engine that uses natural language texts to answer questions. Founded in 2022 by four former AI researchers from OpenAI and Meta: Arevind Srinivas, Andy Konwiski, Denis Yarats, and Johnny Ho.

Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keyword matching and link analysis, Perplexity AI understands the context and intentions behind your questions. This not only provides a list of links, but also a comprehensive answer with links to quoted sources.

The Perplexity app is a combination of the best features of ChatGPT and Google. It has a chat interface similar to ChatGPT and related parts similar to Other People's Searches that are also on Google.

How To Use AI Perplexity As A Substitute For Google?

Perplexity is intuitive and easy to use, available as a mobile app and web version. You can browse the app, ask some questions, and see how it works without registering. However, if you look at yourself using this app after trying, we suggest you sign up. That way, you can save your search history to always be able to refer to it.

You can use Perplexity for various purposes, including research, professional development, and content creation. Perplexity AI is also perfect to answer random questions that arise in your mind, from "How to make your own kite?" to "Why are pillows filled with fur?" Quick and reliable answers that satisfy your curiosity.

Perplexity can be used for free. However, you can upgrade to Pro (US$20/month) packages to access additional features, such as unlimited access to stronger AI models such as OpenAI GPT-4 from OpenAI, Claude 3 Opus and Sonnet from Anthropic, and Mistral's Large, as well as support for images and files, and better support.

Can AI Perplexity Replace Google?

Although Perplexity AI offers a unique proposition value, it is not meant to completely replace Google. Extensive data infrastructure and established user bases give Google an advantage in many ways. Perplexity excels in providing an AI picture of user questions. However, it is not effective for some other usage that characterizes Google, such as geographic weather forecasts and sensitive questions.

Perplexity AI is developing its ad features on its platform, as reported by The Verge. How they run the ad feature will determine the future of this platform. Perplexity has a lot to prove (and repair!) so that it can really compete with Google.

Perplexity AI's journey is something to watch out for, as it has the potential to carve a significant place in the search engine market. Its success will depend heavily on how they integrate additional capabilities and respond to user feedback. Whether it will ever stand parallel to Google remains a question mark, but one thing is clear: AI's Perplexity is a tool worth monitoring and, more importantly, used.