Learn how AI-powered search tools differ from traditional search engines and understand their strengths and limitations.
- AI Search Engines:
- Perplexity (3 Pro searches free daily)
- ChatGPT (with Browse capability)
AI language models are trained up to certain dates, meaning they may not know about events or data beyond these points. Here are some current knowledge cutoffs:
- GPT-4o: June 2024
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet: April 2024
- Gemini: August 2024
These cutoffs highlight why AI-powered search tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT with Browse capabilities are powerful — they combine AI’s reasoning skills with access to up-to-date information.
Getting Around Knowledge Cutoffs
A knowledge cutoff doesn't prevent a model from discussing current topics intelligently. You just have to be aware that for bleeding-edge content, it's best if you supply the specific information, articles, or data related to your query as part of your chat to give the AI context.
Alternatively, if you know a model has internet search capabilities provided by the features offered in the platform, it may intelligently use the internet to answer your question. You can also directly ask an AI chat assistant with these capabilities to use it's search tool if it's available. Here are some of the platforms that offer internet search:
- ChatGPT: Great for conversational AI and browsing capabilities.
- Google Search with AI Overview: Integrates AI summaries into traditional Google search.
- Perplexity: Searches the internet to give you an accessible, conversational, and verifiable answer.
- Note: Perplexity uses one of the common foundational models to summarize and synthesize material. You can choose GPT-4o, Claude, etc. in your settings (a paid plan is required to choose).
- Gemini: Evaluate and cite responses with the "Double Check Responses" feature.
- Mistral: A French model that has internet search capabilities.
- DeepSeek: A Chinese model that has internet search capabilities.
- Claude: Notably, at this time, Claude does not have access to the internet in the chat interface.
Choose one of these exploration paths to dive into AI-powered search!
- Step 1: Pick a topic you know well professionally or academically.
- Step 2: Run searches about this topic using Perplexity or ChatGPT.
- Step 3: Compare the sources cited with ones you trust.
- Step 4: Analyze how the tool synthesizes information and check for any inaccuracies or oversimplifications.
- Step 1: Select a current topic or trend you want to explore.
- Step 2: Run an initial broad search on Perplexity or ChatGPT.
- Step 3: Use the results to ask more specific follow-up questions.
- Step 4: Notice how the tool connects different sources and handles synthesizing information.
- Source Quality: Pay attention to the sources cited. Are they reputable?
- Verification: Always double-check critical information, especially for professional or academic purposes.
- Synthesis: Notice how AI synthesizes data compared to traditional search engines.
- Citations: Most platforms cite sources now. If not, use the "ask for sources" , "verify sources" or other similar features when available.
- After exploring with AI search tools, reflect on your experience.
- Did a particular feature stand out to you?
- How did using a tool with search capabilities compare to just chatting with an LLM?
- If you explored Perplexity, check out some of its advanced features like Spaces for organizing research or Pages for turning your findings into shareable articles (learn more here).
- Share your thoughts and discoveries with your peers!
AI search tools offer incredible potential for aggregation and synthesis, but they’re not infallible. Think of them as one more tool in your generative AI toolkit to enhance your search and exploration!
Happy exploring! 🌐🔍
Made with Midjourney: making space --ar 74:63 --sref 3552739730 --stylize 1000 --v 6