Brief Rise of AI Chatbots and AI Search Engines
AI chatbots and AI search engines grew rapidly starting in late 2022 when powerful language models made conversations with machines feel natural and useful. This brought chat-style answers into everyday life for writing, explaining, coding help, and quick research.
-
Early chatbots were rule-based, but modern chatbots use large language models to understand context, follow instructions, and generate fluent replies. Public launches in 2022–2023 showed how well they could assist with real tasks, driving massive adoption.
-
At the same time, AI search engines emerged to solve a common problem with traditional search: too many links and not enough direct answers. These new tools combine web retrieval with AI reasoning to summarize findings, cite sources, and refine answers through follow-up questions.
-
In practice, chatbots focus on conversation and task help, while AI search engines focus on finding, verifying, and presenting information from the web. Together, they’re reshaping how people discover information and get work done.
-
https://www.verloop.io/blog/the-timeline-of-artificial-intelligence-from-the-1940s/
Introductions: Perplexity AI and ChatGPT
Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI is an AI-powered search assistant that reads the web and returns concise, cited answers. It blends search + conversation: ask a question, and it summarizes key info, links sources, and supports follow-up questions.- Best for quick research & comparisons
- Provides up-to-date facts with references
- Free plan + Paid tier (advanced research, file uploads, larger models)
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a conversational AI from OpenAI designed to understand instructions and generate helpful, natural-language responses. It can write, explain, brainstorm, code, and tutor across many topics.- Optimized for dialogue & productivity
- Free plan + Paid plans (more capable models, extra tools)
- Strength: human-like conversation and reasoning
2. What is Perplexity AI?
Perplexity AI is an AI-powered search engine + chatbot that combines the best of search and conversation. Unlike traditional search engines, it doesn’t just give you a list of links—it reads the web and delivers real-time answers in a clear, concise format with sources you can trust.
✨ Key Features
- Real-time answers pulled directly from the web
- Concise summaries instead of long search results
- Provides sources & citations for credibility
- Supports follow-up questions like a chatbot
📌 Common Uses
- Quick research with reliable sources
- Comparing options in seconds
- Checking latest facts with references
- Helping students, researchers & professionals
3. What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an AI conversational chatbot developed by OpenAI. It’s designed to understand your instructions and generate helpful, natural, human-like responses. More than just answering questions, it excels at creative writing, coding support, learning assistance, and personal productivity.
✨ Strengths
- Creative writing – blogs, stories, essays
- Coding help – debugging, examples, explanations
- Personal use – brainstorming, planning, tutoring
- Optimized for dialogue & productivity
📌 Availability
- Free plan – basic conversational features
- Paid plans – access to more capable models & tools
- Optional browsing & plugins in some plans
- Strong in reasoning and natural conversation
4. Key Differences Between Perplexity and ChatGPT
| ✅ Comparison Point | Perplexity AI | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| 📡 Data Source | ✔️ Web search (real-time) | ✔️ Trained model (can use web in some plans) |
| 🎯 Accuracy | ✔️ Live info with sources | ✔️ Stronger at deep reasoning & context |
| 🛠 Use Cases | ✔️ Research, fact-checking, real-time data | ✔️ Creativity, problem solving, writing, coding |
| 💰 Pricing & Access | ✔️ Free + Paid (advanced features) | ✔️ Free + Paid (more powerful models, tools) |
6. Pros and Cons of Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT
Perplexity AI Pros ✅
- ✔️ Provides real-time answers with citations
- ✔️ Excellent for research & fact-checking
- ✔️ Easy-to-read summaries
- ✔️ Free + paid plans available
Perplexity AI Cons ❌
- ❌ Limited creative or long-form writing
- ❌ Can rely too heavily on source quality
- ❌ Paid plan required for advanced features
ChatGPT Pros ✅
- ✔️ Great for creative writing & brainstorming
- ✔️ Helpful in coding & problem solving
- ✔️ Versatile for personal productivity
- ✔️ Smooth, human-like conversations
ChatGPT Cons ❌
- ❌ Default version doesn’t browse the web
- ❌ Some answers may lack latest info
- ❌ Paid plan required for most advanced features
