Artificial intelligence-based chatbot Perplexity has expanded its Pro Search tool for research in a bid to differentiate itself from ChatGPT and other rivals in the increasingly competitive market.
The upgrade makes the conversational search engine better at mathematics and programming, and also better at handling multi-step reasoning. It also sees the integration of the Wolfram|Alpha engine, opening up new academic research opportunities.
Perplexity AI offers users two different search options. There’s Quick Search, which, as the name suggests, is designed for speed and accuracy based on cited sources. Pro Search is intended for more thorough, in-depth research, such as hiring an expert research assistant to find data and explain it to you.
“Research shapes our daily lives. We use it to make informed decisions and solve problems, to innovate, learn, and grow. But it can be a time-consuming process, requiring hours of gathering and analyzing information,” Perplexity explained in a blog post after. “Pro Search is our answer to this challenge, revolutionizing knowledge discovery by making research faster and more efficient than ever before. Now we’re taking it to the next level.”
The improved Pro Search now provides even better search results. When enabled in the search bar, Perplexity will search deeper and link to a wider range of sources, also showing the step-by-step process. Pro Search is available to all users, with a limit of five free uses every four hours. Perplexity AI also has a Pro subscription with much more access to Pro Search.
Perplexity points to the new advanced multi-step reasoning as a central pillar in the upgraded chatbot. The AI now understands when a question requires a multi-faceted approach and works out goals step by step. The search AI doesn’t just return results; it analyzes them and takes action based on what it finds.
For example, it can perform follow-up searches based on previous results. This allows it to inform the user as completely and accurately as possible.
Confusion Positive
In mathematics and programming, Perplexity, which embeds the Wolfram|Alpha engine, gives AI the ability to solve complex mathematical problems very quickly and accurately. This is of course useful not only for solving a single equation, but also for data analysis, whether in engineering, banking or customer service.
Perplexity pitches the new version of Pro Search as a tool that will benefit multiple professions. The company suggests that lawyers can use it to identify case law, marketers can use it to summarize trend analysis, and developers can use it to debug code.
“We’ve enhanced Pro Search to answer more complex questions, perform advanced math and programming calculations, and deliver more thoroughly researched answers,” Perplexity wrote. “No matter what your profession, Pro Search empowers you to make more informed decisions.”
You can check out Perplexity and try out the limited Pro Search here. Then, if you wish, you can sign up for Perplexity Pro here and get more access to the Pro Search mode.