Updates in AI, Part 2

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Let’s Get Into It!

Last time we discussed updates to OpenAI’s and Google’s AI tools. And in the two short weeks since, they have announced even more! I would really enjoy going over those updates but I really should finish this two part series so this time we’re covering updates to Anthropic’s and Perplexity’s tools.

Not as much has happened with these tools but just because there hasn’t been a lot of updates doesn’t mean they have remained static.

Anthropic

Anthropic calls their AI Claude and is available at claude.ai. It has 3 levels of capability each of which uses a different Large Language Model: Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. The most capable version is known as Opus, Sonnet is the next most capable model with Haiku bringing up the rear as the fastest and cheapest model. They also have both free and paid plans with the least expensive paid plan costing $20/month or, if you decide to buy a whole year, $17/month ($204/year). Detailed pricing information is available at https://claude.com/pricing. Free users have limited access to the Opus model. Anthropic doesn’t publish strict numbers regarding access — they say it’s based on load and usage. Free users generally have very limited access to Opus, usually defaulting to Sonnet. When one reaches their limit on any model, they may drop to a lower model or wait until their usage resets 5 hours after their first message to that model. So, if you hit your limit and your first message was at 10AM, your limit will reset at 2PM. Haiku, being the fastest and cheapest model, has much higher limits than the other models.

Anthropic has made available, albeit in limited distribution, a Chrome extension called Claude for Chrome. If you go looking for it in the Chrome web store, make sure it's from Anthropic. There are many extensions that mention Claude but only one is from Anthropic.

Perplexity

At its heart Perplexity (at perplexity.ai) is a search engine, driven by Artificial Intelligence. There are free and paid tiers and you can use Perplexity without signing up for an account. An account, even a free one, will allow you to save your interactions, otherwise they disappear once you close the window/tab, or app. Pricing and info about what’s available to each tier can be seen at https://www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/11187416-which-perplexity-subscription-plan-is-right-for-you.

The free tier gives you access to quick searches and saved chat history. You do not get to choose which AI will be used and you don’t have access to image generation or other more advanced capabilities. The Pro tier, at $20/month grants access to more elaborate searches with any of their available AIs as well as image and video generation. There is a student/educator tier for $4.99/month but it requires verification of your status. There are also various options that will grant a free year of Pro. If you have a Samsung phone, you can download the Perplexity app and get a free year of Pro. You can also pay for it with Paypal or Venmo and you should get a free year of Pro. There are other options, too, so be sure to do some searches if you would like Pro for free.

Paid users have access to scheduled tasks — up to 10 in total on the pro plan. Because Perplexity is also a search engine, scheduled tasks can easily pull current, detailed information so one could ask for a detailed financial analysis of the current stock market moves and get a very good analysis. In fact, I have done this and the resulting answer is far more comprehensive than I’m able to fully utilize.

Perplexity has their own browser, called Comet, which incorporates Perplexity AI onto a Chrome-based browser. They have recently made an Android version of Comet available in the Google Play Store.

That’s all for this time

I hope you’ll take some time to investigate some of the updates I’ve discussed as well as those in my previous newsletter where I’ve discussed updates to OpenAI and Google AI models. Don't hesitate to write to me if you have questions!

As always, my intent is to help you understand the basics and equip you to search for more detailed information.

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