I asked this question to ChatGPT. Its response is below:
Great question — Perplexity and ChatGPT serve overlapping but slightly different roles, and depending on what you’re after, one might feel “better” than the other. Here’s a breakdown:
ChatGPT (like me!)
Strengths:
Conversational depth: Great for long, thoughtful discussions, code help, essays, brainstorming, tutoring, etc.
Context memory: I can remember facts you share (if you let me), and tailor answers based on your preferences or goals.
Code and reasoning: Strong at logic-heavy tasks, debugging, and walking through concepts step-by-step.
Offline knowledge: I can generate solid responses even without the internet (though I can search the web if needed).
Customizable vibe: You can ask me to write like a teacher, a friend, or a sci-fi author—whatever you want.
Limitations:
Outdated info (sometimes): If you don’t ask me to search the web, my knowledge might be a few months old.
Not always source-linked: Unless I’m in browsing mode, I can’t link you to where I found things.
Perplexity AI
Strengths:
Search-first model: It’s more like a supercharged Google—answers are backed up with real-time web results and citations.
Transparency: You can see exactly which sources it’s pulling from, and dive deeper into them.
Quick fact-finding: Fantastic for grabbing recent data, news, or factual comparisons.
Concise summaries: Often gets right to the point with links, which is great if you’re doing quick research.
Limitations:
Not very “conversational”: It’s good at Q&A, but it doesn’t carry a vibe, understand your style, or do deeper collaborative tasks as well.
Less creative: Not ideal for storytelling, code walkthroughs, or step-by-step tutoring.
Less memory/context: Doesn’t “know” you over time like I can (if memory is on).
So… which one is “better”?
Use Perplexity when you want: sources, current events, fast facts, or to compare different viewpoints.
Use ChatGPT when you want: conversation, deep help, brainstorming, tutoring, or help over time.
For whatever else it’s worth- I asked the same question about two other forums I participate in. One gave a similar answer (respected member blah blah blah) and the other said we’ve never heard of this person.
You have to be careful when using chatgpt etc if your using it for something important like coding or Financials. It’s commonly wrong. I just came back from a meeting at Microsoft (Chicago branch) for a meet up with AI Camp. They were talking about AI agents. Many of the programmers etc were saying it’s just not the same here yet but two companies building their own systems presented different things. It’s definitely the future. I am a medical advisor for a medical charting company (doing ambient listening) and it does over 35 languages. I was able to have it record my conversation with the patient (at the same time) create my note in 30 seconds and then convert it into Turkish so she had a patient summary that she could understand. Her son was translating for her. She used her Google phone translate feature so as I spoke it converted the conversation so she could understand what I was saying.
The future is here. Lol.
The only real time I used chatgpt was to present a lecture to medical assistants on AI and I wanted it to create a power point outline and make it simpler to understand. It did OK to get me started.
I confess I was afraid of it until recently. I bought an online German course that has us use it. It’s great since I have nobody IRL to talk to. It will talk to me and correct me (if I ask). It will correct my writing and then give me an alternate essay at a higher level. It will play games with me - for example, it will give me a topic and I say all the words I know related to that topic. And then it will offer up more suggestions. And I can copy a transcript of a video I’ve watched and have it ask me 5 questions about the transcript to see what I’ve understood. I’ve been enjoying it a lot!
I asked Chat what it could tell me about the CC poster “ChoatieMom:”
ChoatieMom was a respected and active member of the College Confidential forums, particularly in the Parent Café section. She was known for sharing her family’s journey through the U.S. Service Academy admissions process, offering detailed insights and support to other parents navigating similar paths. Her contributions were widely appreciated for their clarity and generosity. 
According to a forum thread titled “RIP CC posters,” ChoatieMom has passed away. Her family reportedly preserved her most significant thread, with assistance from the forum administrators, to honour her legacy.  
Her presence is missed by the College Confidential community, and her posts continue to serve as a valuable resource for families exploring military academy admissions.
I do like it for semi-creative writing tasks. I homeschool my S30 (current 7th grader) who is dyslexic, and I use ChatGPT to create funny sentences for him to read or write (spelling dictation). I can give it a few completely unrelated words (in terms of the meaning of the words) and it spits back hilarious sentences.
I’ve also used it to generate book ideas for homeschooling with prompts like "I’m looking for a historical fiction book appropriate for middle school covering … " I look up every suggestion and I’m completely surprised it has not yet hallucinated a fake book!
DS uses to modify resumes to fit job postings. It starts with what he has already and edits it. Then he does the final edit. He says that last step is critical.
LinkedIn also does this now, I don’t know if they developed their own AI or are using someone else’s. It’s quite powerful, and beyond tailoring the resume for a specific job, you can have it write a cover letter (edits typically required.)
I have a friend in her mid-50s using it to look for a new job. It helped her create her resume and has actually found her job leads.
I don’t use it, but I might encourage my kids to look into using it for job searches. My friend is really pleased with the results so far.
One concern I do have is these systems have a big environmental impact, so I don’t use it for fun and giggles, but help with a job search seems worthy.
Two of my kids are in the arts. Because of the ethics of using AI related to artistic ownership and environmental impact, they both refuse to use it.
My daughter is currently looking for a job and struggling. I don’t know if not using AI to fine tune her resume for each application or write her cover letter is hurting her.
My son says that he would fail an assignment if he used AI to write an essay for high school English, but his teacher is using it to grade them! It’s the Wild West out there!
I put in several years worth of Christmas letters and said, In the style of our old Christmas letter, write this year’s Christmas letter. Then we threw the response away.
I have used it for things like recipes. “Edit this recipe but without tomatoes”. Or “what can I make with X, Y, and Z on hand?”
My friend uses it for travel - “we will be passing through XYZ on this date. What is a good itinerary for a 4 hour visit?”
I also used it to draft some press releases - very basic stuff and it was just easier to have ChatGPT give me something to edit than to start from scratch.
ChatGPT (like me!)
Perplexity AI
sources, current events, fast facts, or to compare different viewpoints.
conversation, deep help, brainstorming, tutoring, or help over time.
