Perplexity AIAn AI chat tool that acts as a search engine. What’s helpful about this tool is its ability to display the source of the information it provides and where it is found on the open web. Perplexity AI also provides access to limit the search to special focused databases including Semantic Scholar and Reddit.
"Perplexity has taken a step in the right direction by including citations in its responses. The citations allow users to verify the chatbot’s claims, which is good. But the sources it sometimes draws on from the open web are… not great. Certainly not the caliber that anyone teaching an information literacy session would hold up as models. As an instructor, I would balk if a student submitted a paper with GradeSaver.com on the references list. (At the very least, pick a website whose name doesn’t reek of desperation!) It’s possible that this technology, harnessed to academic databases, might prove very, very useful one day. But as it currently stands, the scholarly applications are limited.
(That said, having students use Perplexity to answer prompts and then evaluate the quality of its sources would make a great InfoLit exercise for thinking critically about how LLMs work.) "
From Five Growing Concerns About Generative AI for Librarians and Information Professionals: Meeting the Technology Where It's At. Posted on March 11, 2024.
