Introduction to Perplexity AI: Practical Applications and Use Cases

(Perplexity Pro access will be provided for workshop activities)

Explore Perplexity AI through hands-on practice in this immersive session. Experiment with its interface, deep research tools, Spaces, multimodal features, and model-switching capabilities. Work with real-world workflows spanning content creation, academic research, financial data, and code assistance, and compare free vs. Pro tier capabilities to understand where each fits your work.

Audience:
- Tech Enthusiasts
- Research Personnel
- Content Creators
- Developers
- Non-technical professionals seeking to leverage Gen AI

Learners will have the opportunity to:

1. Explore Perplexity AI's interface and work with its key research functionalities.
2. Apply Perplexity AI's tools for source-verified content creation, deep research, and summarization.
3. Compare the features and benefits of free vs. Pro tiers to identify the best fit for different workflows.

Module 1: Foundations of Perplexity AI

• The 2026 AI landscape: where Perplexity fits alongside ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude
• Core NLP concepts: perplexity scores, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and citation grounding
• Evolution from GPT-3 to reasoning models and specialized search architectures
• Why real-time web grounding matters: knowledge cutoffs vs. live indexing
• Perplexity AI history, architecture, and differentiators
• Major 2025-2026 milestones: Deep Research, Labs, and the Comet browser

Module 2: Interface Mastery and Core Search (Free Tier)

• Focus modes: Web, Academic, YouTube, Reddit, and custom domain filters
• Privacy controls: session toggles, the Snapshot widget, and opting out of data collection
• Advanced fact-checking with parallel source analysis and citation reading
• Step-by-Step mode: interactive education for any topic (available to all users, 2026)
• Hands-on exercises

Module 3: Deep Research and Spaces (Free Tier, limited)

• Deep Research: autonomous multi-step queries across hundreds of sources, generating structured reports
• Creating a Space: setting topics, uploading reference docs, inviting collaborators, and managing permissions
• Asking questions across uploaded files: Perplexity as a personal RAG engine
• Team collaboration features and API credit management
• Hands-on: Generate a Deep Research report on a current industry topic

Module 4: Real-World Use Cases and Workflows (Free Tier)

• Finance: real-time stock quotes, earnings data, and peer comparisons
• Content creation: drafting blog posts, reports, and emails with live web research embedded
• Technical research: code debugging, architectural reviews, and AI-assisted programming
• Academic workflows: summarizing papers, finding counterarguments, and building annotated bibliographies

Module 5: Labs, Model Switching, and Advanced Pro Features (Pro Tier)

• Perplexity Labs and the Create Files and Apps feature (Pro exclusive)
• Multi-model switching: GPT-5, Claude 4 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Perplexity Sonar
• Choosing models by task type: reasoning vs. writing vs. broad research
• Image generation directly within Perplexity's interface (Pro exclusive)
• Video generation: Veo 3.1-powered clips up to 8 seconds with audio (Pro and above)

• Google/Gmail account for platform access
• Curiosity about AI-driven workflows