LESSON 1 OF 6
Pick the right tool
BY THE END OF THIS LESSON
Choose between the major AI tools in under ten seconds.
They are not interchangeable
Most people pick one AI tool, hit something it's bad at, and conclude AI is overrated. The tools have genuinely different strengths, and matching the task to the tool is most of the difference between a useful answer and a useless one.
The four-way split
long documents, careful writing, code
broad tasks, images, voice
current information with sources
Claude — long documents, careful writing, code, anything where you want it to follow instructions precisely.
ChatGPT — the generalist. Broad tasks, images, voice, the widest plugin and app ecosystem.
Perplexity — questions where you need current information with sources you can click.
Gemini — anything already living in Google Docs, Gmail or Sheets.
You do not need all four. You need to know which one to reach for.
The ten-second test
Ask yourself one question: does this need to be current, or does it need to be good?
Needs to be current — a fact, a price, a recent event — go to a tool that searches and cites.
Needs to be good — writing, analysis, restructuring, code — go to Claude or ChatGPT and give them the material yourself.
WORKED EXAMPLE
WRONG TOOL
Asking a chatbot with no search: "What are the best project management tools in 2026 and what do they cost?"
RIGHT TOOL
Asking a search-backed tool the same question — or pasting three pricing pages into Claude and asking it to build the comparison table.
Pricing changes constantly. A model answering from memory will give you numbers that were true at some point, stated with total confidence. Either let the tool look it up, or supply the source yourself.
YOUR TURN
Make the tool tell you where it is weak.
RUN THIS
I want to understand your limits before I rely on you. List five kinds of task where you are likely to give me a confidently wrong answer, and for each one tell me what I should do instead — either a different tool, or something I should supply to you. Be specific and honest rather than reassuring.
What a good result looks like
You should see recent events, precise figures, niche local knowledge, anything needing a live lookup, and long arithmetic. If the answer is vague or defensive, push back with "be more concrete".
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Answer all 2 correctly to complete this lesson.
1. You need this month's pricing for three software products. What is the right move?
2. What does the ten-second test ask you?
REMEMBER THIS
Match the tool to the task: current needs search, good needs context you supply.