AI Literacy in the Age of ChatGPT

Open AI
Free

As of April 2024, you can use it without creating an account.

Additional features (with usage rate limits)

• Search the web
  (be sure to click on the globe icon in the search box to activate it)

• Upload images in your prompts and ask questions about them

• Generate images

• Provide support files in your prompts

• Discover and use GPTs

• Canvas: a new way of working with ChatGPT to write and code

• "Reasoning" 
  click the "reason" button in the search box to get it to "think before responding"

Open AI
$20/mo
Includes:

• a new ChatGPT Search (as of Oct. 31, 2024)
• data analysis
• coding
• vision (upload images and ask questions about them)
• Image generation with 4o
• Canvas: a new way of working with ChatGPT to write and code
• GPT 4o with scheduled tasks (it can send you reminders)
• GPT 4.5 research preview (for writing & exploring ideas)
• o3 - advanced reasoning
• o4-mini - fast advanced reasoning
• o4-mini high - good at coding and visual reasoning

Build chatbots without using code. These are called "GPTs."

Enterprise edition for large businesses. Teams account for small business.

"Reasoning" models can spend time trying different solutions before responding.

Starting December 5, 2024, there is a $200/month version called ChatGPT Pro.
"ChatGPT Pro provides a way for researchers, engineers, and
other individuals who use research-grade intelligence daily to accelerate
their productivity and be at the cutting edge of advancements in AI."

• Copilot Pro Plan with more features for individuals (for personal/home accounts)
• Copilot for Microsoft 365 with more features
  for institutions and businesses. (not yet available at UA)

Google
Free
Includes web search results from Google.

Gemini Advanced is also available with more features ($20/mo).

Both free and paid versions include:

• 2.0 Flash for everyday tasks
• 2.0 Flash Thinking (experimental) - uses reasoning
• 2.5 Pro (experimental) - best for complex tasks
   
• Deep Research - for multi-page research reports
• Personalization (experimental) - help based on your search history
   
• Very large context window: Upload and analyze
  personal files, whole books, or lengthy reports
  - up to 1,500 pages of text.

Anthropic
Free. Also available in Slack.
Claude 3.7 Sonnet includes:

• data analysis
• coding
• vision (upload images and ask questions about them)
• "Artifacts" - these allow Claude to share standalone content
  in a dedicated window separate from the main conversation.
• Tailor Claude’s responses to your personal style,
  generate a custom style based on your own writing.

Pro version ($20/mo) 

Focused on reliability and safety.

Web search has been added to paid version (as for March 20, 2025)
No web search results in free version (yet). Trained on data through April 2024.

Generate practice exams or collaboration guides for group projects.
See A student's guide to using Perplexity Spaces.

Meta
Free, built on Meta Llama 4
Includes web search results. 

Log in with your Facebook or Instagram account.

You can also access the chatbot on WhatsApp, Instagram,
Messenger, or Facebook, by typing "@meta ai" within chats.

Learn more.