I Tried Two "AI Will Change Everything" Tools. Here's My Honest Damage Report.

Hello. I'm David. And if you've met me before you know something I value more than anything is really, really good AI and tech. I have a spreadsheet.

I've mentioned the spreadsheet before. It's where I log every tool I've purchased, what it promised, what it delivered, and whether I'm still using it six months later. The "still using it" column is not as full as the people who sold me these tools would like.

This month I'm adding two new entries. Perplexity AI and Notion AI. Both of which I approached with genuine optimism. Both of which I have now formed very specific opinions about.

Let's go.

Perplexity AI -- The Search Engine That Actually Searches

Here's the pitch: Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that gives you real answers with real citations instead of ten blue links and three ads for things you searched for once in 2019.

Here's the reality: it's actually pretty good. Which I was not expecting to say.

I've been using it as a replacement for Google for research tasks -- not casual searches, that's Google's powerhouse, but the kind of research where you need actual information and you're tired of wading through SEO content farms that have technically answered your question while telling you absolutely nothing useful.

Perplexity pulls from real sources, shows you those sources, and synthesizes the information into an answer that's usually accurate and always citable. Now, having said that, I have caught it being wrong a handful of times. I've caught Google being wrong more. That's not a ringing endorsement but it's something that everyone should keep in mind at all times when relying on anything involving AI and the internet.

The free version is genuinely useful. The paid version (Pro, around $20/month) adds more powerful models, more searches per day, and the ability to upload files for analysis. I tried Pro for a month and then went back to free because I wasn't using the additional features enough to justify the cost. That's not a knock on the product -- that's me being honest about my usage patterns.

What I actually use it for: quick research on topics I don't know well, fact-checking things I've read elsewhere, and getting oriented on a subject before I go deeper. For those use cases, it's genuinely replaced Google in my workflow.

What it doesn't do: anything creative. If you need it to write something, draft something, brainstorm something -- that's not what it's built for and it knows it. Stick to research.

David's verdict on Perplexity: Cautiously impressed. It does what it says it does. The free version is worth using. Pro is worth it if you're a heavy researcher. It won't change your life but it might change how you start your research process.

Notion AI -- The Feature That Arrived at the Party Nobody Threw

Notion is a legitimate tool. I want to say that clearly before I say the rest of this.

If you use Notion for note-taking, project management, knowledge bases, or any of the seventeen other things it can technically do -- it's a well-built piece of software with a real user base and a genuine reason to exist.

Notion AI is the feature they added when everyone decided AI features were mandatory -- and I genuinely wanted it to be good. I use Notion. I was rooting for this.

The pitch: AI that lives inside your workspace, knows your notes, helps you write and summarize and brainstorm without leaving the app. Sounds excellent.

The reality: it's a competent but generic AI writing assistant that is aware of your Notion content in theory and in practice mostly gives you the same outputs you'd get from any other AI tool, without the context it theoretically has access to.

I tested it specifically on tasks where the Notion AI advantage should have been obvious -- summarizing a long project document I had stored in Notion, generating follow-up action items from meeting notes I'd taken in Notion, drafting a communication based on context that existed in my Notion workspace.

The summaries were fine. Generic fine, not impressive fine. The action items were reasonable but I'd already mentally identified all of them myself. The draft was serviceable but showed no particular awareness of the context I'd provided beyond what I'd pasted directly into the prompt.

The deeper problem: Notion AI costs extra. It's an add-on to an already paid tool. You're paying for a workspace tool AND then paying again for the AI features. For the outputs I was getting, the math doesn't work.

I've since stopped using Notion AI and gone back to using Notion for structure and a separate AI tool for anything that requires actual thinking. Which is a shame, because the integration really could have been something.

David's verdict on Notion AI: Yellow-red. The base tool is fine. The AI layer doesn't earn its cost. If you're already a Notion user, try it for a month and be honest with yourself about whether it's actually changing your work. If you're considering getting Notion specifically for the AI features -- don't. There are better options.

The Pattern I Keep Seeing

Both of these products -- one I like, one I'm lukewarm on -- share something in common. They were both marketed with the "AI changes everything" energy that has become the background noise of every software product released in the last two years.

Perplexity earned that energy for its specific use case. Notion AI did not.

The question I've started asking before I try any new AI tool: what specifically does this do that I can't already do with the tools I have? Not "it has AI" -- that's not an answer. What specifically?

If the answer is clear and specific, I'll try it. If the answer is "it integrates AI into your workflow," I'm going to need more than that.

Perplexity's answer: "It searches the actual current web and shows you where it got the information." Clear. Specific. Delivered.

Notion AI's answer: "It brings AI into your existing Notion workspace." Less clear. Less specific. Partially delivered at best.

That's the whole game right now. Everybody has AI. Not everybody has a reason.

The Verdicts

Perplexity AI:

🟢 Research and fact-finding: Green Light. Genuinely useful, genuinely better than the alternative for this use case. 🟡 Free vs Pro: Yellow Light. Try free first. Upgrade only if you hit the limits consistently. 🔴 Creative work: Red Light. Not what it's for. Don't try to make it something it's not.

Notion AI:

🟡 Notion as a tool: Yellow Light trending Green. The base product is solid. 🔴 Notion AI as an add-on: Red Light. Doesn't earn its cost. The AI layer underdelivers relative to the promise and the price.

The spreadsheet has been updated. Perplexity is in the "still using it" column. Notion AI is not.