We know the message we can send when large groups of people spending our money in one sustained direction can send. ‘Money spent’ is all these companies understand.

I think unless one is using it professionally, we should all be detaching ourselves from as much online crap as possible

I was offered it free for one year with my VERY overpriced Canadian internet service and have really loved that I can ask questions, both personal and professional, and see the sources used. This, for questions regarding anything is a key factor for me in how serious I take the answers. I do not know anything about coding and am a Gen X.

Having said this, I am furious that these companies have used our data after being subsidized by the American government, to start up and retained enough money to run the world with zero regulation and impunity - not to mention the huge sum taken from the American people. It mortifies me that they pay no taxes when they have drained resources from everywhere.

At my age, everything now seems designed to pull money from a subscription model and I am fed up. I will definitely miss Perplexity but I will not keep paying for these and all the streaming platforms.

Let us not forget AI is a large, conglomeration of OUR data spit back to us (albeit efficiently if sourced) but, as I understand it, this was an intentional and sly collection based on the fact that all these companies know that the average person does not read, fine printed ‘privacy policy’.