Are AI Browsers Any Good? A Day with Perplexity’s Comet and OpenAI’s Atlas

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# Introduction

 
Many expertise specialists will inform you that AI browsers are the way forward for work. The truth is much extra difficult. After spending weeks testing Perplexity’s Comet alongside ChatGPT’s Atlas browser, I found one thing uncomfortable. These instruments can prevent time on particular analysis duties, however they disintegrate on something complicated. For knowledge scientists and analysts already overwhelmed by a number of open tabs, that is essential. However earlier than you select Chrome over an AI browser, you must perceive what these instruments truly do and, extra importantly, what they can’t do.

# Understanding AI Browsers

 
An AI browser appears like the most effective browser till you truly use one. At its core, it’s a net browser, just like Chrome or Safari, however with a man-made intelligence (AI) assistant built-in right into a sidebar. This assistant can learn any webpage you might be viewing, reply questions on it, summarize articles, and even try and automate duties — e.g. filling out types or evaluating costs throughout web sites.

Perplexity’s Comet is completely different from a conventional browser as a result of it understands context throughout a number of tabs without delay. When you have analysis papers, knowledge dashboards, and competitor experiences open concurrently, Comet’s assistant can learn all of them collectively and synthesize what it finds. The browser was constructed on Chromium, the identical basis as Google Chrome, so it helps the identical extensions you already use.

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The important thing promoting level is automation. The Comet Assistant sits in a sidecar panel and may carry out multi-tab operations. As an alternative of manually copying knowledge from 5 web sites right into a spreadsheet, you simply ask Comet to do it for you.

# Making use of Comet in a Information Scientist’s Workflow

 
To grasp if AI browsers matter to your workflow, let me stroll by means of what truly occurred when an information science skilled spent a day with Comet.

// Using Comet for Market Analysis

If a researcher wanted aggressive knowledge on machine studying platforms, usually, this includes opening 10 to fifteen tabs and manually extracting pricing, options, and efficiency metrics right into a spreadsheet.

With Comet, the researcher created a workspace (Comet calls it a Area) and opened tabs for six competing platforms. Then they requested the assistant:

“Create a comparability desk with platform identify, pricing per 30 days, free tier options, and newest replace date.”

The assistant will learn all six web sites concurrently and ship a correctly formatted desk in three minutes. This process takes roughly 45 minutes manually.

// Using Comet for Analysis Synthesis

Subsequent got here analyzing three educational papers on anomaly detection algorithms. Let’s say the duty is to extract key mathematical ideas, evaluate methodologies, and determine which method would possibly work finest for his or her dataset.

With conventional shopping, this implies opening every PDF, studying, taking notes, switching between tabs, and manually evaluating. They requested Comet:

“Summarize the core mathematical distinction between these three papers and rank them by how properly they’d work with real-time monetary knowledge.”

The assistant synthesized throughout all three open papers and delivered a ranked abstract with direct quotes from every supply. The assistant even understood the context from their earlier questions, so it prioritized monetary knowledge purposes with out being requested twice.

Guide time usually required 2 hours. Precise time: 18 minutes.

// Figuring out Comet’s Limitations in Analysis Synthesis

Right here is the place Comet breaks down. They wanted the assistant to routinely extract knowledge from a JavaScript-heavy dashboard, validate it towards a SQL database, and flag mismatches. That is the place AI browsers seemingly cease being helpful.

Comet couldn’t work together with the dynamic dashboard correctly. It tried to click on buttons, however the web page didn’t reply as anticipated. The assistant obtained confused by the interactive components and gave up. Our researcher needed to do it manually.

That is the trustworthy fact. AI browsers excel at studying and synthesizing static data. They battle with complicated, multi-step interactions in trendy net purposes.

# Comet Versus ChatGPT Atlas: Which Browser to Select?

 
When you have been following AI information, you understand OpenAI launched ChatGPT Atlas, their very own AI browser. It performs sooner on some duties however has completely different limitations.

ChatGPT Atlas is extra aggressive with automation. In velocity checks, it accomplished a analysis transient in 47 seconds in comparison with Comet’s 58 seconds. For CSV extraction, Atlas was considerably sooner, at 36 seconds, in comparison with Comet’s 52 seconds.
Nevertheless, Atlas has a important weak spot: it at the moment solely works on macOS. In case your group makes use of Home windows or Linux, you can not use it but.

Extra importantly, Atlas is locked into the OpenAI ecosystem. If you wish to use it with different instruments or workflows, you might be out of luck. Comet integrates with Perplexity Professional, permitting it to work alongside your present AI analysis workflow.

For knowledge scientists particularly, the selection depends upon your main process. If you’re synthesizing data from a number of sources, Comet is best as a result of it maintains stronger context consciousness throughout tabs. If you’re automating repetitive form-filling or net scraping duties, Atlas would possibly prevent barely extra time, however provided that you employ a Mac.

The efficiency distinction just isn’t large sufficient to make both browser important. Each have the identical elementary limitation: they battle with complicated, interactive web sites.

# Explaining Why AI Browsers Exhibit Uneven Efficiency

 
Understanding the underlying expertise helps clarify why AI browsers exhibit such uneven efficiency.

Whenever you ask an AI browser to summarize a webpage, it receives the complete textual content content material and processes it utilizing a language mannequin. That is basically what ChatGPT does, however with a single webpage as a substitute of a common immediate. For this process, AI is genuinely robust.

However when a web site makes use of JavaScript to dynamically load content material, every thing breaks down. The browser can view the rendered web page, however the AI can not essentially decide which components are interactive, the place the information resides, or easy methods to correctly set off dynamic content material. When Comet tried to make use of the JavaScript dashboard in our afternoon take a look at, it was basically making an attempt to resolve a puzzle it was not designed for.

This isn’t a flaw particular to Comet or Atlas. This can be a elementary limitation of how trendy net purposes work. Till AI techniques can reliably interpret complicated, interactive interfaces in real-time, AI browsers will stay extra helpful for analysis and studying than for automation.

# Addressing the Privateness and Safety Downside of AI Browsers

 
That is the place AI browser corporations get defensive. To be helpful, AI browser assistants require permission to learn your emails, view your calendar, entry your contacts, and work together together with your accounts. Perplexity and OpenAI want broad entry to truly ship on the automation guarantees.

That entry creates assault alternatives. Cybersecurity researchers have recognized a kind of assault often called immediate injection assaults as a systemic threat throughout all AI browsers. Right here is the way it works: a malicious web site hides directions in its web page code that trick the AI into taking actions it shouldn’t take. An attacker may doubtlessly manipulate Comet into exposing your emails or making unauthorized purchases.

There’s at the moment no full protection towards immediate injection. It’s an rising drawback that the whole trade is grappling with.

For knowledge scientists working with delicate analysis knowledge, that is price contemplating earlier than granting your browser such in depth entry. Many organizations with strict compliance necessities (authorized companies, monetary establishments, healthcare corporations) is not going to enable these instruments on company networks due to this threat.

# Actual Productiveness Beneficial properties and Actual Limitations

 
Here’s what trustworthy testing truly reveals.
Duties the place AI browsers ship measurable time financial savings embody:

• Summarizing lengthy articles or experiences (saves 15 to half-hour per doc)
• Evaluating data throughout a number of static web sites (saves 30 to 60 minutes)
• Extracting key data from PDFs (saves 20 to 45 minutes)
• Creating analysis tables from a number of sources (saves 30 to 60 minutes)

Duties the place AI browsers underperform or fail:

• Working with JavaScript-heavy dashboards or interactive APIs
• Performing multi-step, complicated interactions throughout completely different websites that require dynamic decision-making
• Dealing with duties involving delicate firm APIs or inner networks

One researcher on Reddit who examined Comet intensively reported that it truly doubled their productiveness for analysis synthesis, saving them roughly one hour per day. However that is for somebody doing information-intensive work. For common net shopping or working with complicated purposes, the time financial savings disappear.

The Perplexity CEO claimed that Comet may increase productiveness by 20 %, doubtlessly including trillions to GDP. That is enterprise capital discuss, not engineering actuality. Actual-world utilization reveals extra modest beneficial properties — perhaps 5 to 10 % time financial savings for particular workflows, zero % financial savings for others.

# Figuring out if You Ought to Swap to an AI Browser

 
The trustworthy reply is, it depends upon your precise workflow.
In case your work primarily includes studying, analyzing, and synthesizing data from a number of on-line sources, an AI browser will prevent important time. Information scientists doing literature opinions, aggressive evaluation, or analysis synthesis fall into this class.

In case your work includes interacting with net purposes, filling out types, or working with JavaScript-heavy instruments, it is best to stay together with your present browser. The AI browser is not going to help you and will even gradual you down.
The fee issues too. Comet requires a Perplexity Professional Max subscription, which prices roughly $20 per 30 days. If you’re saving thirty minutes per day on analysis work, that roughly pays for itself. If you’re saving 5 minutes per week, it doesn’t.

ChatGPT Atlas is at the moment free throughout testing, however it can presumably value one thing ultimately. For macOS customers conducting research-intensive work, it might turn into worthwhile. For everybody else, the equation is much less clear.

# Contemplating Privateness, Safety & the Uncomfortable Fact

 
Earlier than adopting any AI browser, you must perceive what you might be buying and selling.
AI browsers require sending web page content material to cloud servers for processing. This implies the information you might be viewing passes by means of exterior techniques earlier than being summarized or analyzed. For many analysis work, that is superb. For delicate or proprietary data, it’s a drawback.

Some organizations deal with this by utilizing AI browsers just for public analysis and preserving proprietary work in conventional browsers. That is cheap, nevertheless it additionally defeats a part of the purpose of getting an AI browser.

The immediate injection assault threat is actual, however not instantly catastrophic for those who use widespread sense. Don’t use AI browser brokers to work together with high-stakes web sites, e.g., banking portals or delicate firm techniques. Use them for analysis, evaluation, and data synthesis the place the draw back of an error is comparatively low.

# Conclusion

 
In conclusion, AI browsers are usually not going away, however they won’t change conventional browsers anytime quickly. The expertise will enhance. Efficiency points with JavaScript purposes are probably to enhance. New safety requirements will ultimately handle immediate injection assaults.

What issues now could be matching the device to the duty. For knowledge scientists, the most effective real-world use case is strictly what we examined: synthesizing analysis data from a number of sources. That is the place AI browsers truly ship measurable productiveness beneficial properties with out compromising on safety or coping with extreme complexity.

For those who spend hours every week studying, evaluating, and synthesizing data, take a look at Comet or Atlas for every week. The time financial savings alone would possibly justify the price. In case your work is primarily application-focused or includes complicated interactive duties, save your cash and stick to what you understand works.
 
 

Shittu Olumide is a software program engineer and technical author keen about leveraging cutting-edge applied sciences to craft compelling narratives, with a eager eye for element and a knack for simplifying complicated ideas. You can too discover Shittu on Twitter.