In Lesson 1 you asked an AI one real question and judged the answer yourself. That was the whole relationship, in miniature. Now let us meet the cast properly.
There are five mainstream assistants worth knowing. They are more alike than different — all of them will answer questions, draft letters, explain things, and plan — so do not agonize over the choice. Every one of them has a genuinely usable free version, and the paid versions, at about twenty dollars a month, are something most people never need.
The five, plainly
How to pick, in one sentence each
Choose by the world you already live in, not by anyone’s spec sheet. If your life runs on an iPhone and you just want the famous one, start with ChatGPT. If your email is Gmail, Gemini will feel like it already knows the furniture. If your computer runs Windows and Word, Copilot is built in down the hall. If your main use is writing — letters, notes, anything with your name on it — Claude has the most graceful pen. And when you want an answer you can check, Perplexity footnotes every claim like a good term paper.
One honest note that applies to all five: the free versions have limits — a cap on messages per day, or a cool-down after heavy use. For everything in this course, the free versions are plenty. If a tool ever asks you for a credit card to do the basic things we do here, close the tab; you are on the wrong page.
Try this now
Pick one assistant from the list above — by the world you already live in — and make a free account. That is the whole task. Then send it this, just to shake hands:
“I am brand new to this. In three sentences, what are you most useful for in everyday life?”
Notice it answers you plainly, and notice you did not need to learn anything to ask. Next lesson: which tool for which job.