4 Top Gen AI Platforms and How They Can Help Your Business

Ever since ChatGPT burst on the scene, it feels like there's been a new Gen AI tool released every day – so many that they all start to blend together. But even the most general-purpose AI tools have specific things they excel at. And whether you're in finance or real estate, it's crucial to stay on top of Gen AI trends or risk falling behind.

In this piece: a roundup of the top platforms to keep on your radar and how best to leverage them for your business.

For Light Research: Perplexity

One of the longest-standing complaints about Gen AI has been its tendency to “hallucinate” – or, more simply, make things up with confidence. That might not matter so much when you’re researching a topic you’re pretty well versed in and can instantly fact check. But what about those times when you don’t know what you don’t know?

That’s when you turn to Perplexity. It’s a conversational search engine that acts a lot like a knowledgeable research assistant. And it's perfect for situations where you need reliable information fast.

Why we like it: 

  • Skimmable, well-formatted answers save you time when you need quick research.

  • Citations make it easy to verify every claim and dig deeper if needed.

  • The Pro version lets you toggle between models from OpenAI and Anthropic. 

Who it's best for: Professionals who do light research or want a quick primer on an unfamiliar topic.

For Brainstorming: Claude

If you’re using Gen AI for brainstorming, you probably want a chatbot that’s friendly and conversational without functioning as a digital yes-man for all your ideas.

Anthropic’s Claude was intentionally designed to meet that need. Think of it as an intellectual sparring partner: it can pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in practically any idea and help you come up with alternatives when needed. To mitigate bias, Claude makes sure every response aligns with its “constitution” – a crucial guardrail as AI grows more sophisticated.

Why we like it:

  • Claude feels like a real conversationalist: its warm tone is a breath of fresh air, and it’s easy to talk through even half-formed ideas without having to worry about carefully structured prompts.

  • Thoughtful, step-by-step reasoning makes it easy to analyze ideas from all angles.

  • A constitutional AI framework can provide ethical peace of mind.

Who it's best for: Any professional looking to push beyond surface-level thinking, challenge their assumptions, and become a better thinker.

For Business Writing: ChatGPT

Open AI’s ChatGPT gave it a first-mover advantage in the now-crowded Gen AI space. While other models have edged it out in some areas, ChatGPT remains a powerful asset for business writing in particular.

Whether you’re writing a memo or a white paper, ChatGPT can help you save time outlining, drafting, and revising your work. While you’ll often need a bit of prompting to get the voice and tone just right, ChatGPT remembers your writing preferences the more you use it. And with the Pro version, you can even upload reference docs (like brand voice guidelines or market research) so ChatGPT has exactly the information it needs.

Why we like it:

  • ChatGPT has a good grasp on professional language and can implement best practices for any medium.

  • You can train custom GPTs to execute common writing tasks based on specific reference information.

  • GPT Canvas blends the familiar chatbot interface with a document editor for more intuitive writing and line-level revisions.

Who it's best for: Professionals who lack the time, energy, or team resources for traditional writing – or folks who simply want to write faster.

For Meetings: Otter.ai

Strictly speaking, Otter.ai isn’t a Gen AI platform – at least, not exclusively. At its core, it’s a traditional AI transcription app that makes managing meetings more efficient. Otter records and transcribes conversations (both online and in person) so you don't miss a word. You don’t even have to be there: it can send an AI notetaker in your place. Each conversation output comes with an auto-generated summary, plus a list of action items for review.

Although Otter’s foundation veers more traditional, it recently entered the Gen AI space with Otter AI Chat – and the platform has gotten that much more powerful. You can treat it like a knowledge base for all your meeting notes and ask questions to resurface specific information or provide the context around key points.

Why we like it:

  • Live transcriptions make it easy to follow along during meetings (great for circling back on a point to follow up on).

  • Searchable transcripts save time when trying to recall specific points or tasks.

  • Otter.ai integrates with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meets for seamless use.

Who it's best for: Professionals that rely heavily on virtual meetings or who want to save time taking detailed meeting notes.

How Are You Keeping Pace with Gen AI?

We’ve already discussed a few of the most valuable Gen AI tools. But this space is changing quickly – and tech-savvy professionals are tinkering with new platforms as they emerge to find the right tech stack for their business.

In times like these, it helps to be surrounded by like-minded folks who are curious about Gen AI and have powerful workflows of their own. We’ve got many such types of professionals at Firmspace. And they’re unlocking new efficiencies every day (that might eventually save enough time to shorten the work week).

If you’d like to learn more about our community, book a tour at a Firmspace location near you – and see the impact for yourself.

Darby Gerga