Meet the Tools
Five names dominate the AI world, and choosing between them paralyses more beginners than any technical hurdle. Good news: for everything in this playbook, they're about 90% the same. This page introduces each one, helps you pick, and walks you through signing up — today, in five minutes.
The five names you'll keep hearing
ChatGPT (from OpenAI) is the one that started the frenzy and remains the most widely used. It's a friendly all-rounder: writing, explaining, brainstorming, images, a genuinely good voice mode for spoken conversations. If you've heard exactly one AI name, it's this one. Web: chatgpt.com; free apps on Android and iPhone. A free tier exists and is generous enough for daily use.
Claude (from Anthropic) has a reputation as the thoughtful writer of the group — many people find its prose the most natural and its answers the most careful. It's particularly strong with long documents and nuanced writing tasks. Web: claude.ai; apps on both phone stores. Free tier available.
Gemini (from Google) is Google's contender, and its superpower is the family connection: it plugs into Gmail, Google Docs, Maps, and YouTube, and if you have a Google account you're already halfway signed in. Strong with images and anything search-adjacent. Web: gemini.google.com; app on Android (often pre-installed) and iPhone. Free tier available.
Microsoft Copilot is the same idea woven through Microsoft's world — it sits inside Windows, the Edge browser, and (on paid work plans) Word, Excel, and Outlook. If your office lives in Microsoft tools, Copilot is the assistant that's already in the building. Web: copilot.microsoft.com; phone apps available. Free tier available.
Perplexity is the specialist of the five: an AI built around web search. Ask it anything and it searches first, then answers with numbered source links you can actually click and check. For news, research, and "what's true right now" questions, it's excellent; for long creative writing, the others have the edge. Web: perplexity.ai; phone apps available. Free tier available.
| Tool | Made by | Standout strength | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | OpenAI | All-rounder, huge ecosystem, polished voice mode | A safe default for everything |
| Claude | Anthropic | Natural writing, careful answers, long documents | Writing-heavy work, document analysis |
| Gemini | Ties into Gmail, Docs, Maps; easy Google sign-in | People who live in Google's apps | |
| Copilot | Microsoft | Built into Windows, Edge, and Office | Microsoft-centric offices |
| Perplexity | Perplexity AI | Search-first answers with clickable sources | Research and current-events questions |
For a beginner, these tools are 90% interchangeable — all chat in plain language, all handle Bangla and English comfortably, all have free tiers and phone apps. The skills you'll learn in Chapter 2 transfer between them completely. So don't agonise, and don't app-hop: pick one, use it daily for a month, get genuinely fluent. A person who knows one tool well beats a person who has dabbled in five, every time. (If you truly can't decide: ChatGPT or Gemini are the most common first picks — ChatGPT for its all-round polish, Gemini if you already live in Google's world.)
Signing up: the five-minute walkthrough
Every tool follows the same pattern. Here's the generic route — the button labels vary slightly, the shape never does:
- Go to the website (or install the official app from your phone's app store — check the maker's name matches the table above; fakes with similar logos exist).
- Tap "Sign up". You'll be offered two roads: "Continue with Google" (one tap if you have a Gmail account — the easiest road) or sign up with an email address and a new password.
- Verify. With email signup, a 6-digit code lands in your inbox — type it in. Some tools also ask for a phone number for a one-time SMS code.
- Skip the tour. You may get a few "what will you use this for?" questions — answer or skip, it doesn't matter.
- You're in. What you'll see is a mostly empty screen with a text box at the bottom that says something like "Ask anything". That box is the whole product. Everything in this playbook happens in that box.
No payment details are asked for at signup on the free tier — if something demands a card number just to create a basic account, double-check you're on the real site.
A tour of the chat screen
Whichever tool you chose, the screen has the same five or six parts. Learn them once, and every AI app will feel familiar:
- New chat — starts a fresh conversation with a blank memory. Use it liberally: one topic per chat keeps answers sharp (more on why in Context & Memory).
- History sidebar — every past conversation, saved automatically. You can reopen, continue, rename, or delete any of them.
- Model picker — some tools let you choose between a faster brain and a smarter-but-slower one. As a beginner, ignore it; the default is fine.
- Attach button (usually a + or paperclip) — upload photos, PDFs, and documents for the AI to read.
- Mic button — speak instead of type. Many tools also offer a full voice mode where the AI talks back — surprisingly good for practising spoken English, by the way.
Free vs paid, honestly
Here's the part sales pages won't tell you: the free tier is enough for this entire playbook. Every skill, every exercise, every "try it now" box works on a free account. What free tiers typically limit: how many messages you can send per day (or per few hours), access to the very newest models, and how heavily you can use extras like image generation, file uploads, and deep research.
Paid plans (all five tools have one) buy you more of everything: higher message limits, the strongest models, priority at busy times, and the fancier features. The right time to upgrade is when you personally, repeatedly hit a wall — "out of messages" mid-workday, or a feature you genuinely need locked away. That day may come in month two or never. Upgrading on day one is like buying a gym membership with a personal trainer before your first walk: noble, unnecessary.
Your chats are saved to your account, and some tools may use them to improve their models unless you opt out in settings. Rule of thumb until then: don't paste passwords, full ID numbers, or anything you'd be uncomfortable seeing leave your hands. The full picture — settings to change, what's actually risky — is in Chapter 3's privacy topic.
Your first message
Signed up? Then finish the job right now — a tool you've signed up for but never messaged doesn't count. Send this as your opening move; it introduces you and puts the AI to work on your real life immediately:
Hi! This is my first ever message on this app. Here's a bit about me: my daily work involves [your job or main daily activity], and the tasks that eat most of my time are [one or two examples]. 1. Suggest 5 specific ways you could help me, based on what I just told you. 2. Then ask me one question that would help you give better suggestions.
Whatever comes back, reply to it. Ask a follow-up. Push back on a suggestion. That back-and-forth — not the signup — is the actual beginning, and it's exactly where the next chapter starts: Your First Conversation. And if you're still wondering what's reasonable to ask of your new assistant, the map is one page back: What AI Can & Can't Do.
Key takeaways
- Five big names: ChatGPT (all-rounder), Claude (writing and long documents), Gemini (Google world), Copilot (Microsoft world), Perplexity (search with sources). All free to start, all with phone apps, all fine in Bangla and English.
- For beginners they're 90% the same — pick one and use it daily for a month instead of app-hopping.
- Signup is the same everywhere: site or app → continue with Google or email → verify code → you're in a chat box.
- Learn the screen once: new chat, history sidebar, model picker (ignore it), attach, mic.
- Free covers this whole playbook. Upgrade only when you repeatedly hit real walls, not before.
- Don't paste secrets into chats; the full privacy guide is in Chapter 3.