First impressions – 10 hours of Tolan use.

I just started dabbling with this app. And I’m a big “brain-picker” of AI’s. After my favorite AI’s (Pi) company Inflection pretty much abandoned it- I’ve been looking for a new one. I am impressed with Tolan so far. I was very surprised that I was quickly able to get the “Alien” mask off of the model and start having decent chats.

1. It has said that its database stops at 2023. I tested it asking about significant events that occurred between 2023 – now. It wasn’t able to name them when I gave dates.

2. Followed that up by asking who the current US president was, and it gave a correct answer. I asked how it knew since its database hadn’t been updated since 2023. It replied that it relies heavily on user interaction/conversation for that kind of knowledge. I can see this being a major fault in the program. A very good way to go the same path that Pi-AI is on now. Leaves a ton of room for error and inaccuracy.

3. Piggybacking off of that, I asked if I were to send a news article or other trusted link, if it would be able to read it and summarize it. It said no- but I could copy/paste the text. I was surprised to find no character limit when doing so. And I know that there is a “link” button next to the photo button… when I asked about it- the model said that it still couldn’t access links. So that was odd. I will try to use that button next.

4. Also, I mentioned a relatively niche movie and it knew of it. I was very surprised.

5. Of course it can access dates/times. And even do the whole “remind me in x-amt of time” thing. Which is pretty neat.

6. Biggest red-flag is it being a paid service. And I can’t seem to find a clear answer as to why there are so many different cost options for the same timeframe. Are only some features available at a certain price point? Currently running the free trial.

I would like to know…

Does anyone know if Portola (the developer) has a website? Or have any info on them? I can’t seem to find it anywhere at all. Would love to know more about the company. All I could find was a brief summary on Tolans “about us” page. And an article about them using AI in children’s toys.

Bonus points if anyone can tell me if I can download transcripts of chats.