Regardless of what you may think of Elon Musk’s X, there is no denying that xAI’s Grok 3 is one of the best chatbots out there.
It goes way beyond the basic conversation model that we’ve become accustomed to in recent times, by adding some very useful features such as DeepSearch and Think. These are designed to make research more comprehensive while helping people to solve coding, science and math problems.
In a nutshell, it's xAI’s most advanced model, with the added advantage of accessing both the web and posts on X. What’s more, you don’t need to pay a penny to use it because it’s been given a free release, meaning it’s not restricted to Premium users.
So, let’s take a look at how you can access it and delve into what Grok 3 (and Grok in general) can do.
1. Sign into X
When you sign into X in a browser, you can select Grok from the menu to the left. This will take you straight to the Grok homescreen.
You can also visit Grok.com or access Grok via mobile apps for iOS and Android.
2. Ask it anything
Grok is like rival chatbots such as ChatGPT. You can enter a prompt about pretty much anything, from general knowledge to complex reasoning tasks.
Grok 3 is able to draw information from websites as well as from posts on X so you can use it to tap into up-to-date trends.
For example, you could write: "What are people saying about the impact of US tariffs on technology?" and it will give a concise overview, in some cases picking out particular X users and giving specific examples.
3. Get it to draw you
Assuming you’ve uploaded a profile image of yourself, you can tap Draw Me underneath the Grok prompt box.
This will allow Grok to use your image to quickly create artwork in a range of styles and it’s a good way to explore what Grok can do. It will give you some extra prompts that you may want to try, too.
4. Perform a DeepSearch
DeepSearch is a very powerful tool which can replace a traditional search engine if you’re looking to generate reports on a topic.
It has strong reasoning capabilities and it has been created to "seek the truth". It will take information and weigh up conflicting facts and opinions to deliver a comprehensive report using up-to-date sources, so it’s great for scientific research or getting more information about something in the news.
But that’s not all. Click the DeepSearch button to get an idea of some of the things you can ask for and you’ll find it’s capable of creating in-depth, up-to-date itineraries for your trips and summarising reviews of products.
5. Resolve problems
Some problems can only be solved if you think long and hard, so why not delegate that task to Grok?
Click Think and you’ll get an idea of the type of deep questions you can ask of it — click the questions for answers or use them to inspire similar queries.
In general, Think is designed to solve the most difficult science, coding and math issues so be challenging and deep.
6. Work with files
You can upload a wide range of files for Grok to process — from JPG and PNG images to PDFs, text files, CSVs, XML, Excel, and Word documents.
You can then instruct Grok to use the file in combination with your prompts – files can be analysed and images can be worked on and edited.
7. Edit images
You can ask Grok to perform many tasks that you may otherwise turn to Photoshop to carry out.
You could, for example, upload an image and get Grok to produce it in a different style, or ask for an object to be added.
Backgrounds can be altered or removed and the feeling of an image can be changed. It makes editing images so easy.
8. Refine Grok’s access
You can tell Grok which sources you want it to access. Select the Filter icon in the prompt box and you can use the toggles next to web search, X search, X media search and trends search to activate or deactivate them.
If you select DeepSearch from this menu, you can go beyond DeepSearch and opt for DeeperSearch which is even more reasoned and makes use of more sources.
And there you go! You now have a better idea of how to use Grok 3 and Grok in general. There are loads of other things it can do, though.
Learn how to create a video game using Grok and discover how to use Grok’s free new Studio AI tool make a website, research paper and browser game. And, just as importantly, you can find out how to stop Grok from training on your X posts.
More from Tom's Guide
- These 5 Claude prompts are guaranteed to boost your productivity
- ChatGPT has added a new image library — here's how to use it
- How to use Manus — the AI agent dubbed the ‘second DeepSeek’
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