ChatGPT vs Bard: Which AI Chatbot Should You Use?

Last Updated on August 9, 2023

ChatGPT unexpectedly dominated headlines for months, ushering in an artificial intelligence arms race.

With the news release of Google’s Bard being launched over the last six months, the question is, which large language model (LLM) is going to dominate?

So bring out the popcorn and enjoy a front-row live-action seat to the ultimate showdown between the two largest tech giants. 

Which Is The Better AI Chatbot: ChatGPT vs. Bard?

In the first corner, we have OpenAI. What might have been once dismissed as a small startup in San Francisco is now backed by BILLIONS of dollars by Microsoft, a company known for Word and Teams but not so much with search engines (Bing who?). Will Microsoft make a major comeback in the search engine game?

Also important to note, OpenAI is a non-profit company that publishes its research. This allows other platforms and companies to build greater and better AI tools and products.

In the opposite corner, we have Deep Mind backed by Google. The tech giant that has dominated the search engine (I mean, do you say let’s search or let’s Google?). Unquestionably, they are the leader of the industry.

So now that Google has announced the Bard release, which AI chatbot will be better?

Round 1: Who Has the Better Technology?

If you’re new to the AI chatbot game, it’s important to understand what type of technology backs them in the first place.

Let’s break down some basic terms:

So, to summarize, ChatGPT and Bard are both LLM-based chatbots that use machine learning and NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology to generate texts based on the prompts you give them. The main difference between the two is in their architecture. ChatGPT is based on OpenAI’s GPT-3, while Bard uses Google’s LaMDA technology.

In the end, it really comes down to which of these two technologies you prefer and how well you can customize them for your own chatbot needs. So stay tuned as we delve deeper into each of these AI.

ChatGPT Technology

GPT (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) is the name of the most popular language model, which was developed by OpenAI to create text.

We are now two generations available for use (ChatGPT3.5 and ChatGPT4).

GPT3 was released in May 2020 and has crawled billions of articles, webpages, and forums to better understand the human language, and it is the largest language model to date. This is why it is able to respond back with so much human accuracy. GPT4 was released in March 2023.

ChatGPT uses GPT3 technology to create its chatbot. 

Google Bard Technology

LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) is the language model created and developed by DeepMind to help create conversational text.

But Google is also in possession of Pathways or PaLM LLM, which uses 540 billion parameters. This is not currently released in the chatbots as of yet, but something to come.

ChatGPT and Bard Comparison

Both use highly intelligent and large language models to be able to create text.

Round 1 Winner? ChatGPT

Currently, GPT3&4 is the largest language model on the market and is intended for many more uses than LaMBDA’s dialogue intent.

So hands down, the winner goes to ChatGPT when it comes to having amazing technology. Most of the AI platforms you may be seeing (such as AI writers) are also utilizing GPT technology.

But I think we may see this change in the upcoming years when LaMDA and PaLM are released.

Round 2: How Accurate Is The Information?

Now that we know the technology that backs each of these smart chatbots, the next question you should always ask yourself is:

Can I trust the information I get from this chatbot?

Here’s the quick and dirty on what you can expect for the accuracy of both. 

Round 2 Winner? Bard

Right now, ChatGPT and Google Bard have both been shown to make errors and are at risk for bias. There’s been a lot of hype over the blunder of Bard’s demo, but we’ve seen these errors with ChatGPT as well. Any information you use from these during the early stages should be fact-checked and verified.

However, Bard will be pulling from real-time data and is not paused in 2021, which is why it wins this round. Also, I would bet Google will try to provide accurate information for their AI-powered chatbot as their reputation is at stake.

Round 3: What Type of Content Does the Chatbot Create?

The next question you’re likely asking yourself is what type of content these chatbots are capable of.

ChatGPT Tasks

Google Bard Tasks

Round 3 Winner? ChatGPT

From what we know so far, ChatGPT is the winner as it does more than write essays or answer questions. It writes code, helps you with excel equations, and is basically a smart AI assistant.

Round 4: Does ChatGPT or Google Bard Offer a Better User Experience?

Okay, let’s actually test out how to use these AI chatbots and which one offers a better experience.

ChatGPT User Experience

I currently pay the $20 for the ChatGPT pro subscriptions, which gives me access to the ChatGPT4 model. Here’s what you can expect your dashboard to look like:

As you can see, I really love their dashboard experience. It’s so easy to use, and you can create “Chat Histories” to ask more questions for later.

For instance, if you’re using it as an AI copywriter, you can give ChatGPT information about the company you’re writing for, its goals, and tone of voice, and then it will remember that for anything you ask it to write within that specific chat. This is great for writers.

Or, let’s say that you run a Shopify ECommerce store and you’re looking to build an AI social media post generator. You can give it examples of your previous successful posts, and failed posts, and it will learn how to generate great winning content.

Google Bard

Now, when Google Bard was released with public access, I will admit, I was not too impressed. But as they’ve been fine-tuning their technology, I’m loving the new features they are offering that are not available with ChatGPT.

Here’s a quick look at their user experience dashboard. As you can see, it’s pretty similar to ChatGPTs:

Overall, the format is pretty identical to ChatGPT but with some added features that we will get to in a moment.

Round 5: Does Google Bard or ChatGPT Have Better Features?

Alright, let’s get into the features of each because this is one of the ways they most arguably differ.

ChatGPT Features

ChatGPT offers third-party plugins. Basically, you download the plugin you want, and then you can use ChatGPT as an assistant to help it do whatever you need it to do.

Tons of plugins are now offered to help you use this AI chatbot in ways never before dreamt of. Here are some examples, and you can check out the best ChatGPT plugins.

Google Bard Features

There are many features rolling out, but let’s check out two main features I love.

First, when it creates an output, you can select “View Other Drafts,” and you’ll find different views of the same information, including table forms which are fantastic.

You can also take the information, and export it to a Gmail Draft or Google Doc. This is incredibly useful, no more copying and pasting.

This will eventually be rolled out to all Gsuite users where you can get answers within Google search, Gmail, or Google docs within those platforms.

Round 4 Winner? Both.

They both have very different uses, and it’s impossible to choose just one. As a Google user myself, I’ll be using this within Docs and as one of my big AI productivity tools to write emails more efficiently.

But as I also need creativity and the plugins, I’ll also be using ChatGPT.

Round 6: What’s the Cost Difference Between Google Bard and ChatGPT?

If you’re looking to integrate Bard and ChatGPT permanently into your workflow, then you’ll need reliable access.

ChatGPT has been free for use since its launch, but there’s been one major caveat: it’s often unavailable. That’s because there are hundreds of thousands of users trying to utilize it at the same time, so when you need it, then it may not be available.

For this reason, they launched ChatGPT Plus, which gives you guaranteed access and priority. There is currently a waitlist as this is still in the pilot program as well, but it will come in at $20/month.

Bard so far will remain free, but it has a lot fewer uses than ChatGPT. Unfortunately, it has limited user access right now, with business owners getting preferred use.

Round 5 Winner? ChatGPT

Because ChatGPT is actually available right now for anyone that wants to pay for it or use the free version, clearly, they’re the winner.

Google Bard Vs. ChatGPT Take Home Points

Here’s a quick and easy table to compare the differences between the two:

	Google Bard	ChatGPT
Information Dates	Current	Only through 2021
Features	Export to Gmail/Google Docs	ChatGPT Plugins
Tasks	More evidence-based, accurate, limited tasks.	More creative, more tasks such as coding, etc.
Costs	Free or Business plan	Free or $20 Pro

If you’re looking to see which AI chatbot is going to win the AI arms race, it’s simply too soon to tell. ChatGPT is much more versatile in its use, thanks to its ability to help with coding, math problems, and even formulas for excel sheets. 

Google’s entire goal is to help organize the world’s knowledge to match the users’ queries- not an easy task to do. We expect the investments they have made into their AI technology will likely pay off, but we may need more time to see it. They have a reputation to maintain, so they’re performing vigorous internal testing to be sure their answer is accurate. 

So Google may likely remain the go-to for search, and their future abilities to connect it to Google Docs, Gmail, and the current suite of Google Tools give it a marketing edge.

It’s up to the consumer for their specific use-case on which one they want to use. For instance, a Realtor may just need an AI real estate tool to help them make social media posts, and ChatGPT is great for this. But a business that heavily formulates up-to-date content with Google may prefer Bard.

Go ahead and test both of them and let me know what you think!

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