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ChatGPT and Google Bard are both generative AI platforms. Users can enter a query into either ChatGPT or Google Bard, and both generative AI tools will provide long and detailed content creation across many areas.
The term generative AI entered the public consciousness like a whirlwind in November 2022, when OpenAI debuted ChatCPT. Stories about AI chatbots and generative AI were all over social media news outlets. This emerging technology was going to change the world and make whole industries obsolete, or so the news suggested.
Google soon debuted its own generative AI with the launch of Google Bard. And while the debut event wasn’t perfect – Google Bard made an factual error – the AI platform’s potential is enormous. Google has vast expertise in algorithms and artificial intelligence and so it’s reasonable to forecast that Bard will develop rapidly.
Which generative AI tool is best? There are similarities between ChatGPT and Google Bard but there are also differences. Let’s compare and evaluate them.
On a related topic: What is Generative AI?
And: ChatGPT: Understanding the ChatGPT ChatBot
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Key Features
ChatGPT is the most recent iteration of natural language processing models. Its GPT-3 language model has been trained at length using online text written by actual people, as well as news items, novels, websites, and many more sources. It uses this database to create responses to queries. And the ChatGPT AI-powered chatbot takes advantage of machine learning to respond conversationally.
ChatGPT versions range from more than 100 million parameters to as many as six billion to churn out real-time answers. It includes AI Text Classifier, which is a plagiarism checker.
ChatGPT has already gravitated to the Microsoft side of the cloud computing market due to its relationship with Bing. But that isn’t to say that other hyperscalers and big tech giants won’t employ it – or develop their own alternatives.
Enter Google Bard, which has been around as an experimental language model since the middle of 2021. Google runs it on top of its BERT AI language model as a way to answer questions, conduct sentiment analysis, and perform language translation. Its answers go far beyond those typically given during a traditional Google search.
While ChatGPT can manage up to six billion parameters, Bard tops out at 1.6 billion. It also lacks a plagiarism checker. On the plus side, Bard has the Google search engine universe to glean data from whereas ChatGPT has to rely on the less comprehensive Bing search engine.
As Google Bard uses a smaller model than ChatGPT, it requires a smaller amount of computational power. For those with limited computing resources, this gives a clear advantage to Google.
Category Winner
Chat GPT wins on overall feature set, but Google Bard wins on computational resources. And don’t expect Google to accept overall second place. It is throwing a lot of resources at the AI competition.
On a related topic: Top Natural Language Processing Companies
Also see: The Future of Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Content Generation
ChatGPT can summarize long texts, articles, and reports to reflect the primary ideas with some accuracy. It can also highlight key passages within text.
However, it may struggle with long and detailed texts. I can’t imagine it would do well summarizing the Old Testament or the Buddhist texts such as the Bhagavad-Gita, which combine many concepts together. As for requesting in-depth analysis of poetry, early reports suggest that it’s not ChatGPT’s strong suit.
It is apparently possible to train ChatGPT to produce text that can mimic the style and grammar as an original piece of material. This is probably good for consistency in social media posts and email marketing.
A big strength of ChatGPT is translation of English into other languages. It has already offered improvements in translations. The next time you see a Chinese post in Facebook, translate it if you want a laugh. Often the translations are awful. Improvement in this area is much needed and ChatGPT is a definite step forward.
Google Bard lacks many of these features. But it is supposedly better at creative writing via its ability to offer thematic, word, and phrasal suggestions that are designed to help writers come up with ideas. Being a writer myself, I’m doubtful of this capability but we will see.
Perhaps the best use of Google Bard for writers might be to provide feedback on aspects such as setting, style, tone, and overall structure, as well as making it easy to find synonyms, alternative phrasings, and to spot overused words and terms.
Category Winner
Currently, ChatGPT wins on content generation.
On a related topic: The AI Market: An Overview
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Search Engine Integration
You would think that Google would lead in this category. But it fumbled in its launch launch and demonstration of Bard and has fallen behind in search engine integration. In any case, Google could be accused of resting on its laurels to some degree on search. Arguably, Google’s 93% global market dominance of search is under threat with the appearance of AI-enhanced search.
ChatGPT, meanwhile, has surpassed the 100 million user mark and is already integrated into Microsoft Bing and Microsoft Edge. Bing has received a major boost from this technology. Forever lagging behind Google on accuracy, relevancy, and popularity, Bing now finds itself surging in usage due to far greater relevancy.
Category Winner
ChatGPT wins here but expect Google to rapidly play catch up. There are already rumors that it plans to release a snowstorm of AI-based chat products this year. The search giant has enormous incentive to make up for lost ground.
For more information, also see: Top AI Software
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Plagiarism
Google Bard does not yet have any kind of plagiarism mechanism built in. ChatGPT is well ahead in this regard. Its existing classifier checks for plagiarism with some success.
However, ChatGPT parent OpenAI admits that it is not yet fully reliable. Work is being done to help it better distinguish between AI-written and human-written text. Currently, the classifier correctly identifies 26% of AI-written text and incorrectly labeled human-written text as AI-written 9% of the time. This is a big improvement from the original classifier but it has a ways to go. This feature is particularly important when it comes to the detection of automated misinformation campaigns that take advantage of AI tools.
OpenAI makes it clear that its classifier should never be used to condemn something as plagiarized. It helps detect potential examples with some accuracy. This helps narrow the attention of people to determine if actual plagiarism has taken place. Yet it’s also relatively inaccurate with texts below 1,000 characters, is only strong in English, and of course, AI systems can be programmed to avoid the patterns that classifiers monitor.
Category Winner
Regardless of these cautions and shortcomings, ChatGPT wins hands down on plagiarism checking.
For more information, also see: Top Robotics Startups
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Customer Service-Automation
ChatGPT is probably better than Google Bard on responding to customers using a frequently asked questions format. Queries about shipping schedules, progress, product returns, product and service availability and options, as well as technical support matters seem to be relatively well handled by ChatGPT.
Thus, ChatGPT will prove valuable in lowering customer support costs, and easing the load of human representatives. It has also proven to do a decent job in analyzing information and online behavior and making product recommendations. Automation features extend to appointment scheduling, reservations, payment processing, and more.
Google Bard appears to be not so well suited to these tasks. It is more suited to time management, appointment reminders, and ensuring all steps of a process are carried out in sequence. It can be used to automate tasks like restaurant reservations and travel arrangements.
Category Winner
ChatGPT wins on customer service and automation.
For more information, also see: History of AI
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Pricing
ChatGPT has a basic version available for free but the main ChatGPT Plus version costs $20/month. Subscribers get access to ChatGPT at peak times, faster responses, and priority access to new features and improvements. In contrast, Google Bard is free.
Category Winner
Given that Google Bard is currently free, it wins on pricing.
For more information, also see: Best Machine Learning Platforms
ChatGPT vs. Google Bard: Bottom Line
Both Google Bard and ChatGPT use a transformer-based AI architecture as part of a neural network that handles sequential data.
Google has the world wide web as its source of data, and thus has access to a broader data set. ChatGPT, on the other hand, harnesses a smaller, more fine-tuned neural network focused on text inputs.
Thus, each will display strengths and weaknesses due to the differences in their data sets. Use cases will arise where it becomes clear that ChatGPT is best for XYZ use cases whereas Bard is better for ABC use cases. But as one gains ground in a particular sector or use case, the other will likely innovate and add that feature, too.
Speaking generally, Google Bard looks good for text processing and summarization, whereas ChatGPT seems to perform better in chatbots, language translation, and answering questions. Some say that Google Bard brings with it a broader understanding of language, while ChatGPT brings a deeper understanding of language and how it is utilized in different contexts.
Over time, Google Bard may not only catch up, it may leap ahead due to its ability to include recent events in results, and its ability to pull data from a wider pool of information. Be aware, though, that this is all machine learning and is not actual human intelligence. These systems have the potential to be a wonderful aid to human existence, but they will never fully replace individual brilliance or the need for human decision making.
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