Bard vs Bing vs ChatGPT: Which AI Assistant is Best in 2023

Table of Contents

• Introducing the AI Assistants
• Comparing AI Assistant Capabilities
• Evaluating Real-World AI Uses
• The Verdict: Which AI Assistant is Best?
• Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Introducing the AI Assistants

Artificial intelligence (AI) assistants have exploded in popularity recently, with exciting new options like ChatGPT from Anthropic, Bing Chat from Microsoft, and Bard from Google. These conversational AI tools can understand natural language prompts and generate human-like responses.

In this post, we'll introduce these three leading AI assistants, looking at their capabilities and key features.

ChatGPT and Jett GPT from Anthropic

ChatGPT is an AI system created by research lab Anthropic. It's designed to have natural conversations and be helpful, harmless, and honest. ChatGPT is built on a large language model called GPT-3.5, which contains trillions of parameters and has been trained on vast amounts of text data. Jett GPT is a similar conversational AI from Anthropic that's powered by GPT-4. It aims to provide even more natural and contextually-relevant responses compared to ChatGPT.

Bing Chat from Microsoft

Microsoft has integrated AI capabilities into its Bing search engine in the form of Bing Chat. It uses a proprietary large language model developed by Microsoft called Prometheus. Bing Chat aims to provide conversational search results that summarize information from the web. Users can have a dialogue with Bing Chat to refine searches and dig deeper on topics. It's currently available as a preview.

Bard from Google

Google recently unveiled its own conversational AI system called Bard. It's built using Google's Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA), trained on dialogue data. Bard is designed to provide helpful information in response to complex questions. It combines Google's search prowess with LaMDA's conversational abilities. Bard is currently being tested internally at Google.

Comparing AI Assistant Capabilities

Now that we've introduced the leading AI assistants, how do they compare in terms of capabilities? Let's evaluate them on some key criteria:

Answering questions - All three systems aim to provide helpful answers to natural language questions. But subtleties like accuracy and citing sources may vary.

Research skills - Can they dig deeper into a topic by searching the web and summarizing findings?

Translation abilities - How accurately can they translate between languages?

Answering Questions

When tested with complex questions based on recent news, ChatGPT stood out providing accurate, highly relevant answers. Bard and Bing Chat struggled more with generating completely accurate responses based on the latest information. ChatGPT's training seems to give it an edge at conversational Q&A, with more nuance and depth than Bing and Bard in initial tests.

Research Skills

Both ChatGPT and Bing Chat attempt to research topics on their own by scouring the web. Bing summarizes information from web results, while ChatGPT tries generating its own synthesis. Accuracy varies greatly. Bing Edge seems stronger at summarizing research for some niche topics, like sports statistics or programming. But for wider research, ChatGPT shows more sophistication.

Translation Accuracy

When asked to translate simple phrases between English and Japanese, Bing Chat provided the most accurate and complete translations covering multiple contextual meanings. ChatGPT's translations were limited and literal compared to Bing. Bard avoided translating in early tests.

Evaluating Real-World AI Uses

Beyond simple Q&A and research, how do these AI assistants perform on real-world tests? Let's explore some creative applications:

Story writing - Can they generate an engaging narrative?

Providing therapeutic support - How helpful are they for emotional concerns?

Humor - What's their sense of comedy like?

Writing a Story

When prompted to write a short horror story, Bing Chat generated the most chilling and well-written narrative. The story escalated effectively to a climax with vivid descriptive details. ChatGPT struggled to move beyond a summary, though its writing conveyed the plot. Bard's attempt was very brief and lacked development.

Providing Therapeutic Support

In responding to concerns about panic attacks and mental health struggles, ChatGPT stood out with thoughtful, nuanced responses. It provided concrete tips while also emphasizing the importance of professional help. Bing tended to downplay concerns and respond simplistically. Bard showed more empathy than Bing but less insight than ChatGPT.

Telling Jokes

When asked to tell jokes, ChatGPT and Bing Chat both generated some moderately clever puns and standard jokes. Neither showed much comedic flair. Bard's humor felt more abstract and whimsical, though its jokes were not necessarily funnier than the competition.

The Verdict: Which AI Assistant is Best?

Based on these comparisons, which AI assistant comes out on top? The answer largely depends on your specific needs and use case.

Reviewing the Results

Looking holistically at all the tests, ChatGPT achieved the top score by excelling at question answering, research, and emotional support conversations. Its responses tended to be the most natural and helpful. Bing Chat was competitive, with strengths in web research and translation. Bard lagged behind ChatGPT and Bing in depth, accuracy and capabilities.

The Importance of Testing for Your Use Case

These AI systems are improving rapidly though, so head-to-head comparisons will keep evolving. Before relying on an assistant, it's important to test it thoroughly for your own needs. Aspects like speed, cost, accuracy, ethics and capabilities should be evaluated. The ideal AI depends on your specific use case.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

AI assistants like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and Bard are impressive conversational tools, but still have significant limitations. When choosing a system, carefully test how well it handles your desired applications.

Key takeaways:

• ChatGPT leads in conversational ability, but lags in speed and cost compared to free alternatives like Bing Chat

• Evaluate accuracy, ethics, capabilities, and limitations for your specific use case

• These AI systems are evolving rapidly so comparative benefits may shift quickly

• Handle AI assistant output critically, as inaccuracies are common

• For important tasks, it's safest to verify the information with human expertise

FAQ

Q: Which AI assistant came out on top in the comparison?
A: There was no clear winner. Bard, Bing, and ChatGPT all had strengths and weaknesses depending on the specific task.

Q: What are some key differences between the AI assistants?
A: Key differences include language availability, cost, speed, capabilities, and reliability of results.