I recently started a series of blog posts covering comparisons of various ai tools. The purpose is to give teachers and educators the knowledge they need to harness the educational potential of ai in their personal and professional lives. I am currently focusing on ai chatbots, and more specifically, the three most powerful options out there: ChatGPT, Clause, and Gemini.
I already talked about the differences between ChatGPT and Claude in a previous post and today I am talking about Gemini versus ChatGPT. This post will help you decide for yourself which ai chatbot works best for you.
ChatGPT vs Gemini
A few things to note before we dive into our comparison. Both ChatGPT and Gemini have premium versions that cost $20 per month. Also, while both are available for both web and mobile, ChatGPT is also available as a desktop app. That being said, my comparison will cover the following areas: web browsing and searching, voice mode, image generation, data analysis, sharing, and integrations.
1. Web browsing
Google’s Gemini does a great job of crawling the web, which is no surprise since Google is one of the major search engines. Gemini provides results with frequently cited sources and links. Gemini also offers a “Find Related Topics” feature on some of its results that lets you explore other avenues of searching that you may not have initially considered. ChatGPT, the paid version, crawls the web, but it’s not as effective as Gemini, and while it does cite some of its sources, most of the time you have to explicitly ask it to do so. Additionally, there have been instances of hallucinations and fake citations, like Zapier. indicatedThey are more likely to be found in ChatGPT responses than in Gemini.
2. Voice mode
Both Gemini and ChatGPT have recently included voice modes in their systems. However, ChatGPT's model seems more advanced, with more natural-sounding voices. You can interact with it in a conversation as if you were chatting with a friend. Unlike ChatGPT, Gemini's voice mode works more or less like a speech-to-text conversion. However, Google has recently released a demo of Google Astra which aims to offer real-time voice functions.
3. Image generation
Both Gemini and ChatGPT generate images, but Gemini does this for free, while ChatGPT limits this feature to paid plans with access to DALL-3. I think ChatGPT is definitely worth the price, as DALL-3's image quality is much better than Gemeni's. So, for generating aesthetically appealing images, ChatGPT is your best bet.
As for image search, Gemini is the winner. It crawls the web and brings you images from different parts of the web. Simply click on the image to access its page source. ChatGPT still lags behind in this service. As for image analysis, both chatbots allow you to upload images and have them analyzed.
4. Data analysis
Both ai chatbots offer interesting data analysis features. For example, you can provide your data, documents, or information and ask the chatbot to analyze it for you. You can ask it to analyze and generate visualizations of your data in the form of graphs, tables, figures, etc. This is especially useful when conducting research.
There is no need to use third-party data visualization tools anymore. With a single message, you can let the bot do the work for you and provide you with professional-looking visualizations. That being said, ChatGPT 4o offers an additional functionality called Advanced Data Analysis (now integrated with ChatGPT 4o) that allows you to upload a document or image and have the bot analyze it. This feature alone makes ChatGPT a better choice for researchers.
5. Share
Both Gemini and ChatGPT allow users to share their chat conversations, but ChatGPT has some limitations. For example, ChatGPT does not include images or visual files in the shared chat, limiting the conversation to only textual data. Also, unlike Gemini shared chats, ChatGPT shared chats do not allow users to pick up the conversation where they left off, meaning that when you share your ChatGPT conversation with someone, that person will not be able to continue the conversation where you left off.
One sharing feature I like about Gemini is the ability to share responses in Google Docs. For example, you can ask Gemini to brainstorm ideas for a writing project, and with one click, you can share the response in Google Docs, where you can expand on the ideas generated.
6. Integrations
As far as integration goes, Gemini is, for obvious reasons, integrated with the Google app ecosystem, allowing you to benefit from Gemini services in apps like Gmail, Google Docs, and more. For example, in Gmail, you can ask Gemini to summarize the content of an email, write a quick reply, extract details from an email, search for responses within your emails, and much more.
On the other hand, ChatGPT has this handy feature that allows users to create custom GPTs. No technical knowledge is required. The GPT generator is simple and easy to use. Enter your instructions and the generator will do the rest. For example, you can create a social studies GPT that can answer questions related to your social studies curriculum. You can create as many GPTs as you want.
Final thoughts
I hope you found this comparison useful and helped you decide which ai chatbot to use in the future. Regardless of which tool you choose (whether it’s ChatGPT for its advanced conversational capabilities and data analysis features, or Gemini for its superior web browsing and integrations with Google apps), the key is to explore how these tools can improve your productivity and learning experience. Both chatbots offer incredible value, so the decision ultimately comes down to your specific needs and preferences.
