In today’s bustling realm of generative AI chatbots, we have all witnessed the hype around OpenAI’s revolutionary ChatGPT. Introduced in November 2022, ChatGPT, like wildfire, swept through the digital landscape, captivating the hearts and minds of millions with its unprecedented convenience, and the best part? 

It is free for all! 

From crafting eloquent essays on the First Crusade to spinning enchanting poems inspired by T.S. Eliot, ChatGPT effortlessly caters to our every whim.

Astonishingly, within five days of its debut, ChatGPT amassed an astounding one million users. This led tech giant Microsoft to extend its partnership, thus further fueling the capabilities of ChatGPT, leaving the world in awe of this AI sensation. Microsoft’s Bing, which previously had less than 3% of the search market share, quickly embraced ChatGPT, integrating AI into search. Microsoft actually licenses GPT tech from OpenAI into Bing, which has seen a nearly 16% bump in traffic since. 

But as the dust settled, it was only a matter of time before other tech giants would throw their hats into the ring. And in March 2023, Google thundered into the arena with Bard AI, a formidable rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It was first launched in the Uk and the US. Bard made headlines for its language model for dialogue applications (LaMDA), boasting more natural and accurate conversations. 

Unlike ChatGPT, which was trained using a pre-defined dataset only up to 2021, Bard boasts a more extensive and dynamic training with Infiniset. This vast dataset includes Common Crawl, Wikipedia, news articles, and web documents, all working to bolster Bard’s dialogue capabilities. Additionally, Bard enjoys a unique advantage with real-time internet access, allowing it to tap into the latest information and updates, setting it apart from ChatGPT’s fixed knowledge pool.

Google Bard’s first iteration received a lukewarm reception, but this is a rapidly evolving landscape, and Google swore to take Bard to new heights. True to their word, Google’s announcements during Google I/O 2023 sent excitement through the tech world.

Since both the tools have different language models and use various sources of data to construct their answers, meaning the rival chatbots do not always give similar responses in the same way to the same question asked to each, the epic ChatGPT vs. Bard face-off began.

In this thrilling face-off, we’ll delve deep into the heart of ChatGPT vs. Bard, examining their strengths and weaknesses and exploring how each platform can serve your specific marketing needs. 

ChatGPT vs. Bard At A Glance

ChatGPT and BARD are artificial intelligence-powered chatbots that use natural language processing (NLP).

On the ground level, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI that generates human-like responses based on prompts or text input. It has been trained on a huge amount of internet text called a large language model (LLM).

Google BARD functions similarly to ChatGPT. BARD’s superior natural language processing skills enable it to assist various sectors and specialties.

The main distinctions are the data sources and models on which they were conditioned.

• Google Bard is a research tool that leverages Google’s Pathways Language Model (PaLM 2) and may provide replies based on real-time, current events retrieved from Google Search. 
• ChatGPT, on the other hand, uses its Generative Pre-training Transformer 3 (GPT-3) or GPT-4 for paying customers. While it can generate results from Bing search, it is a superior text generator or writing tool. 

And as already mentioned above, the key distinction between Bard and ChatGPT is that Bard can retrieve data from the live web, whereas the information available on ChatGPT is limited to 2021.

Screenshot from ChatGPT

Features of Google Bard:

1. Google Bard seamlessly integrates with the Google ecosystem, accessing information from Google Search and Scholar to deliver real-time and current data to users.
2. Bard employs sentiment analysis to gauge public opinion and track brand reputation, generating customized emotional responses.
3. The platform offers real-time language translation, facilitating global collaboration by eliminating language barriers.
4. Voice-based interaction enables users to use Google Bard as a virtual assistant, performing tasks via voice commands for greater convenience and accessibility.
5. Bard is a comprehensive content marketing tool allowing users to effectively craft, control, enhance, and analyze their campaigns.

Features of ChatGPT:

1. ChatGPT simplifies understanding complicated words and contextual information by effectively reading user input and offering accurate replies in real time.
2. ChatGPT understands and responds to inquiries in various languages, including Spanish, German, Hindi, English, Italian, Arabic, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Russian.
3. ChatGpt analyzes how people talk about your brand or product, allowing you to gather useful insights into what they think about it – which might help you enhance your services or goods.

In the coming sections, we will learn some of the core differences between ChatGPT and Google Bard in-depth, but here’s a quick breakdown of how they compare.

Comparison Chart – ChatGPT vs. Bard

ChatGPT vs. BARD: What’s the Difference?

As you can see in the comparison chart in the above section, both these AI-powered chatbot tools have differences in their responses and software usage. Let’s discuss them one by one:

1. Engine: 

Google Bard uses LaMDA, a language model developed by Google itself. On the other hand, ChatGPT uses its own GPT – 3.5 and 4 models. 

2. Data Source: 

Bard continually draws information from the internet and always gives the most recent updated information. On the other hand, ChatGPT sources its responses which is limited to 2021 data and hence has limited info on newer research and news.

3. Integration: 

ChatGPT offers a wide range of plugins compared to Bard. You can even install a number of ChatGPT plugins to work with partners.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has also integrated ChatGPT, and the chatbot is accessible in various Microsoft applications like Office Teams and Edge. Microsoft plans to expand ChatGPT’s availability through its API and ChatGPT plugins for additional apps. 

On the other hand, Google Bard has been released as a standalone application, but it can be integrated into Google Search later. 

4. Language Model: 

Bard uses Google’s newest language model – PaLM 2. ChatGPT uses GPT-3.5 with GPT-4 technology available in its paid version – ChatGPT Plus.

5. User-Experience: 

Regarding user-friendliness, Bard is lightyears ahead of ChatGPT. It looks better (with structured language that is much simpler to scan than ChatGPT’s bulky text), but you can also modify your questions after you ask them and examine various replies it prepares.

And each response includes a CTA to Google it so you can authenticate its origins. It’s also linked to your Google Workspace, so you can easily post Bard’s replies to Gmail or Google Docs. 

On the contrary, ChatGPT does not provide a direct CTA until requested.

For me, Bard outshines ChatGPT here as the newer updated version of Bard became more convenient.

6. Accuracy And Aptitude:  

Both chatbots are careful to stress that their responses’ accuracy should not be accepted at face value. While Bard has superior conversational AI skills, ChatGPT-4 excels in text processing, making it suited for applications like summarization, where accuracy and comprehensiveness are critical. 

ChatGPT4 is a flexible and important tool for anybody working with NLP (natural language processing) because of its capacity to fulfill numerous jobs on a more textual level.

Test Question: How much money do I need to maintain a WordPress ecommerce website before it breaks even?

A thorough review of the studies offered by ChatGPT 4 and Google BARD reveals that they endure identical themes regarding the costs of maintaining a WordPress ecommerce website. 

Both AI models address domain and hosting expenses, themes, plugins, ecommerce platforms, marketing, payment processing, inventory and shipping, and other potential expenditures.

However, the main difference between these technologies is how each AI produces the information. ChatGPT 4 dives deeper into the subject, providing more precise facts about the expenses associated with each component.

Google BARD’s response, on the other hand, is more fundamental and focuses on a general synopsis of the expenditures involved. While it covers all the paramount points, it does not include explicit information or data on payment processing or ecommerce systems.

As an outcome, we can all agree that ChatGPT won the ChatGPT vs. Google BARD aptitude test.

7. Information Synthesis: 

Bard uses Google Search, while ChatGPT’s web browser uses Bing. Bard can access real-time information, summarize web pages, and display images for context. ChatGPT’s free edition is limited to a fixed dataset until 2021. Bard excels in dynamic research tasks with up-to-date data.

Test Question:

I asked Bard about recent discoveries made by the James Webb telescope, and it instantly parsed these results:

As you can see, the way it processes information is quite impressive. It ensures the accuracy of the results and presents each discovery in a straightforward manner that is easy to understand.

However, in my experience with ChatGPT Plus, which allows access to the internet using the Microsoft Bing-powered web browser, it is less user-friendly. Firstly, you need to remember to click on the web browser separately. Secondly, it clearly states that ChatGPT’s information is limited to 2021, so it cannot give me any latest update but only was able to provide potential scientific goals, which was definitely not my query.

Hence, the clear winner in this category remains Bard.

8. Summarizing Web Information 

Any research tool must be capable of summarizing content or publications, especially if the subject matter is complicated. This is where Bard presently excels.

All you have to do is paste a link to an article and request a summary.

Test Question:

I asked Bard if it can summarize the content for this link: https://www.simpplr.com/blog/2021/causes-effects-poor-communication-workplace/ 

Amazingly, it breaks the contents down into bullet points with accurate information. I double-checked in case it was wrong, but it was spot on. 

This is significant: for any research article, medical publication, or webpage with a complicated subject matter, you may ask Bard for a full summary, then ask follow-up questions if something is unclear. You can see how this may significantly alter the character of the study.

However, if you’re using ChatGPT, the only way to get it to summarize articles for you is to copy and paste the text from the article into the prompt box, as ChatGPT cannot derive a summary from any URL you enter. Also, ChatGPT has a token maximum of 4,096 characters, which is around 3,000 words. ChatGPT Plus is required for anything lengthier (such as research papers). 

I asked the same question to ChatGPT, and this is what I got in response:

As you can see, it produced an impenetrable answer, which may not be optimal if you need a rapid overview. Bard knows how to provide a brief overview in bullet points, which is great for scanning. Hence, Bard shines here as well.

9. Training Data: 

The Google BARD training data is generally obscure. However, LaMDA’s study report throws some light on it. It indicates that similarly to GPT-n models, 12.5% of the data originates from Common Crawl and another 12.5% from Wikipedia. ChatGPT, on the other hand, has 175 billion model parameters versus Google BARD’s 137 billion. While additional factors improve language synthesis, they also increase the danger of overfitting. 

From such insights, it can be said that ChatGPT looks to be more adaptable than Google BARD in terms of training, despite the latter’s possible resistance to fresh linguistic use cases.

10. User Interface:  

The main difference between ChatGPT and Bard is that Google BARD enables voice commands via your device’s microphone, allowing you to work hands-free. It also has a “Google it” option for quick in-line research outside BARD.

The AI interface offers a “drafts” option with many response alternatives per query, allowing users to select the best one. Previous prompts are also shown, with options to see information or remove items. BARD’s activity storage may be disabled. 

While on the other side, ChatGPT groups prompt into sidebar conversations, allowing for in-depth discussions on specialized topics. Users can edit or delete these discussions, although locating responses to specific requests may need scrolling.

I will give Bard the upper hand here as it has the voice prompt option available.

11. Using Photos From The Web To Provide Visual Context: 

The capacity of Bard to surface both search results and photos from Google Search distinguishes it as a prominent contender. Although it cannot (yet) produce photos using AI, it can surface existing images based on the topic you have asked about. 

Whether you’re looking for specific cat breeds, Monalisa paintings, or Canadian landscapes, Bard may pull photos from other websites for visual context. 

ChatGPT, however, does not provide any photographs or artwork. 

Hence for me, the clear winner stands Google Bard.

12. ChatGPT vs. Bard Coding

When comparing the coding capabilities of ChatGPT 4 and Google BARD for generating HTML and CSS code, I gave the test question: to create HTML and CSS code for a gaming app related to chess.

ChatGPT 4’s response offers a complete and well-crafted solution for creating the layout of a chess gaming app. The provided HTML and CSS code accurately showcases a chessboard with pieces arranged in their starting positions. Notably, the code includes CSS classes for each chess piece, indicating the use of images to represent them. This level of detail and consideration provides a strong foundation for developing a fully functional chess gaming app.

On the other hand, Google BARD’s reply only provides a basic 8×8 chessboard layout without any pieces. While it establishes the structure of the chessboard, it lacks the crucial details necessary for creating a fully functional chess gaming app, such as the arrangement and representation of chess pieces.

In this case, ChatGPT 4’s response offers a more comprehensive and detailed solution.

ChatGPT vs. Bard: Which Is Better?

That was a lot to take in, so let’s do a quick rundown of the pros and cons.

• Google Bard: pros and cons

• ChatGPT: pros and cons

The better AI tool depends on what you’re using it for—and whether you can come to terms with those pesky hallucinations. 

The Final Word 

As of the current state of AI chatbots, both Google Bard and ChatGPT-4 have unique strengths and applications. While Google Bard has made significant strides with its switch to PaLM, offering a user-friendly interface and real-time internet access, it still fails to generate authentic responses and has limitations regarding hallucination or generating fake news. On the other hand, ChatGPT-4 provides verbose and human-like responses, excels in text-processing tasks like summarization and paragraph writing, and has demonstrated proficiency in creative tasks.

One must consider several factors when choosing the best tool for a particular use case. Google Bard’s integration with other Google services, including the widely used Gmail platform, is undoubtedly a major advantage, making it an attractive option for businesses and practical applications. However, ChatGPT-4’s creative capabilities and access to its functionalities, albeit limited and paid, can be advantageous for users looking for unique and imaginative outputs.

Finally, the decision between ChatGPT vs. Bard is specified by the user’s individual needs and the planned application of the chatbot.  For those seeking accuracy, simplified integration with Google services, and real-time internet access, Google Bard emerges as the better option. Conversely, for users interested in creative tasks and text-processing abilities, ChatGPT-4 proves to be a compelling choice.

As technology continues to evolve, both Google and OpenAI will likely improve their respective chatbot offerings with more data, ChatGPT-4 proves to be a compelling choice for users interested in creative tasks and text-processing abilities evolving needs.

In conclusion, deciding which chatbot tool, ChatGPT vs. Bard, depends on the user’s specific requirements and preferences. While Google Bard excels in certain areas and offers valuable integrations, ChatGPT-4 shines in creative tasks and text-processing capabilities. As AI advances, users may witness further improvements in both chatbots, making the choice even more nuanced and personalized.