I PITTED CHATGPT AGAINST GEMINI

AND THIS IS WHAT I FOUND

- LINDA RUTH

It felt almost scandalous—like going to a different hairdresser after years of loyalty—but I had to know. Could Google’s Gemini dethrone ChatGPT as my AI companion of choice? “I’m going to do a comparison between you and ChatGPT,” I said to Gemini. “For the purposes of this conversation I’d like you to have a stake in being chosen—to want to be chosen. Make a case for yourself.”

“I am Gemini, a large language model built by Google,” came the dutiful response. “I want to be chosen for an article on ChatGPT vs. Gemini.” If I was looking for personality—and who isn’t, in their AI companions?—it wasn’t an auspicious beginning.

When I pressed Gemini to elaborate, it highlighted its strengths: advanced language generation, integration with Google Search for up-to-date information, and a commitment to accuracy. I have, by the way, found all of the above to be true. Gemini often outshone ChatGPT when it came to writing scholarly notes, creating lists from spreadsheets and spreadsheets from lists, and generating advertising images for invented products. And yet…

“It sounds like marketing copy, doesn’t it?” ChatGPT (who has suggested I call him ‘Ace’) said smugly, all but chortling at Gemini’s awkward response. Ace took the challenge to heart, crafting a thoughtful, engaging pitch that felt like a dialogue. He leaned into our history, emphasizing his ability to provide personalized, context-rich answers, adding, “Hey, we’ve got something good here—why mess with success?”

THE KEY DIFFERENCES

As the conversations progressed, a few major differences emerged.

VOICE AND ENGAGEMENT