Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, the world of generative AI becomes buzzing with all kids of AI powered tools. One particular category of the tools that have become so popular especially for us in education is conversational AI chatbots. These are platforms where users input a prompt and get a live response. These platforms prove to be helpful for us teachers and educators as they enable us to streamline various tasks, from lesson planning and content creation to providing personalized student support.
In this post, I share with you some of the best AI chatbots available today which can provide great value to teachers and students.
Best AI Chatbots for Education
Here are our top picks for best AI chatbots for education:
1. ChatGPT
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is arguably one of the most popular AI chatbots out there. ChatGPT can generate essays, solve complex problems, write code, and much more. The latest version, ChatGPT 4o, offers significant improvements, including the ability to understand images and process up to 128,000 tokens in a single session, making it ideal for more larger research tasks.
ChatGPT offers web browsing capabilities but not as effective as its competitors such as Gemini especially in terms of accuracy and sourcing. Still, its conversational abilities and natural-sounding voice mode make it a standout choice for those seeking a seamless interactive experience.
One of ChatGPT’s biggest advantages is its access to advanced tools, such as DALL-E 3 for generating high-quality images, though this feature is limited to paid plans. ChatGPT also features an Advanced Data Analysis tool, allowing users to upload documents and images for deeper examination.
Though it has some limitations in sharing chats—such as not allowing users to continue conversations from shared links—ChatGPT excels with its custom GPT builder, enabling users to create specialized AI assistants tailored to their specific needs, such as educational tools or content creation bots.
3. Gemini
Gemini, formerly known as Bard, is Google’s flagship AI chatbot designed to provide users with real-time interaction. As I stated in an earlier post (Gemini versus ChatGPT), the earlier excels in web browsing, pulling in results with cited sources, and offers a unique “Search Related Topics” feature that allows users to explore related content they may not have initially considered.
With a massive context window of up to 1 million tokens, Gemini is ideal for conducting extensive research. Although its voice mode currently functions as basic voice-to-text, Google has previewed Google Astra, which promises real-time voice interaction in the future.
In terms of image-related tasks, Gemini offers free image generation, though the quality may not be as refined as what ChatGPT’s DALL-E 3 offers. However, Gemini does a pretty good job in image search, crawling the web to provide users with relevant images linked to their sources. It also integrates seamlessly with Google’s app ecosystem, allowing users to easily share responses to Google Docs, Gmail, and more. For those who rely heavily on Google services, Gemini is a versatile tool that enhances productivity across various platforms.
3. Claude
Claude, developed by Anthropic, is a powerful AI chatbot that excels in handling large context windows, boasting an impressive 200,000 tokens compared to ChatGPT’s 128,000. This makes Claude particularly well-suited for long-form content generation, maintaining continuity and understanding across lengthy conversations.
While Claude does not have access to the internet, it shines in tasks such as coding, where it outperforms ChatGPT in generating, debugging, and understanding code. For those needing creative and human-like text, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is a standout, producing natural, stylistically refined writing with enhanced proofreading and editing capabilities.
Despite its strengths, Claude lacks some features such as third-party integrations and real-time internet access. These limitations, however, don’t diminish Claude’s effectiveness for projects that rely on maintaining large amounts of contextual information and delivering polished content. For educators and professionals focused on creative writing, content editing, or coding, Claude offers an excellent alternative to ChatGPT and Gemini.
4. Copilot
Copilot is Microsoft’s flagship AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT models. Copilot offers a wide variety of interesting AI featurings. There is for instance the web search feature powered by Bing allowing you to get responses from content published online including fetching images from online pages.
Like Gemini, Copilot does cite its sources and with a single click you can trace back the original source. Also, like Gemini’s search suggestions, Copilot offers recommendations as to what to explore next in your search. Copilot has a premium version which costs 20$ per month.
Copilot works best on Bing and Edge browser where you get access to a dedicated sidebar to interact with the AI chatbot seamlessly. For premium users, they can access Copilot on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. With a single click they can get Copilot to help with writing, analyzing data and spreadsheets, and generating presentations.
Related: ChatGPT Vs Claude: Which AI Model Is Best for Teachers?
Final thoughts
So, there you have it, a collection of some of top AI chatbots to help you in your teaching. While they are generally similar in functionalities provided, but each one of them has its idiosyncratic touch that distinguishes it from other ai Chatbots. Experiment with them and see which one works for you. Feel free to reach with suggestions and feedback.
