I recently started a series of blog posts covering comparisons of various AI tools. The purpose is to empower teachers and educators with the knowledge they need to tap into the educational potential of AI in their personal and professional life. I currently focus on AI chatbots and more specifically the three most powerful options out there: ChatGPT, Clause, and Gemini.
I already covered the differences between ChatGPT and Claude in a previous post and today I cover Gemini versus ChatGPT. This post will help you decide for yourself which AI chatbot works the best for you.
ChatGPT Versus Gemini
Few things to keep in mind before we delve into our comparison. Both ChatGPT and Gemini have premium versions which cost 20$ per month. Also, while both are available for both web and mobile, ChatGPT is also available as a desktop app.That said, my comparison will cover the following areas: Web browsing and search, voice mode, image generation, data analysis, sharing, and integrations.
1. Web Browsing
Google’s Gemini does a great job browsing the web which is no surprise single Google itself is a leading search engine. Gemini provides results with often cited sources and links. Gemini also offers a ‘Search Related Topics’ feature under some of its results allowing you to explore other search avenues you might have not considered initially. ChatGPT, the paid version, does crawl the web but is not as effective as Gemini and while it cites some of its sources, most often you need to explicitly prompt it to do so. Also, instances of hallucinations and fake citations, as Zapier indicated, are likely to be found in ChatGPT responses than in Gemini.
2. Voice Mode
Both Gemini and ChatGPT have recently included voice modes into their systems. ChatGPT’s model, however, seems more advanced with more natural sounding voices. You can engage with it in a conversation like interaction sounding like you are having a chat with a friend of yours. Unlike ChatGPT, Gemini’s voice mode functions more or less like voice-to-text. However, Google has recently released a demo of Google Astra which claims to offer real-time voice features.
3. Image Generation
Both Gemini and ChatGPT generate images but Gemini does it for free while ChatGPT limits this function to paid plans with access to DALL-3. I think ChatGPT’ s price tag is definitely worth it as the quality of DALL-3 images are way better than those of Gemeni. Therefore, 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 is still lagging behind in this service. As for image analysis, both chatbots enable you to upload images and have them analyzed.
4. Data Analysis
Both AI chatbots offer interesting data analysis features. For instance, you can provide your data, documents, or information and prompt the chatbot to analyze it for you. You can ask it to analyze and generate visualizations of your data in the form of charts, tables, figures, etc. This is especially helpful when doing research.
No more using third-party data visualization tools, with a single prompt your can let the bot does the work for you and provide you with professional looking visualizations. That being said, ChatGPT 4o offers an added functionality called Advanced Data Analysis (now integrated with ChatGPT 4o) that lets you upload a document or image and have it analyzed by the bot. This feature alone, makes ChatGPT a better option for researchers.
5. Sharing
Both Gemini and ChatGPT allow users to share their chat conversations but ChatGPT has some limitations. For instance, ChatGPT does not include images or visual files in the shared chat limiting the conversation to only textual data. Also, unlike Gemini’s shared chats, ChatGPT’s shared chats do not allow users to pick up where one left off, meaning, when you share your ChatGPT conversation with someone they will not be able to continue the conversation where you stopped.
A sharing feature I like about Gemini is the ability to share responses to Google Docs. For instance, you prompt Gemini to brainstorm ideas for a writing project and with a single click you can share the response to Google Docs where you can further expand on these generated ideas.
6. Integrations
When it comes to integration, Gemini, for obvious reasons, is integrated with Google apps ecosystem allowing you to benefit from the services of Gemini in apps such as Gmail, Google Docs, and more. For instance, in Gmail, you can ask Gemini to summarize the content of an email, write a quick response, pull details from an email, search for answers from within your emails, and much more.
On the other hand, ChatGPT has this handy feature which allows users to create custom GPTs. No technical knowledge is required. The GPT builder is simple and easy to use. Input your instructions and the builder does the rest. For instance, 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 have found this comparison helpful and that it has helped you decide which AI chatbot to use going forward. Regardless of which tool you choose—whether it’s ChatGPT for its advanced conversational abilities and data analysis features, or Gemini for its superior web browsing and Google app integrations—the key is to explore how these tools can enhance your productivity and learning experience. Both chatbots offer incredible value, so the decision ultimately comes down to your specific needs and preferences.
