The AI Chatbot Race: ChatGPT vs ChatSonic vs Google Bard vs Ernie Bot

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen meteoric growth in the last few years. It has impacted nearly every sector, ranging from farming, healthcare, and education to industries. Before you ask, no it is not the Skynet from ‘The Terminator’. From automated systems like Tesla FSD and pioneering companion robots like Miko, EMO, and Cozmo, it seems like everyone is jumping on the AI bandwagon. AI-powered chatbots have also emerged that assist users in accomplishing tasks such as engaging in conversations, creating large volumes of content and even generating new cocktails! The technology behind these AI chatbots? Generative AI.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is artificial intelligence that can generate new content, such as text, images, audio, and more. It studies an existing database and learns patterns to generate new and unique content. Generative AI models are also known as Large Language Models (LLMs). They use specific algorithms to process natural language and convert it into logic which is then fed to artificial intelligence.

While ChatGPT is the most popular generative AI chatbot right now, there are several alternatives that function similarly, such as Google Bard, ChatSonic, and Ernie.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a generative AI model based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture which feeds the program with a large amount of text data to help the AI learn the nuances of human language. You can ask ChatGPT any question (as long as it covers a topic before 2021) and it will find an answer which will be curated to the specifics of your query. Its GPT-based training means it is also capable of understanding the nuances of a question even when it is presented in simple human language. On top of that, it also remembers the previous prompts and adapts to the user when used for a long session.

Google Bard

Google Bard is based on the company’s next-generation language and conversation capabilities powered by their Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA). Google Bard can generate a variety of responses, even from the same or similar prompts and questions. Once a user provides a prompt, Bard uses the context in the prompt and the interaction with the user to draft several versions of a response. The AI chatbot then classifies and checks its responses against predetermined safety parameters. If a user would like to see a different response or set of responses, they can ask Bard to generate a new response. Therefore, Google Bard should be used for creative collaborations, such as to generate a code for a program or give captions for photos.

ChatSonic

ChatSonic is another conversational AI chatbot that takes advantage of the limitations of ChatGPT. Unlike OpenAI’s generative AI model, ChatSonic can come up with up-to-date information with the “Include Latest Google Data” option. Technologies such as GPT-4, Stable diffusion, DALL-E, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning (ML) are incorporated in ChatSonic which allows the AI chatbot to accept prompts and generate responses. Users can also choose the type of personality, enable memory, and more, to make it sound like a real person!

Ernie Bot

Ernie, which stands for Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration, is a conversational AI chatbot developed by the Chinese company Baidu. It is currently China’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It is based on Baidu’s in-house Large Language Model (LLM) Ernie 3.0-Titan and Pre-trained Dialogue Generation Model (PLATO). Unlike ChatGPT, Ernie offers multi-modal capabilities, meaning that users can interact with the AI service with texts and images in both prompts and responses.