At a glance, ChatGPT and Bing's implementation of the AI chatbot seem identical. While they perform similar tasks, the distinction between their language models creates varying results. You’ll trigger new responses even if you repeat your prompts.
Regardless of which tool you use more often, you’d do well to know its unique features. Here are nine notable differences between ChatGPT and Bing's version of the bot.
1. Purpose
Although both ChatGPT and Bing AI use generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) language models, they’re different platforms. ChatGPT is a multipurpose chatbot. It scans the vast yet limited resources from which it was trained. This includes academic journals, business websites, publications, and Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, Bing's version of the chatbot is essentially an AI-powered search engine. The platform has more sophisticated indexing and scanning, plus the integrated AI chat feature. It acts as both a search engine and a chatbot.
Despite these nuances, ChatGPT and Bing execute similar functions. With the correct prompts, they could write essays, answer general knowledge queries, recap books, and scrutinize arguments, among other tasks. Just expect varied responses based on their trained datasets.
2. Conversational Language
ChatGPT and Bing both use the GPT model. This advanced natural language processing (NLP) system responds to prompts with human-like text. It answers follow-up questions, analyzes problems, and challenges non-factual statements.
Both ChatGPT and Bing's AI can carry out conversations. But as you explore these tools, you’ll notice that the latter has a slightly more sophisticated model–its responses sound natural.
Take the below conversation from ChatGPT as an example. While its language model, the GPT-3.5, generates grammatically correct and factual statements, it sounds stiff and awkward.
On the other hand, Bing AI uses GPT-4, an iteration of ChatGPT’s language model. Its output sounds casual and genuine.
Currently, you can only access GPT-4 on ChatGPT by upgrading to ChatGPT Plus for $20 a month.
3. Data Accuracy
ChatGPT has explicit disclaimers about data inaccuracy. The platform occasionally produces incorrect information since it carries limited knowledge of events after 2021. It doesn’t even know its own release date.
Whereas Bing AI’s advanced language model and integrated search engine produce more reliable, precise data. Unlike ChatGPT, Microsoft didn’t train Bing on limited datasets. Instead, it uses its search engine to pull timely, relevant information about world events and general knowledge questions.
It’s also worth noting that Bing's AI cites sources. Neither platform guarantees 100% accuracy, but knowing which resources to double-check streamlines fact-checking.
4. Mathematical Precision
ChatGPT and Bing AI understand math. The bots can analyze equations, perform computations based on their datasets, and generate output through their language models.
You can’t expect 100% accurate results, but both Bing and ChatGPT demonstrate strong mathematical precision and numeracy. It’s worth noting that ChatGPT drastically improved since its launch—it often got word problems wrong during its first few months.
Now, however, discrepancies only arise when you explore the more intricate branches of math, such as advanced statistics, physics, and probability. For example, ChatGPT can already intermediate-level physics questions like this correctly.
Bing AI answers the same physics question correctly.
5. Security Measures
Cybercriminals started misusing ChatGPT almost immediately. Consequently, some saw ChatGPT as a cybersecurity threat that lets crooks write spam emails, develop malware, and build phishing links.
OpenAI acknowledges these issues. The company discloses that ChatGPT might produce biased or harmful content, although developers continuously work on security.
Bing's AI bot faces similar cybersecurity risks. It combats them by enforcing stricter limitations, reducing the platform’s susceptibility to jailbreaking. Conversations get terminated if you mention anything unusual.
6. Accessibility
One of the first complaints about ChatGPT was its lack of accessibility—it initially only had a web app. OpenAI only released the official iOS and mobile versions of ChatGPT in mid-2023.
Alternatively, Bing AI offered cross-platform accessibility right from the get-go. Its chat feature is available on the Bing website, a Microsoft Edge browser extension, and Bing’s mobile app. You could even use Bing Chat on Skype by adding it to your contacts.
Perhaps the only limitation of Bing AI is that it doesn’t run on third-party browsers, like Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome. You’ll have to download Microsoft Edge. Although seemingly trivial, you might find it inconvenient if Edge isn’t your default browser.
7. Sign-Up Process
Signing up for ChatGPT is really quite simple. Just create an OpenAI account, register for ChatGPT, and wait for the confirmation. Most people get instant access.
On the contrary, signing up for the new Bing AI initially took longer. The first users spent weeks on the waitlist before getting approved, especially those outside the U.S.
Thankfully, Microsoft since lifted the waitlist. Users gain instant access after creating an email account and downloading Microsoft Edge.
8. Functionality
Bing's AI bot has a more advanced language model and broader dataset, boosting its functionality over ChatGPT. It even uses its search engine before responding. You can expect to get more accurate, reliable responses and up-to-date information.
Unfortunately, Bing’s tight security measures impede versatility. The conversations automatically end once you violate the guidelines, plus you have to start a new topic every 15 messages.
If you want more control, try ChatGPT. It has limited datasets and only runs on GPT-3.5, but you’ll get better results on ChatGPT by crafting creative prompts. You could even set custom instructions beforehand.
ChatGPT will automatically apply these to every conversation moving forward, unless you instruct otherwise. It’s a helpful feature if you need specific, personalized output.
Instead of feeding Bing's AI and ChatGPT generic prompts, curate unique ones based on their language models. The quality of their responses depends on your prompts. Aim to maximize the AI tool’s datasets without violating its guidelines.
9. Fees
ChatGPT is a free, robust multipurpose chatbot. Users can execute plenty of tasks with the GPT-3.5 language model. But if you need a more sophisticated AI assistant, OpenAI offers ChatGPT Plus for $20 a month.
It runs on GPT-4, provides priority access, and responds faster. ChatGPT Plus was initially limited to U.S. users, but developers started granting overseas access from February 2023.
Although affordable, subscription fees are unnecessary expenses. Instead of losing $240 per year on ChatGPT Plus, explore Bing's AI first. It already runs on GPT-4, and since Microsoft plans to monetize Bing through advertisements, the platform will likely stay free.
10. Token Limits
AI-driven chatbots like ChatGPT learn from user chats through contextual memory. It enables them to reference previous inputs, thus improving output accuracy and relevance as the conversation goes on. The responses improve as you provide information.
But considering the computing power that contextual memory uses, developers usually set token limits on the volume of data that chatbots process. Irrelevant pieces of information are dropped once users hit the token limit.
These restrictions vary per platform. ChatGPT has a high upper limit that can process around 3,000 words per turn, assuming they’re all relevant and related. Meanwhile, Bing AI has a much smaller limit. It caps users to 30 turns, after which you must start a new conversation or restate your custom instructions.
Should You Use Bing's AI or ChatGPT?
Use the above points to make informed assessments, but note that they could change at the drop of a hat. AI technologies are constantly evolving. ChatGPT and Bing AI offer dynamic features that will change as their NLP technologies mature. Expect sudden developments in the tech.