With the rise of ChatGPT, millions have learned how useful AI can be in their day-to-day lives. But ChatGPT is not the only AI-powered chatbot out there. Various other chatbots, including HuggingChat, are gaining traction and may soon compete with ChatGPT for the top spot.

But what exactly is HuggingChat, how does it work, and is it better than ChatGPT?

What Is HuggingChat?

HuggingChat is an open-source language model and is a product of Hugging Face, an American company founded in 2016.

Hugging Face uses machine learning to create useful tools via its community of developers and enthusiasts who can collaborate and make their own contributions. It offers libraries, datasets, and other AI-focused tools now used by Intel, Microsoft, Google AI, Grammarly, and many other organizations.

In April 2023, Hugging Face released its AI chatbot, HuggingChat. The first iteration of HuggingChat is named "v0.1".

The bot HuggingChat uses is called Open Assistant, which was created by the Large-scale Artificial Intelligence Open Network (LAION), a German non-profit organization that provides the public with machine learning tools and resources.

HuggingChat is incredibly easy to use. Head to HuggingChat and start typing in the text bar provided. There will be some prompt suggestions that you can use, too.

HuggingChat can answer thousands of different questions, be it about history, technology, pop culture, or almost anything else. You can use the tool instantly and completely free of charge, making it accessible to just about anyone. You don't need to sign in, verify your identity, or pay a fee to make use of HuggingChat.

When asked how it works via the chatbot tool, HuggingChat replied...

As an open source language model trained on diverse user inputs (i.e., human knowledge and experiences), my ability to generate natural language is based on statistical relationships learned from patterns observed in text data. When generating responses, I predict which word or phrase is most likely to come next given the context provided by previous words/phrases.

Like ChatGPT, HuggingChat was fed a large base of information in its training period, which it uses to answer user prompts. HuggingChat told us that its dataset ends around 2021, as is also the case for ChatGPT. HuggingChat also stated in the same response that...

If your question relates to a topic or event that occurred after that date, I may not be able to provide accurate or up-to-date information.

It's important to take note of this limitation, as you may find it hard to access recent information using HuggingChat.

Is HuggingChat Better Than ChatGPT?

You may be wondering whether HuggingChat is a step up or down from OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot. Are you better off using the former or the latter?

HuggingChat and ChatGPT are similar in many ways. Both chatbots use AI to function, both were fed with information up to 2021, no later, and both serve very similar functions. For example, both ChatGPT and HuggingChat can answer questions, write essays, write code, translate text, and construct emails.

HuggingChat and ChatGPT also do what they can to remain impartial and objective. When HuggingChat was asked to give an opinion or state a preference, it stated that, as an AI, it could do neither.

Both HuggingChat and ChatGPT were fed datasets in their training period, but these were not one and the same. Unlike ChatGPT, HuggingFace was trained with the Open Assistant Conversations Dataset.

Some believe HuggingChat is somewhat a copy of ChatGPT. And while the two chatbots share many similarities, there is a key reason why HuggingChat may be better than ChatGPT.

HuggingChat is open source rather than closed. ChatGPT is closed source, meaning it cannot be built upon or improved by the community. HuggingChat, on the other hand, allows its community to access its UI code via GitHub and make the alterations or improvements that they want.

Another perk of HuggingChat is that it can be used instantly. ChatGPT requires you to create an account, but HuggingChat can be used without any form of sign-in.

It's important to note that both ChatGPT and HuggingChat are capable of AI hallucination, so you may want to take either chatbot's answers with a grain of salt.

HuggingChat Is an Open Source Alternative to ChatGPT

While ChatGPT is undoubtedly a world-renowned AI tool, HuggingChat has the potential to stand as its open-source contemporary. If you prefer open-source software, you may even prefer HuggingChat over ChatGPT. So, if you're interested in trying an alternative chatbot to ChatGPT, you can try HuggingChat instantly and free of charge today.