9 WhatIs.

com
g
Home > Marketing and customer experience

Tech Accelerator
What is generative AI? Everything you need to
know

FEATURE

Bard vs. ChatGPT: What's the

difference?
ChatGPT took the spotlight for AI-generated
content, and Google answered with Bard. While
Bard and ChatGPT might perform similar tasks,
there are differences between the two.

Amanda Hetler, Senior Editor

Published: 16 Oct 2023

u
OpenAI's ChatGPT launched in November
c 2022, and it quickly became an internet
o sensation. Now, Google has introduced its
own AI-powered chatbot in a battle between
i the tech giants.

Generative AI creates content after a user

queries it, using data from its machine
learning model. The content is generated
automatically by AI to answer questions and
create images, text or videos.

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT, people

began looking for ways to use AI-generated
content and AI technology for business,
educational and personal purposes. However,
AI experts warned that the information can mix
up content when pulled from incorrect data
sources. Generative content has its pros and
cons.

Microsoft also plans to partner with OpenAI to

increase AI capabilities.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, launched

a conversational AI chatbot named Bard -- its
answer to ChatGPT -- on March 21, 2023.

Even with similar functions, there are key

differences between the two AI tools.

What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot that uses
machine learning to answer queries in a
conversational dialogue. OpenAI released
ChatGPT on Nov. 30, 2022. Within five days,
ChatGPT reached 1 million users, according
to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF

 What is generative AI? Everything

you need to know

Which also includes:

16 of the best large language models

Will AI replace jobs? 9 job types that

might be affected

Pros and cons of AI-generated

content

GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained

Transformer, which finds patterns within data
sequences. ChatGPT currently uses the GPT-
3.5 language model, which is trained from
human-created text on the internet. The paid
version, ChatGPT Plus, now uses the
upgraded GPT-4 model. ChatGPT uses the AI
language model to formulate responses to
user queries.

Popular AI-generated content for ChatGPT

includes the following:

Written code.
Product descriptions.
Blog posts.
Email drafts.
Summaries of transcripts, meetings and
podcasts.
Simple explanations of complex topics.
Law briefs.
Translations.
Jokes or memes.
Social media posts.

What is AI (Arti,cial I…

What is Bard?
Google Bard is also an AI-powered chatbot
that simulates human conversations with
natural language processing and machine
learning by drawing responses from the
internet. Bard originally used Lamda for
dialogue applications, but upgraded to
Google's next-generation language model
Palm 2 (Pathways Language Model). This
model is better at commonsense reasoning,
logic and mathematics compared with
previous models, Google said in a blog. The
company also said this model is faster than
previous versions. Bard provides more
detailed answers to questions asked than the
typical Google search through this large
language model.

Bard's main goal is to retrieve information in a

simple answer versus a search engine results
page. It provides information in a similar
fashion to Alexa and Siri, but with links for
users to gather more information.

Bard also works as a personal assistant and

helps with tasks such as booking vacations,
finding existing reservations and helping with
meal planning. Bard uses more conversational
or natural language queries for search rather
than keywords used by search engines. Bard
is available to the public and offers content in
more than 40 languages and in more than 230
countries and territories.

k Here is a snapshot of the differences between ChatGPT

and Bard.

What are the main differences

between ChatGPT and Bard?
The services of ChatGPT and Bard are similar,
with users typing in a query to receive a
humanlike response.

In February 2023, Microsoft announced it will

release technology for large companies to
create and customize their own chatbots using
ChatGPT technology. Microsoft will also
embed AI-powered search functions into its
Bing search engine and Edge browser with a
chat experience to aid a user's search. Google
has not announced when it plans to add AI
chatbot functionality to its search engine.

1. Data source
The main difference between ChatGPT and
Bard is the data source. Bard continually
draws information from the internet, so it has
the latest information. ChatGPT's sources end
with 2021 data, so it is limited on newer
research and information. Bard has more data
to gather information in real time by accessing
the latest research.

Bard uses Google's newest language model,

Palm 2. ChatGPT uses GPT-3.5, with GPT-4
technology available in its paid version,
ChatGPT Plus.

2. User experience
Bard creates more chunks of information,
while ChatGPT creates content in a single text
prompt.

A user needs a Google account to sign on to

Bard, while any email account works for
ChatGPT.

3. Uses
Bard is made for research. ChatGPT is better
for generating content, especially when data is
given, such as summarizing an article.

Bard can use real-time data, so users can ask

about current conditions such as the weather.

TECHTARGET

k Bard provides more than just the forecast, including tips

on dressing for the weather.

4. Data storage and privacy

ChatGPT stores all prompts and queries
entered, no matter the topic or subject. Users
can review previous conversations, which
means the chatbot also reviews these
conversations. Specific conversations can be
deleted, but that information might already
have been extracted to include in the large
language model for the chatbot's training. This
means that privacy could be an issue when
entering personal data or proprietary
information.

Google stores a user's Bard conversations in

their Google account for up to 18 months, but
users can change this to three or 36 months in
their Bard Activity settings. Google Bard
conversations can also appear in searches, so
privacy could also be an issue.

Which chatbot is better?

ChatGPT is efficient at generating and
summarizing text requests. Bard does a better
job of answering questions with more relevant
information. These chatbots are still being
trained as users submit feedback, so there
might be changes.

Pros of Bard:

User-friendly interface.
Better for research.
Can research current information such as
recent events.
Can summarize webpages.

Cons of Bard:

Does not track previous requests.

Can be prone to AI hallucinations and
make up information.
Doesn't offer as many plugins and
integrations.
Sources aren't always reliable on the
internet.

Pros of ChatGPT:

Better at writing.
Stores previous conversations.
Can share responses with others.
Offers various plugins and integrations
with popular sites and apps such as
Expedia, Instacart and Zapier.

Cons of ChatGPT:

Need to copy and paste articles for

summary.
Responses can be long, making them
difficult to scan.
Must be fact-checked to prevent
hallucinations or wrong information.
The more advanced version is not free.

Comparison of the 2
To get an idea of the differences, here are
ChatGPT's and Bard's different responses to
the same requests and prompts.

Idea generation
Prompt: Give me five titles and ideas for
trending technology articles.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot of ChatGPT's response to generate technology article ideas.

k ChatGPT's response to article ideas.

TECHTARGET
First screenshot of Bard's response to generate technology article ideas.

TECHTARGET
Second screenshot of Bard's response to generate technology article ideas.

k Bard's response to article ideas.

Thoughts: Bard gave a little more insight on

article angles, while ChatGPT provided a few
different topics. Because ChatGPT is limited to
data through 2021, finding trending
information can be difficult.

Creating content
Prompt: Create a two-paragraph summary
explaining large language models.

TECHTARGET

k ChatGPT's response to writing a short summary

describing large language models.

TECHTARGET

k Bard's response to writing a short summary describing

large language models.

Thoughts: Bard needed an additional prompt

to shorten to two paragraphs. ChatGPT's
language was more comprehensive and
easier to understand. Bard was more high
level.

Research
Prompt: When was the first Barbie created?

TECHTARGET
Screenshot of ChatGPT's answer to when the first Barbie was created.

k ChatGPT's response to when the first Barbie was

created.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot of Bard's answer to when the first Barbie was created.

k Bard's response to when the first Barbie was created.

Thoughts: Bard's response was easier to

read. The date was bolded to answer the
question. ChatGPT had the same information,
but text was chunky, requiring the user to look
harder for the answer.

Planning
Prompt: Create an itinerary for a two-day trip
to Chicago.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot 1 of ChatGPT's answer for an itinerary for a two-day Chicago trip.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot 2 of ChatGPT's answer for an itinerary for a two-day Chicago trip.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot 3 of ChatGPT's answer for an itinerary for a two-day Chicago trip.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot 4 of ChatGPT's answer for an itinerary for a two-day Chicago trip.

k ChatGPT's response to planning a two-day trip to

Chicago.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot 1 of Bard's answer for an itinerary for a two-day Chicago trip.

TECHTARGET
Screenshot 2 of Bard's answer for an itinerary for a two-day Chicago trip.

k Bard's response to planning a two-day trip to Chicago.

Thoughts: Bard provided useful information.

However, ChatGPT was extremely detailed.

Generative AI alternatives
There are other AI content generators
available. There are also several startups
working on their own projects, including
Chatsonic, Jasper, Open Assistant and
Wordtune. China's largest search engine,
Baidu, also uses AI with an application called
Ernie Bot.

The future of AI in marketing continues to

change and adapt as quickly as it started by
finding additional uses beyond content
generation, such as customer service, email
optimization, product recommendations and
social media posts.

m Next Steps
How to detect AI-generated content

ChatGPT vs. GPT: How are they different?

5 skills needed to become a prompt engineer

Assessing different types of generative AI

applications

Successful generative AI examples worth

noting

Related Resources

Marketing software moves closer to centre of the

CIO's vision
–TechTarget ComputerWeekly.com

m Dig Deeper on Marketing and

customer experience

ChatGPT

By: Amanda Hetler

34 AI content generators to explore in 2024

By: Ben Lutkevich

Google Bard

By: Andy Patrizio

Researchers put LLMs to the test in

phishing email experiment

By: Rob Wright

-ADS BY GOOGLE

NETWORKING SECURITY CIO HR SOFTWARE CUSTOMER E

Networking

5G standalone (5G SA)

5G standalone (5G SA) is a cellular infrastructure built
specifically for 5G services by implementing 5G standards
and protocols ...

Cisco IOS (Cisco Internetwork Operating

System)
Cisco IOS (Internetwork Operating System) is a collection
of proprietary operating systems (OSes) that runs on
Cisco hardware ...

Browse by Topic
Browse Resources

About Us Meet The Editors

Editorial Ethics Policy Contact Us Advertisers

Business Partners Events Media Kit

Corporate Site Reprints

All Rights Reserved, Copyright 1999 - 2023, TechTarget

Privacy Policy
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information