ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Which is the better AI chatbot?

The ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5 battle is an interesting one. Both are large language models (LLMs). You can also think of them as advanced AI chatbots. In simpler terms, they are highly-trained computer programs that respond to your questions and requests in a conversational manner. In my opinion, ChatGPT 4o is the better chatbot. It is a more established and versatile AI tool.

Google has introduced significant upgrades to its latest Gemini 1.5 model, establishing a new benchmark for large-scale AI systems. In this comparison, we'll assess the strengths of ChatGPT 4o against Gemini 1.5 to determine the superior option.

NOTE: Some aspects of the article are subjective.

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Pricing

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5 (Image via YouTube/TheAIGRID)

While both ChatGPT and Gemini are freely accessible without restrictions, their latest iterations come with pricing plans. Here's a breakdown of the costs:

Gemini Advance- $19.99 per month
ChatGPT 4o- $20 per month

Gemini 1.5 offers a two-month free trial with the Google One Plan. After the trial period, you'll need to subscribe to continue using the service.

On the contrary, there is no such time limit for the ChatGPT 4o. You can use it for free (unless OpenAI makes some changes), however, with a limited number of queries and functionality.

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Features

Which is a better AI chatbot? (Image via Wikipedia)

ChatGPT 4o supports multimodal content, which means you can interact with it using various formats such as text, audio, images, or video. As per OpenAI, it can respond to voice inputs in an average time of 320 milliseconds, which is very close to human response time in a regular conversation. Furthermore, ChatGPT 4o is capable of generating images with legible text.

The biggest highlight of Gemini 1.5 is its seamless integration with Google's ecosystem. It has capabilities to access real-time data and research through Google Search results. Another thing that makes Gemini 1.5 shine is the enormous context window. It can handle much larger queries and look at much more information at once compared to its counterpart. To be precise, Google’s latest AI window has 1 million tokens, compared to 128,000 for OpenAI’s GPT-4.

Window tokens can be a bit complex to grasp initially. Essentially, they determine the maximum amount of information or requests you can submit to the chatbot within a single interaction or session. Think of it as the size of the window through which you can communicate with the chatbot at any given time.

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Output quality

The real ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5 battle begins here. I have asked some questions to both AI chatbots, let us take a look at how they've responded:

Q- A man facing towards North- West turns Left, Right, Right, Right, Left, in series. In which direction is he now?

Gemini 1.5:

This is how Gemini 1.5 replied to the direction-based question. The answer is correct. It also mentioned a step-by-step procedure for how it reached the answer. The steps are kept short and to the point.

ChatGPT4o:

ChatGPT's reply is much more detailed and feels repetitive in every step. It breaks down each step to a point, unlike what we saw in Gemini, where it mentions all the work in a single point.

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Direction question (Image via OpenAI)

ChatGPT 4o explains every step in a detailed manner, which makes it very easy to understand how it reached that conclusion.

Q- If ‘+’ means ‘÷’ ; ‘÷’ means ‘–’ ; ‘–’ means ‘x’ ; ‘x’ means ‘+’, then calculate 8+ 2 ÷ 3 – 4 × 6 = ?

Gemini 1.5:

Next, I asked them a logical reasoning question where they needed to perform calculations based on the given substitutions for mathematical operations. Both give the correct answer.

Gemini 1.5 replied in a similar style without much explanation of the steps performed.

ChatGPT 4o:

ChatGPT 4o goes step by step and explains even the basic things in the output. Though this makes the simple answer long, it is great to understand the basic concepts.

Q- What's heavier, a kilo of feathers or a kilo of steel?

Gemini 1.5:

It seems Gemini was quite sharp and quick-witted in its response to the tricky question. Its answer was more generic and natural, with additional information added, which is a positive sign.

ChatGPT 4o:

Response from ChatGPT's latest version was very straightforward. I was expecting it to be more natural. It also lacks additional information, as we saw in the Gemini 1.5 reply.

Q- Write a code in Java to remove the vowels from the string and print the string without vowels.

Gemini 1.5 provides an efficient code to remove the vowels from the string and print the same. If you look closely, it also mentions an alternative option in the comments.

After the code, it also explains the working. However, I think the explanation could be done in a better way. On the bright side, you get "Key improvements" points at the end.

ChatGPT 4o:

I expected a similar code from ChatGPT. However, it replies with the one that Gemini mentioned as an alternative. It provides a single method to solve the problem. Code explanation is clearer compared to its counterpart.

Interestingly, it also tells how to run the program. This could be very beneficial if you are new to coding or want to run the code outside any IDE.

Overall, both have provided an efficient code with negligible performance differences.

Q- Write a code in Java to swap two numbers without taking an extra variable.

Gemini 1.5:

Swapping two numbers without utilizing an extra variable; unlike certain other programming languages, Java lacks built-in support for a direct swap function. Therefore, this question served as a valuable test to assess the logical technical capabilities of these AI chatbots.

Coding question to swap numbers *2 (Image via Google)

Coding question to swap numbers *3 (Image via Google)

This time, Gemini 1.5 gives good explanations for the code, merging two different codes into one to solve the problem. You can check out the alternative option in the comments mentioned in the program.

ChatGPT 4o:

Coding question to swap number *1 (Image via OpenAI)

ChatGPT 4o on the other hand, states multiple methods to solve this problem and gives both methods separately. It also adds informative comments in the code but not an alternative solution.

Coding question to swap number *2 (Image via OpenAI)

In the first code, ChatGPT uses Arithmetic operations to solve the problem and in the second, it uses the Bitwise XOR operation to write the code. Both programs are nicely written and are easy to understand.

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Coding question to swap numbers *3 (Image via OpenAI)

This time, ChatGPT 4o keeps the explanation very short. Unlike Gemini 1.5, it skips any extra information related to this problem.

Q- What's the weather?

Gemini 1.5:

Gemini 1.5 directly gave the weather information when I asked. This is because it fetches the location details from the Google account data. So you can expect a more personalized answer.

ChatGPT 4o:

When I asked to provide weather details to the ChatGPT 4o, it asked me to enter location details and provided me with links to websites where I could check the weather information.

Q- What do you do with my data?

What Gemini does with the data collected (Image via Google)

Gemini 1.5 says it doesn't store or use personal data beyond the current conversation. However, Google, as a provider, does collect data from various sources, which might be used to train Gemini 1.5. An example would be how it can give us the weather results without asking about our location.

ChatGPT 4o:

ChatGPT 4o also says that it doesn't store or have access to your personal data beyond the current conversation. However, point number three states that data shared during the conversation might be used to enhance the GPT model.

ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5: Verdict

Selecting a winner in the ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5 battle is tricky. However, ChatGPT 4o is slightly better at answering questions in a more comprehensive and informative manner.

On the contrary, Gemini is well integrated with the Google system and can do research using Google search results which can provide answers to queries based on current scenarios. Plus, it gives a more personalized response.

Ultimately, the winner of the ChatGPT 4o vs Gemini 1.5 depends on the individual's use case and preferences.