Navigating ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini: A Guide to Today's Leading Chatbots

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Three chatbots stand out for their capabilities and user accessibility: OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, and Google's Gemini. These tools are best approached not as mere information desks but as tutors or assistants, each offering unique features tailored to different needs. Understanding how to use these AI tools effectively can significantly enhance your productivity and creativity. While getting started with any of these chatbots is relatively easy, knowing when and how to use them for optimal results can still be tricky. Each of these chatbots is designed to create, edit, and summarize content, making them versatile assistants for a variety of tasks.

 

ChatGPT, for instance, works well for most general tasks. It can help you write a resume, create a basic recipe with the ingredients you have, summarize long articles, turn text into presentations, or even create itineraries for vacations. It's also great for sparking creativity or overcoming writer's block. Some people even use it to help communicate with their kids. On the other hand, Google's Gemini has access to more timely and updated information, making it particularly useful for tasks requiring the latest data. Copilot shines in work-related tasks, leveraging its integration with Microsoft 365, which includes access to emails, documents, calendar entries, and more.

 

For those looking to take full advantage of these tools, most free versions are good enough. However, subscribing to their premium versions for around $20 per month unlocks additional features. Copilot, for example, integrates with your Microsoft Graph, accessing all the data within your Microsoft 365 suite. Gemini Advanced allows you to summarize content or create new content from your Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive, with an offer to try it free for two months. Additionally, while ChatGPT has its own GPT store, Copilot lets you integrate third-party plugins from services like Shopify, OpenTable, or Kayak, and Gemini allows you to use extensions like Google Flights and Google Hotels.

 

Accessing these tools is straightforward. ChatGPT and Copilot both have free iPhone and Android apps, while Google's Gemini is available as an app on Android and can be accessed on iOS through the Google app by tapping the Gemini icon.

 

When using these chatbots, the requests you make or questions you ask are called prompts. Effective prompts should be specific and can include requests for responses in a particular tone, for a certain audience, or even for a specific number of words. For instance, you might ask, "Explain the theory of relativity to me in 100 words. Act as a friendly scientist and answer as if I'm ten years old." Interestingly, studies have shown that you'll get better results if you're polite in your requests.

 

However, it's important to acknowledge that all current generative AI chatbots are prone to producing inaccuracies and historical untruths, a phenomenon known as "hallucinating." While search engine algorithms have been progressively improving in showing more reliable sources, chatbots can set us back by confidently delivering misinformation. This is particularly disconcerting because, by their nature, these chatbots are designed to generate content, which sometimes includes fabrications.

 

Moreover, any prompts you enter could potentially be used to train these chatbots. This means users should be cautious with sensitive personal details and confidential work information. Some services, especially paid subscriptions, offer more privacy. Google, for instance, assures that personal content from Workspace won't be used to train Gemini's model or viewed by human reviewers, even in the free version.

 

Looking ahead, the potential of AI is both exciting and intimidating. Soon, these tools will not only be able to answer questions and create or summarize content but also act on your behalf. This advancement could revolutionize how we interact with technology, making these AI tools even more integral to our daily lives.

 

Credit: AXIOS 2024-05-28

 

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