ChatGPT vs. Bing vs. Google Bard: Which AI Is Better for Coding?

Artificial intelligence is the word of the year. There is hardly anyone who has not heard about AI. Although AI isn’t a recent phenomenon, it has become a buzzword in the everyday conversation of most Internet users not so long ago. Now, it attracts interest not just among a narrow range of geeks, dreamers, and tech enthusiasts, as it did in the 2000s and early 2010s. AI has transitioned from a futuristic concept to an indispensable tool in their toolkits, especially for some particular industries and specialties, such as software developers, content creators, and even marketers. The surge in AI’s popularity, often associated with the latest advancements in machine learning and natural language processing, enables it to perform a wide range of tasks, from complex data analysis to creative content generation. And this actually explains the popularity of AI or even, let’s say, hype around it in the software development industry. But what exactly can it help with? 

Before diving directly into our AI journey, we should clarify which AIs and what kind of functionalities we will compare. As a custom software development team, we would focus on language models, helping developers with two main sets of skills: actual code writing and soft skills. For this purpose, we chose the three most popular tools with the most significant big-tech support base from a regular developer’s perspective. Today, we will compare Bard (Gemini) vs. ChatGPT vs. Bing. Everything is clear and simple: we will set several tasks from a software engineer’s daily range of tasks and later see how that works out. So, without further ado, let’s start!

What is ChatGPT?

A short disclaimer: We used free versions in our Bard vs. ChatGPT vs. Bing comparison. First of all, we decided to begin our reviews with a short introduction. Considering the context, we decided to let AIs introduce themselves in just a few words. For this purpose, I’ve sent them a single prompt. Writing the text is basically the first thing these generative models can offer, so it’s a very logical step to begin with. We also prepared a bit more complicated tasks for our AIs; however, we will return to them a bit later.

So, what is ChatGPT?

As you can see, it can describe itself quite well. ChatGPT is a big language model, actually the most popular one regarding text generation and coding as of mid-2024. We suppose you can see it literally everywhere: ChatGPT generates scenarios for the videos you watch on YouTube, code for applications you use daily, graphics you saw in that one article you were speaking all day about, and pictures you see on social media for sure. Many people even ask themselves, “Is ChatGPT better than Google?” and the answer is yes, well, it is actually better than Google in for certain tasks. Although GPT can’t really produce answers regarding some of the recent events as of 2024, in many ways, it’s a good way to avoid promoted commercial and SEO-optimized content (a well-known bane of all search engines, not only Google).

What is ChatGPT useful for?

ChatGPT includes comprehensive tooling for writing, coding, image generation, productivity control, real-time web browsing capabilities, image generation, translation tools, customer support chatbots, and other functionalities. So, sometimes, We think it’s easier to list what it can’t be used for.

ChatGPT advantages:

• A versatile toolkit (especially considering a paid version);
• A huge community of active users across most industries and domains;
• Decent programming capabilities, especially when it comes to Python;
• Probably the most comprehensive tool for content generation as of now.

ChatGPT disadvantages:

• Limited real-time data capabilities (generating) and outdated data sets;
• Frequent cases of misinformation
• ChatGPT provides different answers every time you answer it, which can be great for digital marketing and SEO content but confusing for educational purposes;
• Just doesn’t work as a source of actual real-time information.

What is Bard?

Google Bard or Gemini is the second chatbot on our list. It is Google-based, and when comparing Bard/Gemini by Google vs. ChatGPT, you can easily see that Bard/Gemini is way better regarding real-time data and searches. It is another generative model that offers you advanced features such as enhanced processing algorithms, better integration with Google’s vast data repositories, and direct access to internet browsing within conversations. This integration and direct web access is what allows Bard/Gemini to provide users with a wide range of actual data and answers that can reflect the most current events. So, when comparing ChatGPT vs. Bard AI (Gemini), you should definitely use the second one for queries that involve recent news, trending topics, or any information that changes frequently. However, as you can see, the info provided by the AI to introduce itself is not as rich as the info provided by GPT. In this case, the answer reminds me of the pinned section you see first when searching on Google.

What is Google Bard (Gemini) useful for?

Bard (Gemini) was designed to understand text, audio, images, videos, and any other kind of input you can provide, so it is actually highly versatile. Its capabilities extend across various modalities, such as comprehensive search and information retrieval, educational & learning assistance, brainstorming, generating content ideas, summarizing article ideas, and so on.

Google Bard (Gemini) advantages:

• Access to the web;
• Improved conversation capabilities;
• Multimodal large language model with over 30 trillion parameters;
• Extensions through various plugins;

Google Bard (Gemini) disadvantages:

• Biases, inaccuracies, and ambiguities: check one of the recent image generation scandals;
• Inconsistent responses;
• Limited generating capabilities (text, especially when comparing Google Bard (Gemini) AI vs. ChatGPT)
• Structural challenges: Gemini doesn’t match GPT’s proficiency in mimicking existing script structures.

What is Bing?

Here, we have the second search engine experience-oriented tool, Bing AI (now Microsoft Copilot). The first thing that caught my eye was the light theme of Bing AI, which is now fully integrated into the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem. The dark themes of two previous AI tools weren’t chosen manually; the AIs were customized just because my browser and operating system were in dark mode. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a bit strange for artificial intelligence, in my opinion. Additionally, it doesn’t seem that Bing really understood the concept of the paragraph, as it provided three lists instead of two paragraphs, as ChatGPT and Bard did.

Similarly, as in two previous cases, Copilot is designed to simplify web browsing. It promises to provide users with a more intuitive, insightful, and interactive search engine experience. Regarding a real-time search, Bing (Copilot) reminds me more of Bard (Gemini) rather than ChatGPT. The only actual difference in the case of real-time web searches is that Copilot uses Bing search core instead of Google, which is quite obvious. We should also add that Copilot is powered by OpenAI’s large language model, so comparing ChatGPT and Bing in terms of text-writing capabilities doesn’t make much sense. Additionally, Microsoft Copilot can be accessed through various platforms, and web-based Copilot is actually the old Bing core; however, the Copilot mobile app and Edge’s sidebar’s Copilot may also be useful.

What is Bing AI (Microsoft Copilot) useful for?

Bing AI (Copilot) has capabilities similar to those of Google Bard (Gemini). Still, it has a wider applications list, which mostly refers to where you can find the Copilot utilities (web, taskbars, Windows search field, mobile. etc.) This AI allows users to ask simple and complex questions, conduct research, generate text and images, and guide the search process through additional questions and content. And, of course, coding.

Bing AI (Microsoft Copilot) advantages:

• Accessible across various platforms;
• Bing AI is the way to access OpenAI’s latest LLM, GPT-4 Turbo, and its multimodal input features for free, in fact;
• Extensive enterprise solutions list.

Disadvantages:

• Sometimes, it seems that it understands human language worse compared to the previous two AIs (in my opinion);
• Raises more privacy concerns (mostly for Windows and mobile app versions with pre-installed Copilot);
• Limited tooling choice compared to ChatGPT and Gemini.

Bard (Gemini) vs. ChatGPT vs. Bing (Copilot): Comparing the coding capabilities

Now, let’s move to the coding capabilities. The first test is quite simple and doesn’t really require any advanced intellect to be done. We ask each AI to write a Python code for the program that finds the slope of the line based on 4 coordinates.

ChatGPT’s answer:

Note from the ChatGPT: This program defines a function calculate_slope that takes four arguments: the x and y coordinates of two points. It calculates the slope of the line passing through these points using the formula (y2 – y1) / (x2 – x1).

In the main function, the user is prompted to input the coordinates of the two points, and then the slope is calculated using the calculate_slope  function. If the line is vertical (meaning x1  == x2), the program raises a ValueError since the slope is undefined in this case.

Google Bing AI (GEMINI)’s answer:

Note from Gemini: This code defines a function find_slope that takes four arguments, the x and y coordinates of the two points. It calculates the slope using the formula (y2 – y1) / (x2 – x1). However, it’s important to avoid dividing by zero. The code checks if the two points have the same x-coordinate, which would result in a vertical line with an undefined slope. If that’s the case, it raises a ZeroDivisionError.

The program then prompts the user to enter the coordinates of the two points and calls the find_slope function to calculate and display the slope.  

By the way, we should also add that Gemini provided a link to GitHub as a source, which is nice.

Bing AI (Microsoft Copilot) answer:

Note from Bing AI: Replace the values of x1, y1, x2, and y2 with the coordinates of your two points, and the program will compute the slope for you. If the denominator is zero (indicating a vertical line), it will return “Vertical line (undefined slope).” Otherwise, it will provide the actual slope value. Feel free to customize this code as needed! 🚀🐍

Testing Bard vs. ChatGPT vs. Bing against each other

Now, let’s try to analyze what we have just seen: first, about the text. In our opinion, ChatGPT is actually the best choice for generating text content. For instance, if we wanted to generate the text for this article, we would probably do this with ChatGPT. At the same time, it’s certainly not the best option to find accurate answers to the questions, especially for real-time ones. When it comes to the search, you should rather choose between Google Bard (Gemini) and Bing Chat (Microsoft Copilot). Here, the exact choice will depend on user experience preferences and Internet browsing habits. 

Now, let’s proceed to the software development capabilities. Before starting, we should say that we have a separate topic regarding the role of JavaScript in AI development. Now, to the comparison! First of all, we should note that all of the answers are correct and technically work. You can find out the slope of the line using all of the provided solutions. However, when it comes to code quality, we would probably prefer ChatGPT, especially in this case. Sure, GPT has robust Python-writing capabilities, but still, it’s about the particular code. The code in the case of GPT looks quite well, and it matches how we would write the Python code. Moreover, it’s the most proper way to do this, considering how Python itself works. Check how the error works. ChatGPT provided just the best way not to return the zero, while Bing and Bard wrote the excessive code. Technically, all of them are correct, but ChatGPT looks the best in our example.

Can software developers be replaced by AI?

That’s a very interesting question regarding the results of the testing made above. The job market and AI are probably the most common concerns among software engineers in 2024. Will AI take our jobs? Well, as we can see, generative AI tools can already easily produce human-like responses. It can even produce some complicated tasks such as writing code (which is still not perfect, believe me), but still.

However strange it may sound, a software engineer’s job is not just about writing code. Here we go to two main problems inherent to any AI: responsibility and soft skills. If you want to have a good time, just try to force AI to make a decision and then make him explain why such a decision was made. It’s just an imitation of how humans think, not really cause-and-effect thinking, as we used to do. Since the job market is filled by human beings seeking a contractor for projects managed by human beings, software engineers shouldn’t be afraid to lose their jobs. At least now.

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So, let’s wrap things up. Can AI be a useful tool that can double or even triple the productivity of an individual developer? Yes, it easily can. Can one developer with AI do what two developers usually do without an AI? In some cases, yes. Can AI replace the developer? No, at least not today, tomorrow, or in the next five years. What is more interesting, contrary to widespread belief, software engineers and even content makers aren’t even the first on the list for being replaced by AIs. If you ask me, we would say that lawyers, physicians, and drivers. So, yes, software developers have to code for a few more years.

Final thoughts

Thank you for reading this article till the end; it’s kind of an experimental format for me. we don’t think we can really explain how is ChatGPT different from Google in just one article, but still, this comparison was primarily interesting for me, as we don’t really use any of these three for coding, as we prefer Devin, a brand new powerful coding-first generative AI.  But it was still quite an interesting journey. If you ask me what we would prefer, the answer would probably be GPT for both language skills (required for creating content or just basic communication) and coding capabilities.

If you have any further questions regarding AI, AI development services, advanced language models, or any other detailed questions on this subject, don’t let your curiosity go unanswered. Contact ELITEX, a software development team beyond your expectations that will help you navigate the intricacies of artificial intelligence. Whether it’s a brief consultation or starting a new digital solution from scratch, we’re here to guide you every step of the way!

Bard vs. Bing vs. ChatGPT FAQs