Free Generative AI Chat Tools

Important Precautions

Entering sensitive data into generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools, such as chatbots, software, and plugins, can pose security and privacy risks. Such information, once entered into an AI tool, could be stored and potentially exposed.

The Information Technology and Analytics division advises the campus community to avoid entering personal, confidential, or proprietary data into Generative AI tools unless adequate data protection measures are in place. Sharing such information could result in unintended access by third parties.

Examples of sensitive or internal information include:

  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Full names, addresses, social security numbers
  • Student Academic Information: Grades, evaluations, or records affecting student privacy and academic integrity
  • Financial Details: Bank accounts, credit card numbers, transaction data
  • Health Records: Personal medical information, health records
  • Login Credentials: Usernames, passwords, PINs, security questions
  • Confidential Academic Work: Unpublished research, patents

Please see this article for more details: https://help.ithaca.edu/TDClient/34/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=1638

Overview of Free AI Chat Tools

AI Tool

Strengths

Weaknesses

ChatGPT

- Easy to use for all experience levels.
- Engages in detailed conversations, useful for brainstorming and tutoring.
- Versatile for writing help and answering questions.
- Can read images and perform internet searches.
- Supports file uploads in various formats.
- Available on Android and iOS mobile apps.
- No account needed; chat history is saved.

- Limited usage per day for free version

- Limited memory; may forget parts of complex conversations.
- No real-time data; uses a fixed dataset (up to December 2023).
- Free version cannot create images.

Claude

- Understands context well, great for creative writing.
- Open-source; customizable by adjusting questions.
- Supports file uploads (various formats, up to 10MB).
- Available on mobile apps (Android and iOS).
- Saves chat history.

- Performance may vary depending on setup.
- Cannot perform internet searches.
- Text-based output only; can work with uploaded images.
- Daily message limit; account required to use.

Gemini

- Handles text and images, useful for multimedia projects.
- Strong data analysis capabilities, ideal for research.

  • Saves chat history
  • - Can perform internet searches.
    - Available on mobile apps (Android and iOS).

- Limited coding help, basic writing assistance.
- Lacks advanced customization; requires internet connection.

- Does not support file uploads;

account required to use.

Copilot Chat

- Good for email drafts, grammar, and style improvements.
- Can read and create images, perform internet searches.
- Supports file uploads (5 files/day, 1MB max).
- Available on mobile apps (Android and iOS).
- Saves chat history

- Requires internet connection.
- Fewer customization options.

 

Perplexity

- Provides accurate answers to questions.
- Clear and concise responses for quick information.
- Can read and describe images, perform internet searches.
- Supports file uploads (text/PDF, up to 25MB).
- Available on mobile apps (Android and iOS); no account needed. And saves chat history

- Answers may lack detail.

- Cannot create images;

  • 1500-character response limit.

LLaMA

- Powerful text generation model for various contexts.
- Available on Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger).

  • But also has chatbot system
  • Can do internet Seaches on the chatbot system
  • Can create images and show images from Realtime places like (can redirect to an Instagram account when asked or specific things) on the chatbot system

 

- Does not support file uploads;

 

  • no account needed.
    - Does not save chat history.

Each of these AI tools has its strengths and weaknesses, making them suitable for different tasks. For the IC community:

  • ChatGPT is great for general conversations/ information and writing help.
  • Claude is good for creative writing and detailed discussions.
  • Gemini excels in multimedia projects and data analysis.
  • Copilot is perfect for coding and programming tasks.
  • Perplexity is useful for quick and accurate information.
  • LLaMA generated text for various purposes, such as content generation, chatbots, or language understanding tasks. 

OpenAI ChatGPT

Strengths:

  • Easy to Use: ChatGPT is designed to be user-friendly, so it's good for people with different levels of experience.
  • Great Conversations: It can have detailed and human-like conversations, which is helpful for brainstorming, tutoring, and general questions.
  •  You can use it for writing help, content creation, and answering questions in many areas.
  • Can read read images
  • Can do Internet searches
  • 4,096 tokens for each interaction.
  • the free version of ChatGPT now supports file uploads. Free users can upload a variety of file types, including PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and text files. 
  • CHATgpt can be used on a mobile app, on both Android and iOS

Weaknesses:

  • Limited Memory: The free version can forget parts of a conversation, which might make complex talks difficult.
  • No Real-Time Data: It can't provide the latest information because it uses a fixed dataset  which was until the date December 2023.
  • Can not Create images

 

Anthropic Claude

Strengths:

  • Good Understanding: Claude understands context and nuances well, making it great for creative writing and detailed explanation and any information you ask.
  • Open-Source: You can customize it by adjusting your question when asking.
  • the free version of Claude allows users to upload files. You can upload various types of documents, including PDF, DOCX, CSV, TXT, HTML, ODT (OpenDocument Text). Each file can be up to 10MB in size, and you can upload a maximum of five files at a time. 
  • free version of Claude can be used on a mobile app, on both Android and iOS

Weaknesses:

  • Varied Performance: Its performance can vary depending on how it's set up and the resources available.
  • Cannot do Internet searches
  • Claude is limited to text-based output via the chat. However, you can upload images for Claude to work with. 
  • Can not do live internet search
  • The number of messages you can send will vary based on demand, and Claude will notify you when you’ve reached your daily limit.

 

Google Gemini

Strengths:

  • Handles Text and Images: Gemini can works best with both text and images, making it useful for multimedia projects.
  • Strong Analysis: It's good at data analysis, which is helpful for research and academic work.
  • Can do Internet searches
  • the free version of Google's Gemini AI can be used on a mobile app for free on both Android and iOS

 

Weaknesses: Gemini offers basic coding assistance, text writing help, limited language support, email and document drafting, simple data analysis, basic learning aid, has usage limits, lacks advanced customization, has limited integration with other tools, and requires an internet connection.

  • Ability to upload images and can work with the image you provide it, but can not generate images for you.
  • The free version of Gemini does not support file uploads.

 

Microsoft Copilot

Strengths:

  1. Email Drafts: Suggests phrases for emails.
  2. Writing Help: Improves grammar and style.
  3. Can read and create images
  4. Can do Internet searches.
  5. The free version of Copilot does allow file uploads, but with limitations. Users can upload up to 5 files per day, with a maximum file size of 1 MB per file. Supported file types include PDFs, Word documents (DOCX), and Excel spreadsheets (XLSX).
  6. the free version of Microsoft's Copilot can be used on a mobile app for free. The Copilot app is available for both iOS and Android devices. 

Weaknesses:

  1. Not Always Accurate: Suggestions can be wrong, so you need to double-check.
  2. Fewer Custom Options: Lacks advanced settings available in the paid version.
  3. 2000-character limit.

 

Perplexity

Strengths:

  • Good at Answering Questions: Perplexity is great at providing accurate answers to questions.
  • Clear Responses: It gives concise and clear answers, which is useful for quick information.
  • Can read images and describe the image
  • Can do Internet searches
  • users can upload text or PDF files up to 25MB
  • the free version of Perplexity AI can be used on a mobile app for free. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices

 

Weaknesses:

  • Shallow Answers: While the answers are clear, they might not have a lot of detail.
  • Can not create an image
  • 1,500 characters per response. Additionally, users can perform 5 Perplexity Copilot queries every 4 hours,

Meta LLaMA

Strengths:

  • Powerful Model: LLaMA uses a language model that can understand and generate text in various contexts. You can use the generated text for various purposes, such as content generation, chatbots, or language understanding tasks. 
  • The free version of LLaMA, specifically Meta's Llama 3, can indeed be used on mobile apps for free. Meta AI, built with Llama 3, is integrated across various Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. 

Weaknesses:

  • LLaMA does not have enough world knowledge to produce reasonable images.
  • The free version of LLaMA does not currently support file uploads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 
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