The Battle for AI Supremacy: IBM Watson Assistant vs. ChatGPT

AI is changing the future for businesses, helping them work harder, smarter and more efficiently. AI chatbots, in particular, are transforming the internet, providing simple, yet intelligent solutions for businesses to engage with customers and boost their profits.

And among the many players in the AI chatbot game, there are two that stand out above the rest: IBM watsonx Assistant (formerly Watson Assistant) and ChatGPT. If you’re looking to add live chat to your website, then chatbot software using one of these AI stalwarts could be just what you need.

We’re here to take a closer look at IBM watsonx Assistant vs. ChatGPT to help you find the right choice for your needs. Explore what each tool brings to the table below.

Introducing IBM watsonx Assistant and ChatGPT

IBM watsonx Assistant and Chat GPT are among the AI technology leaders, each providing useful functions to businesses. So how do they compare? Let's take a closer look at each tool:

IBM watsonx Assistant

watsonx Assistant uses AI in a way that provides real benefits to businesses. Users can build a custom chatbot solution that can be trained to interact with customers, providing functions such as customer service and technical support.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT, on the other hand, was developed to provide human-like responses to prompts given in the form of questions or instructions. It offers creative functions such as writing articles and copy generation, as well as being able to generate documents such as proposals and strategies. It can provide a broad range of functions that are used by both businesses and individuals to help with everyday tasks.

While each tool brings different AI benefits to businesses, they can each be used for very different functions. Understanding what each platform brings in more detail can help you understand the features your business needs.

Comparing the features of IBM watsonx Assistant and ChatGPT

Now, let’s take a closer look at how IBM watsonx Assistant and ChatGPT measure up against core business needs:

Chatbots

IBM watsonx Assistant

As watsonx Assistant is programmable, it can be customised to provide support in defined ways by a business. It can help with customer service functions, answer FAQs, and use customer information to solve queries. It can be programmed to respond to specific scenarios, with the option of deferring to customer service agents where needed.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is designed in a way that brings in knowledge from a variety of sources, including those written by real people. This means it can answer questions on a range of topics, providing valuable automated customer service functions.

Sales and marketing support

IBM watsonx Assistant

watsonx Assistant can be an extremely valuable tool to help with customer service functions. It can be tailored to a range of industries, and trained to recognise and respond to technical terms. This means it can deal with many general and even complex customer queries, providing useful information. This can have a huge impact on customer support teams, freeing up their time to deal with more complex queries.

watsonx Assistant can be programmed to carry out specific functions, including gathering leads and helping customers through their purchasing journeys. Being able to do this at any time of day gives customers flexibility, and could make them more likely to purchase.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT can use its extensive knowledge to answer product queries, make recommendations and even upsell products and services. It can be used to provide several automated services, including making reservations or scheduling appointments, order tracking, returns and more - taking care of a number of core business functions.

Interpreting images

IBM watsonx Assistant

At the moment, IBM watsonx Assistant lacks image interpretation, although that’s not to say it may include this feature in the future, enhancing customer service and technical support.

ChatGPT

With the launch of GPT-4, ChatGPT has been able to add image interpretation to its list of functions. It can describe received images and use them to generate responses, and even create new images.

Accuracy

IBM watsonx Assistant

As watsonx Assistant only has a limited data range to draw from, its accuracy is generally reliable. watsonx Assistant won’t be able to answer general questions in the same way that ChatGPT can, but it is very reliable for providing accurate responses to the things it does know such as product information and even troubleshooting for technical issues.

ChatGPT

One of the disclaimers given by ChatGPT is that ‘ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.’ And it’s important to know that ChatGPT isn’t 100% accurate. While its accuracy keeps improving, it will sometimes generate responses that are incorrect, inventing answers to questions. It also has a dataset that is limited to periods in time, and while each new version brings updates to the knowledge available, ChatGPT doesn’t have ‘live’ knowledge it can draw from, meaning it won’t know answers to things that are happening right now, for example.

Integration

IBM watsonx Assistant

IBM watsonx Assistant has been developed over several years, and has been designed with integration in mind. It can integrate with various systems, including CRMs and essential workplace tools. IBM’s status as a tech leader means it has the networks to integrate its product into a range of tools, and will continue to do so as the product develops. There is a commercial aspect to watsonx Assistant, making integration a must.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT has been developed differently to watsonx Assistant in that it is an open-source platform, and may not have the same far-reaching integration. However, ChatGPT is being used by a variety of platforms via an API to generate responses. From content generation within social media schedulers to Spotify recommendations, more and more recognisable platforms are integrating ChatGPT features.

Task performance

IBM watsonx Assistant

watsonx Assistant is tailored to individual needs, so it can work well within the parameters of the information it’s been given, such as product information. IBM has another tool - watsonX AI, that can use generative AI to perform various functions, such as providing ideas for marketing campaigns or emails, working within its set parameters. This helps ensure greater accuracy within the scope of what it needs to do.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT has been developed to carry out a number of tasks. It can write basic code, create contacts, and perhaps its most widely-used feature, content generation - producing a variety of text from social media copy to essays. It also has translation capabilities. With each new version of ChatGPT, responses become more and more human-like and less obviously created by an AI assistant. It does include some limitations, however, in that a character limit of 1,000 means that the required accuracy isn’t always there.

Security

IBM watsonx Assistant

As you’d expect from IBM, watsonx Assistant comes with built-in security features, including high-level encryption, and user authentication. It has been designed to comply with regulations across various regions to provide a secure experience for users.

ChatGPT

One of the downsides of ChatGPT as an open-source platform is that it lacks built-in security. Those integrating ChatGPT within their own systems can put their own security features in place to help protect users that access it through their platforms, which can come with some increased costs.

As you can see, both IBM watsonx Assistant and ChatGPT have their individual strengths and weaknesses. As a commercial platform, watsonx Assistant comes at a higher cost than ChatGPT. Both have free versions, and subscription-based packages that offer more advanced features. Understanding what your business needs can help you make the best decision for your needs, which we will cover in more detail below.

IBM watsonx Assistant vs. ChatGPT: Which is best for you?

IBM watsonx Assistant and ChatGPT are incredible AI solutions that each bring benefits to businesses, but are they suitable for chatbots?

ChatGPT can answer questions like a human, which means it can perform successfully when answering different questions from users. It can translate and interpret images, which can also be useful functions in an AI chatbot. However, on its own, ChatGPT won’t provide the accurate, specific responses that users may need from their chatbot, and therefore needs to be integrated within other systems to perform well.

IBM watsonx Assistant, however, has been designed to carry out the functions that businesses need, including chatbot functions. It may not have a wider understanding of the world, but in the world it has been programmed to understand, it performs exceptionally well. It can provide accurate responses to the things that it knows, ensuring large amounts of customer queries can be answered. And for those it can’t, it can simply hand them over to an agent.

When choosing the right AI solution for your needs, it’s worth considering some of the following factors:

Required functionality

Deciding what you want from your AI chatbot is crucial to deciding which platform is best for your business. If you need a solution that can be a little more creative in its responses, then ChatGPT can work well for you. However, if you have specific information your tool needs to relay, and doesn’t require vast knowledge outside of this, then you’d be better off using watsonx Assistant, to tailor it to your business’s unique needs.

Your security needs

Security is the deciding factor for many software and product choices, and AI chatbots should be no different. If you want to add live chat to your website, you will need to consider data protection and how the system will provide security to users. ChatGPT doesn’t come with security capabilities, which will need to be thought of separately, while the reputation that comes with the IBM name can give you some reassurance about the safety of the platform. As you can tailor watsonx Assistant to your needs, you can be sure it won’t stray from what it knows.

Cost

Cost may be your ultimate deciding factor over which platform to use. The sophistication of IBM watsonx Assistant means it costs more, and its useful integration features could be the thing that makes it favourable to many businesses. It is constantly evolving, and even the difference between Watson Assistant and watsonx Assistant has been significant. watsonx Assistant can save time and money, while bringing in bespoke solutions for businesses.

ChatGPT has free functionality and paid-for features, and you’ll need to consider the paid-for option if it’s going to be integrated into your systems. This does mean, however, that you will need an alternative chatbot platform to work with if you’re going to use ChatGPT to help generate answers to questions - it needs something else to focus it and avoid providing inaccurate information.

Reliability

IBM says that its AI functions have been 70 years in the making, and each iteration becomes more and more advanced in its capabilities. It has a pre-built chatbot solution that makes it easy to add a chatbot to your website, with available support to ensure it performs as expected. It also comes with a free trial, helping businesses explore its capabilities before committing long-term.

While ChatGPT has many useful functions, it is not as reliable a solution as watsonx Assistant, due to the fact it hasn’t been designed with chatbot functions in mind. There is little support available, and ChatGPT will need careful moulding to ensure it meets your specific needs.

Assessing both platforms can help you decide which is right for you, and taking advantage of the free/trial models can help you see which platform is the best fit for your business. However, if it’s a tool specifically designed to work as a chatbot that you’re looking for, IBM watsonX assistant is the clear winner.

In conclusion

The advancement of AI chatbots means costly customer service functions are becoming a thing of the past. While not completely replacing customer service agents, AI chatbots help take care of the most basic queries, allowing agents to focus on more complex issues and boosting customer satisfaction rates.

Click4Assistance provides a range of products to help businesses enhance their customer services. We provide an AI chatbot that can automate customer engagement across all industries, providing smart solutions for forward-thinking businesses. Arrange a demo today to see how our solution can work for you.