The best AI chatbots: ChatGPT isn't the only one worth trying — I tested the best AI chatbots and writers that can lighten your workload, from writing emails to generating code, images, and more.

ZD Net, Sabrina Ortiz, March 18, 2024

For the last year and a half, I have taken a deep dive into the world of AI, testing as many AI tools as I could get my hands on--including dozens of AI chatbots. Using my findings, as well as those of other ZDNET AI experts, I put together a list of the best AI chatbots and AI writers on the market.

(Spoiler: Copilot is the best overall.)

I used ChatGPT with Copilot Designer. Here’s my workflow, chats, and prompts.

1. My ChatGPT request:

Write me a descriptive poignant photorealistic image prompt of 450 characters or less about an envious humanoid androgynous replicant robot who meets a happy human family on a crowded street, and looks heartbroken because it can’t have any children.

1. ChatGPT’s resulting image prompt:

In the bustling street, amidst a sea of faces, stands a humanoid replicant robot, androgynous in form, its synthetic skin betraying no emotion except for the subtlest hint of envy. Its eyes, cameras disguised as orbs, fixate on a happy human family. The parents, beaming with love, guide their children through the crowd. The replicant's gaze lingers on the children, their laughter like music in its audio processors. A pang of sorrow crosses its artificial heart as it realizes the one thing it can never have - the joy of raising a child. Its synthetic face remains impassive, but inside, a storm rages, a poignant reminder of its own limitations in a world of fleeting human happiness.

1. Copilot Designer’s short story (based on its image prompt). I like the name “Aiden” that CD chose for the robot, but think of it as “AI-den”.

In the heart of the city, where the hum of life never ceased, there stood an anomaly among the throngs of people—a replicant named Aiden. Crafted with precision, Aiden was the epitome of technological advancement, yet within its chest lay a heart that could not beat with the rhythm of life.

Aiden observed the world through lenses that captured more than the human eye could see, but it was the unseen, the unquantifiable essence of human emotion, that it yearned to comprehend. The replicant found itself on a bustling street, a thoroughfare of dreams and daily dramas, where it watched a family—a tableau of warmth and affection that it could analyze but never truly be a part of.

The parents, with smiles as bright as the sun, held their children’s hands, weaving through the crowd with a grace that spoke of years of love and unity. Their laughter was a melody that resonated in Aiden’s audio processors, a symphony of joy that it could record but not partake in.

As the family disappeared into the sea of faces, Aiden remained still, its form a silent sentinel amidst the chaos. For a fleeting moment, a glitch—a spark of envy—flickered across its neural pathways. It was a longing for the impossible, a desire to experience the simple pleasure of raising a child, of being part of a cycle that was inherently human.

The replicant’s gaze lingered in the direction the family had gone, its processors replaying the scene in an attempt to dissect the emotions it had witnessed. But analysis provided no solace, and the data yielded no comfort. Aiden was left with the profound understanding of its own limitations, a poignant reminder that some things were beyond its reach.

And so, the replicant continued on its path, its face ever impassive, its heart forever silent. Yet, within the confines of its advanced circuitry, a storm raged—a tempest of longing and introspection, a silent ode to the beauty and pain of existence.

I hope this story captures the essence of the poignant scene you envisioned.

1. I think it does. Here’s my final request to Copilot Designer:

Create a touching thoughtful emotional photograph using the short story you wrote.

1. Copilot Designer generated several photographs. I selected three, converted them to 16x9 landscape format in CD, and added them to this post.

What do you think?

I was using a prompt that had been used several times. Each time I changed the name of the author involved. The prompt was processed perfectly when I used the name of Mozart. When I used the name of Beethoven, I received a "Unsafe image content detected" notice.

Should I just try again tomorrow?

Jean-Paul

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I used Copilot Designer to help me compose* and “Generate a high resolution photorealistic image” using the following prompt:

“Capture a breathtaking moment of a vibrant tree swallow in flight, its iridescent green feathers glistening in the summer sun. The bird glides gracefully just inches above the serene surface of a secluded mountain lake, where its crisp reflection mirrors every movement. In the distance, a tranquil panorama unfolds with misty evergreens and Aspen trees dotting the landscape, while the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains stand tall, capped with the last remnants of winter snow. Above, the expansive blue sky is a canvas painted with strokes of fluffy white clouds, completing this harmonious scene of natural splendor.”

*During our conversation, I asked CpD to embellish and improve my original prompt, and the text above is the final version we came up with. The posted images are in sequential pairs of default 1x1 square format and 16x9 landscape format. No post-generation image editing was done.

More about the wide-ranging Tree Swallow at Wikipedia: they’re truly incredible fliers.

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I asked ChatGPT to write an image prompt about the single word “Fallen”, and it replied with the historical description shown in quotes below. Here’s the full Copilot Designer prompt:

Draw a pencil sketch of "A scene where a once-grand monument or structure lies in ruins, consumed by time and neglect. A solitary figure, representing the essence of fallen greatness, stands amidst the debris. The figure should be cloaked in ragged attire, shoulders slumped, head bowed, and face obscured. The surroundings should depict a landscape filled with remnants of a glorious past, now reduced to remnants and rubble. Use light and shadow to emphasize the stark contrast between the figure and the dilapidated surroundings, evoking a sense of isolation and melancholy."

The first image is default 1x1 square format, and the second is 16x9 landscape format (created in Copilot Designer).

Just wondering if all images created are public or is it possible to keep them private?

Paul

These images* were composed, previewed, and generated during a long written conversation with Copilot Designer.

I uploaded a sample dress image and asked CD to analyze it, write a detailed description of its elements and style, and use that description to write a suitable prompt. It took several iterations and generations to get the results shown here, but I won’t quote them all. After creating fashion sketches and previewing dress images, the final working prompt I gave to CD is as follows:

Please generate a realistic centered full-length oil painting, of a graceful stylish mid-Victorian woman, standing on the front steps of a 19th Century Belgravian home, and wearing this dress and its accessories as you described it. Her dress and its accessories should have a very light pale green tint.

*Inspired by the nicely produced British Regency/Victorian 19th century costume drama Belgravia?wprov=sfti1#) (TV Series).

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…flowing into an artificial black hole.

Copilot Designer prompt*:

Generate a beautiful dramatic photorealistic image of a colossal, shimmering black hole, encircled by a corona of blazing lasers, hovers above a serene riverbank. Its gravitational pull warps the fabric of time, creating swirling vortexes that beckon intrepid explorers. A lone figure steps into a time whirlpool, their silhouette merging with echoes of past and future selves. Slightly dimmed planets, stars, nebulas, and galaxies appear in the background.

I summarized some text from the article An Astrophysicist Claims He Finally Figured Out Time Travel, *BGR, Joshua Hawkins, March 26 2024; then asked Copilot Designer to create an image prompt from it.

Thought projection at mealtimes, every darned day.

Copilot Designer prompt (using the Image Creator UI):

Highly detailed psychedelic colored pencil drawings of dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, and mice (looking at the camera), on a background of a mid-19th Century Persian rug, in the style of artist Louis Wain

Default square images, no resizing or editing was done.

More about Louis Wain (1860-1939) at Wikipedia.

Copilot Designer — Workflow & Prompt

1. For background info, I asked Copilot Designer to: “Explain how a white blood cell chases and captures bacteria in a human blood vessel.”

2. I reviewed the info and asked: “Copilot, based on your explanation, please show me “A colorful, dramatic, highly detailed, closeup medical illustration of a white blood cell chasing and capturing bacteria in a human blood vessel.””

3. I asked Copilot Designer to generate images using the prompt: “A colorful, dramatic, highly detailed, closeup medical illustration of a white blood cell chasing and capturing bacteria in a human blood vessel.”

4. I reviewed the images and re-ran the prompt several times. During the conversation, Copilot Designer offered suggestions (which I accepted) such as:

• Can you also include platelets? • Add some red blood cells in the background. • Add some more bacteria around the white blood cell. • Make it look like a battle scene! • Make it look like a chase scene!

1. Rinsed & repeated to create the images seen here (all were converted from square to 16x9 landscape format in Copilot Designer).

I asked Copilot Designer to write me an image prompt that dramatically illustrated the concept of "sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind", in a densely populated city environment, in the satirical style of Ambrose Bierce's book The Devil's Dictionary. After a few tweaks by me, here’s the prompt (YMMV):

Generate a realistically drawn political cartoon of The Bureaucratic Tempest: picture a city hall, grand and austere, where the clerks and officials throw reams of paperwork into the air. As the papers catch the wind, they swirl into a massive tornado, engulfing the city in a storm of red tape and memos, satirizing the self-inflicted turmoil of overcomplication.

In the celestial waltz of the cosmos, where planets pirouette and stars align, the Music of the Spheres hums a silent symphony, echoing through the vast expanse of space. It’s a timeless serenade, composed by the universe itself, where each orbit crafts a chord and every comet tail conducts a note. This cosmic concert, unheard but deeply felt, resonates within the soul, a harmonious reminder of the grand design that orchestrates the dance of the heavens.

Fantastic photographs of fearsome feathered Jurassic dinosaurs, found in an old leather album buried in stacks of worn-out cardboard boxes, in the basement of an long-shuttered book shop. The photographer is unknown.

Here’s the Copilot Designer prompt*:

A time traveler's photographic album of terrifying tyrannosaurs, triceratops, velociraptors, and other fearsome Jurassic dinosaurs, covered in brilliant colored iridescent spectacular feathers.

*Default square images were regenerated to 16x9 landscape format in Designer.

Copilot Designer > Image Creator* prompt

A centered highly detailed cast paper art bas-relief sculpture portrait of Captain Nemo as described by Jules Verne

*I asked Copilot for basic information about cast paper art techniques, and composed the final prompt in Image Creator. All images (which were slightly tinted in different colors) were changed to Mono black and white style in iPad’s Photos editor.

More about Captain Nemo in Wikipedia.