What you'll learn
- ✓Compare the three major AI assistants
- ✓Understand why Claude is recommended first
- ✓Know when to use which tool
- ✓Set up your first AI account
The Big Three
Right now, there are three AI assistants that matter most for everyday use: Claude (made by Anthropic), Gemini (made by Google), and ChatGPT (made by OpenAI). There are others out there, but these three are the ones you will encounter most often, and they are the ones worth investing your time in learning.
Think of them like different cats with different personalities. They can all purr, pounce, and climb. But each one has different strengths, different temperaments, and different situations where they shine.
Let us meet each one.
Claude (by Anthropic)
Claude is the AI assistant made by Anthropic, and it is the one we recommend starting with for this course. Here is why.
What makes Claude different
Claude was built with a strong emphasis on being helpful, harmless, and honest. In practice, this means Claude tends to be:
- More careful and nuanced — It is less likely to make up facts confidently. When it is unsure, it usually says so.
- Better at long, structured tasks — Claude has a massive 200,000-token context window, which means you can feed it entire documents, codebases, or lengthy instructions and it handles them well.
- Excellent at writing and analysis — Whether you need a product requirements document, a code review, or a summary of a 50-page report, Claude consistently produces thoughtful, well-organized output.
- Strong at following complex instructions — Give Claude a detailed set of rules and constraints, and it sticks to them reliably.
Claude's product lineup
- Claude.ai (Free) — Access through the web browser. Limited number of messages per day, but enough to learn and experiment.
- Claude Pro ($20/month) — More messages, access to the latest models, and priority access during busy times.
- Claude Max ($100/month) — Significantly higher usage limits. Worth it if you use Claude heavily for work.
- Claude Desktop App — A native app for Mac and Windows that lets you use Claude without a browser. We will set this up in Tongariro.
- Claude Code — A terminal-based tool for developers that can read and write files, run commands, and work directly with your codebase. We will explore this in Ruapehu.
🐾Haku says
Full transparency: this entire course was built with Claude, so yes, we are a bit biased. But we have used all three tools extensively, and Claude genuinely is the one we recommend starting with. You will see why as you practice.
Gemini (by Google)
Gemini is Google's AI assistant, and it has some unique strengths that come from being deeply integrated with Google's ecosystem.
What makes Gemini different
- Google integration — Gemini can connect to your Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Calendar, and other Google services. If your life runs on Google products, this is a big deal.
- Multimodal from the start — Gemini was built to handle text, images, audio, and video natively. It is particularly strong at understanding and analyzing images.
- Large context window — Gemini Pro has a context window of up to 1 million tokens (and 2 million in some configurations), which is the largest available. That is roughly 2,500 pages of text.
- Real-time information — Because it is connected to Google Search, Gemini can access current information in a way that other models cannot by default.
Gemini's product lineup
- Gemini (Free) — Available at gemini.google.com. Decent free tier with access to the standard model.
- Google One AI Premium ($20/month) — Access to the most capable Gemini models, plus integration with Google Workspace apps like Docs and Gmail.
- Gemini in Google Workspace — If your company uses Google Workspace, Gemini can be embedded directly in your docs, sheets, and slides.
Where Gemini shines
Gemini is at its best when you need it to work with your Google ecosystem. Things like:
- "Summarize the last 10 emails from this client"
- "Draft a response to this Google Doc comment"
- "Find the spreadsheet from last quarter and pull out the key metrics"
- Analyzing photos, screenshots, and diagrams
💡 Tip
If you are deeply embedded in the Google ecosystem (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Calendar), having Gemini as your second AI tool is a strong choice. The Google integration alone can save you significant time.
ChatGPT (by OpenAI)
ChatGPT is the one that started the mainstream AI conversation. It launched in November 2022 and became the fastest-growing consumer app in history. It is the tool most people think of when they hear "AI."
What makes ChatGPT different
- Largest ecosystem — ChatGPT has the most users, the most third-party integrations, and the most plugins. If you need an AI tool that connects to a specific niche service, ChatGPT probably has a plugin for it.
- Image generation — ChatGPT includes DALL-E for generating images directly in the conversation. Ask it to create a logo mockup or an illustration and it can do that right in the chat.
- Voice mode — ChatGPT has a particularly polished voice conversation mode. You can talk to it like you would a person, and it responds verbally.
- Custom GPTs — You can create (or use others') custom versions of ChatGPT tuned for specific tasks. There is a whole marketplace of these.
ChatGPT's product lineup
- ChatGPT Free — Available at chat.openai.com. Access to the base model with some limitations.
- ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) — Access to the latest GPT-4 models, DALL-E image generation, and advanced features.
- ChatGPT Pro ($200/month) — Unlimited access to all models including the most advanced reasoning models.
Where ChatGPT shines
ChatGPT is at its best when you need:
- Image generation alongside text
- Voice conversations with AI
- Access to specific third-party plugins
- The broadest possible ecosystem of community-created tools
The Honest Ranking
Alright, let us be direct. If you are just starting out and want to pick one tool to learn first, here is our honest recommendation:
1. Claude — Best overall for learning and productivity. The most reliable, the most thoughtful in its responses, and the best at following complex instructions. Its long context window and careful approach make it ideal for serious work. Start here.
2. Gemini — Best for Google ecosystem users. If your workflow revolves around Gmail, Drive, and Docs, Gemini's native integration is genuinely useful. Also excellent for image understanding and the sheer size of its context window. Strong second choice.
3. ChatGPT — Best ecosystem and features breadth. It has the most plugins, the best image generation, and the most polished voice mode. If you need breadth of integrations or image creation, ChatGPT fills those gaps. Solid third choice.
💡This ranking will change
AI moves fast. These tools are all improving rapidly, and what is true today might not be true in six months. The ranking above reflects our honest assessment right now, but you should re-evaluate periodically. The skills you learn in this course — prompting, iterating, verifying — work with all of them.
Feature Comparison
Here is a side-by-side look at the features that matter most:
| Feature | Claude | Gemini | ChatGPT | |---|---|---|---| | Context window | 200K tokens | 1-2M tokens | 128K tokens | | Writing quality | Excellent | Good | Good | | Code generation | Excellent | Good | Good | | Following instructions | Excellent | Good | Good | | Image understanding | Yes | Excellent | Yes | | Image generation | No | Yes | Yes (DALL-E) | | Voice mode | No | Yes | Yes (Advanced) | | Web search | Yes (with tools) | Native | Yes (with browse) | | Google integration | No | Excellent | Limited | | Plugin ecosystem | Growing | Moderate | Largest | | Free tier | Good | Good | Good | | Paid price | $20/month | $20/month | $20/month |
When to Use Which
Rather than picking one tool forever, the smartest approach is to know when each tool is the right choice:
Use Claude when you need:
- Long, complex documents written or analyzed
- Code generation and review
- Detailed instructions followed precisely
- A thoughtful, careful response on a nuanced topic
- Working with large files or lots of context
Use Gemini when you need:
- Work done within Google Workspace
- Image or visual analysis
- Current, real-time information
- Processing extremely large documents (over 500 pages)
- Quick answers integrated into your Google workflow
Use ChatGPT when you need:
- Image generation alongside text
- Voice conversation with AI
- A specific plugin that only exists in the ChatGPT ecosystem
- Custom GPTs that others have already built for your use case
⚠️ Warning
Do not fall into the trap of using only one tool for everything. Each has weaknesses, and using multiple tools helps you cross-verify important outputs. If Claude gives you a surprising answer, check it with Gemini. If ChatGPT generates code that looks odd, paste it into Claude for review.
Setting Up Your First Account
For this course, we recommend starting with a free Claude account. Here is how:
Create Your Claude Account
- Go to claude.ai in your web browser.
- Click "Sign up" and create an account with your email or Google account.
- Complete the verification process.
- Once you are in, type a simple message like "Hello! Can you tell me a fun fact about orange tabby cats?" and press Enter.
- Read the response. Congratulations — you just had your first AI conversation.
If you want to also set up accounts for comparison:
- Gemini: Go to gemini.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
- ChatGPT: Go to chat.openai.com and create an account.
All three have usable free tiers. No credit card needed to get started.
A Note About Other Tools
We focused on the big three, but there are other AI tools worth knowing about:
- Perplexity — An AI-powered search engine. Great for research when you want answers with cited sources.
- Mistral — A European AI company with competitive models. Worth watching.
- Llama (Meta) — Open-source models you can run locally. Interesting if you care about privacy or want to tinker.
- Copilot (Microsoft/GitHub) — Integrated into VS Code for code completion. Different from a chat assistant but very useful for developers.
These are all legitimate tools, but for learning the fundamentals of working with AI, the big three give you the best foundation.
Paw Print Check
Before moving on, make sure you can answer these:
- 🐾Can you name the three major AI assistants and who makes each one?
- 🐾Do you understand why Claude is recommended as the starting point?
- 🐾Can you describe a scenario where Gemini would be the better choice?
- 🐾Have you created at least one AI account and sent your first message?
Next Up
Talking to AI
Learn the 8-part prompt framework for getting consistently great results from any AI tool.