Microsoft Copilot v. ChatGPT

ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are simply different

I find it fascinating that the two AI systems I've used most understand different things when I use the same prompts. I wanted to check that my instructions for students on how to use SoundType AI were correct, so I set up my Android phone and my iPad to simulate a student recording themselves in class and played the 10-year-old recording made by a student on my PC.

The recording was 3 minutes long and I was worried that when the screens went dark that the recordings would be interrupted, but this didn't happen.

The transcripts were ready on both systems in under 2 minutes, but I needed to correct some errors in the transcriptions. For example, Jenny's was written as Janis. Editing is very easy in SoundType AI.

I then copied each transcript and pasted them into ChatGPT and Copilot and asked at the beginning "please correct my mistakes."

Below are the two conversations with the two flavours of AI I am most familiar with.

The two transcripts were different and I’ve underlined the differences. My Android phone was more verbatim and my iPad was more practical, but less exact.

ChatGPT 3.5		Microsoft Copilot
on my Android phone		on my iPad
Please correct my mistakes. Okay, the movie is a story for two persons. One of them is Jenny. She's from New York and she works in a magazine in New York. And the other person is Rob. He works in the same magazine but he lives in London. And Jenny goes to London to meet Rob. She has a very good relationship. And then when Jenny comes back to New York, she offers to Rob a job for one month. A temporary job. And Rob goes to New York and this is an opportunity for him because they can meet better each other. I don't know if it's right this sentence. And after this month, the magazine offers a job. A permanent job Uh, yes, I did a job. And Jenny helped Rob to rent an apartment for a friend, I don't know. A... They fall in love? They fall in love. Fall in love? They fall in love. Fall in love? They fall in love. They fall in love. They fall in love. We love. We love. No, together. I don't know what is the word. They are together. We live together. No, we live together. They live alone. He lives alone. But at the finale of the movie, they go to know the Jenny's parents, to meet the Jenny's parents. They go to meet. To meet. Okay. Not to know. To meet. That's enough.		please correct my mistakes. The movie is a story for two persons. One of them is Jenny. She is from New York and she works in a magazine in New York. And the other person is Rob. He works in the same magazine but he lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob. She has a very good relationship. And when she comes back to New York, she offers to go to work for one month. Rob goes to New York and this is an opportunity for him. Because they can meet each other better. And after this month, the magazine offers him a job. Yes, a permanent job. And Jenny helps Rob to rent an apartment or a flat. And when they fall in love, they fall in love. No, together. I don't know what is the word. They are in couple. Yes. They live alone. She lives alone. But at the finale of the movie, they go to meet the Jenny's parents. They meet with the parents. They go to meet. To meet. Ok. Not alone. Yes. Yes. That's enough.
Certainly. Here's a corrected version of your text: Okay, the movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny. She's from New York and works in a magazine there. The other person is Rob. He also works in the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London to meet Rob, and they have a very good relationship. When Jenny returns to New York, she offers Rob a temporary job for one month. Rob goes to New York, and this is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers him a permanent job. Yes, I did a job. Jenny helped Rob to rent an apartment for a friend, I don't know. And... Do they fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. Fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. They fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. We love. We love. No, together. I don't know what the word is. They are together. They live together. No, we live together. They live alone. He lives alone. But at the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny's parents, not to know. To meet. Okay. Not to know. To meet. That's enough.		Here is a corrected version of your text: “The movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny, who works for a magazine in New York. The other person is Rob, who also works for the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When she returns to New York, she offers to let Rob work there for one month, which is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job, and Jenny helps him find an apartment. They fall in love and become a couple. At the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny’s parents together.” I hope this helps! B1+ on TextInspector
The two interpretations of my identical prompts were very different and this may be due to the Custom instructions I use in ChatGPT. But I wanted to get from ChatGPT something like what Copilot had produced, so I asked, “Can you make that into a coherent story for a student at B1 level on the CEFR scale?”
Certainly. Here's a simplified and coherent version for a B1 level student: The movie tells a story about two people, Jenny and Rob. Jenny is from New York and works at a magazine there, while Rob also works in the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London to meet Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When Jenny returns to New York, she offers Rob a temporary job for one month. Rob comes to New York, and during this time, they have the chance to know each other better. After the month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job. Jenny helps Rob find an apartment for a friend. Do they fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. They decide to live together. Although they initially live alone, towards the end of the movie, they visit Jenny's parents to meet them. And that's the story! B1+ on TextInspector		I’ve copied Copilot’s version here to make it easier to compare the two. Here is a corrected version of your text: “The movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny, who works for a magazine in New York. The other person is Rob, who also works for the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When she returns to New York, she offers to let Rob work there for one month, which is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job, and Jenny helps him find an apartment. They fall in love and become a couple. At the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny’s parents together.” I hope this helps! B1+ on TextInspector
Which works better? I liked the fact that ChatGPT made it easier to see the errors, and it used paragraphs, but it took an extra step to get an improved version at the student’s level. Sadly, ChatGPT also included some erroneous information. I wanted to listen to the improved version on my phone so I said (spoken) “Can you do that again?” and I was able to listen to another variation of the story but that still included the erroneous information.  So, I said (spoken) “That was great. Actually, they didn't live together. Rob lived in the flat that Jenny had helped him find, and she lived in her flat. They lived independently.”
This was the final version of the story from ChatGPT, which I was able to listen to.
Got it, thanks for clarifying. Here's the adjusted version: In the movie, we meet Jenny and Rob. Jenny, from New York, works at a magazine, and Rob, who also works at the same magazine, lives in London. Jenny travels to London to meet Rob, and they become good friends. When Jenny returns to New York, she offers Rob a temporary job for one month. Rob comes to New York, and during this time, they learn more about each other. After a month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job. Jenny helps him find an apartment for a friend. Do they fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. They decide to continue living independently. Rob lives in the flat that Jenny helped him find, and she stays in her own flat. Although they stay separate, towards the end of the movie, they visit Jenny's parents to meet them. And that's the story! B1+ on TextInspector	I’ve copied Copilot’s version here again Here is a corrected version of your text: “The movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny, who works for a magazine in New York. The other person is Rob, who also works for the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When she returns to New York, she offers to let Rob work there for one month, which is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job, and Jenny helps him find an apartment. They fall in love and become a couple. At the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny’s parents together.” I hope this helps! B1+ on TextInspector

I plan to make two videos on YouTube showing all the steps in the process of using SoundType AI using each of my devices.