Claude 2 vs. GPT-4: Which One is Better?

Rob Young
The Neuralist
Published in
6 min readSep 19, 2023

Meet Claude 2 and GPT-4 — two titans that are redefining what AI can achieve.

Made with Midjourney — two LLM’s facing off

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the contours of technology, and large language models (LLMs) are driving this digital renaissance.

If you’re a business leader, a developer, or an AI aficionado, understanding the nuances between these two powerhouses is essential to get the most out of them.

Claude 2: The Underdog Making Waves

Screenshot of Anthropic.com Homepage

In the bustling and chaotic arena of AI, Anthropic has released Claude 2 — a model that’s challenging the established leaders and presenting new capabilities.

Claude 2 is a testament to innovation and a disruptor in its own right.

Claude 2’s Superpowers

What sets Claude 2 apart? For starters, its unique ability to process up to a staggering 100,000 tokens.

That’s huge for tasks requiring deep context and nuanced understanding — like logical reasoning and coding — two areas where Claude shines bright.

Claude excels in GRE writing, coding, and math, and can read, analyze and reference documents directly in the interface with very little hallucination.

The Ethical AI: Claude 2’s Moral Compass

We’re increasingly concerned with ethical AI, and Claude 2 stands out with its unique “constitution.”

This set of guiding principles ensures that the model excels in tasks but also adheres to ethical norms, making it a truly responsible AI.

GPT-4: The Undisputed AI Maestro

Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash

OpenAI is more than a name at this point — it’s a legacy.

GPT-4 is the highly publicized marvel of the lineup, and is living up to that legacy.

As the most advanced member of the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) series, GPT-4 is really the core disrupter and revolutionizer in the space.

GPT-4’s Superpower: Multimodal Capabilities

What makes GPT-4 the maestro it is? Multimodal capabilities are a start.

This means it can not only understand text but also interpret images and documents, code and more, making it a versatile tool for a myriad of applications.

When it comes to academic performance, GPT-4 is a top student. It scores high on tests like the GRE and is really good at solving problems. But as we’ve all learned so far with GPT-4, it’s not just about doing well on tests; it’s about being a reliable and conistent tool for all kinds of tasks.

The Tech Behind GPT-4

GPT-4 is built on some really smart tech called the Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture. Without getting too technical, this is the engine that makes GPT-4 so powerful and versatile.

Head-to-Head: Claude 2 vs GPT-4

Let’s dive into comparing the tech, features, and benefits of the two models.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Both Claude 2 and GPT-4 have their strong points.

Claude 2 is great for handling big chunks of information and focuses on ethics and accuracy of response.

GPT-4, on the other hand, is a jack-of-all-trades, good at text, documents, and more.

Neither of them are perfect, but there are a few applications for each where we feel they shine.

Claude 2 Skills and Applications

Data Analysis

Claude 2’s ability to handle large contexts makes it ideal for sifting through massive datasets and providing actionable insights in real-time.

Pro-tip for the data folks: I’ve had much better results using Claude for this than I have with GPT-4 historically, with the main benefit being that Claude seems to reference directly from the data, while GPT-4 has given me issues with hallucinating new data.

Content Creation

With its strong reasoning capabilities, Claude 2 can generate high-quality, context-rich content, making it a valuable asset for marketers and writers.

Claude also seems to focus on accurate outputs. I haven’t had many issues with hallucination in general since I started experimenting with Claude, rather, I’ve seen a lot of “I don’t have a good answer for that” kind of responses. Take this response for example:

Screenshot from Claude 2 chat

Claude didn’t want to give me misinformation for this blog and fuel drama with its AI friend, so instead, it just politely declined.

Coding

Claude’s proficiency in coding tasks means it can assist in software development, automating repetitive tasks and even debugging.

I haven’t tested the coding capabilities in depth yet head to head, but plan to do that for another blog. So far, it seems like users have been very impressed with Claude’s abilities in this realm as well.

Ethical Applications

Claude 2’s focus on ethical AI makes it a preferred choice for projects that require ethical considerations, such as healthcare and social justice initiatives.

GPT-4 Skills and Applications

General Writing

GPT-4 is really good at writing for many applications, including well-crafted emails and content. This is a big time savor for people in the business world, especially the perfectionists out there that like to spend hours painstakingly editing. GPT-4 can help you save big amounts of time.

Research Assistance

Its ability to understand and summarize large volumes of text makes it a valuable tool for academic and market research.

I’ve actually used ChatGPT with GPT-4 for this exact purpose — high level market analysis and aggregation of data.

The tool did a great of aggregating, analyzing, and generating forward looking insights from the data. This is an area where I would contrast between the two:

I like Claude for data analysis of actuals and known data without hallucinating.

I like GPT-4 for the creativity it has in evaluating large amounts of data and generating forward looking insights.

Multimodal Capabilities and Plugins

The model’s multimodal capabilities allow it to interpret and analyze images, which can be useful in fields like healthcare for medical imaging.

On top of that, OpenAI has done an incredible job of inspiring and supporting the plugin ecosystem, which is building a really important middle layer on top of GPT-4 that is creating thousands of new use cases.

This is arguably the biggest benefit of ChatGPT vs. other formidable models — you can pretty much find a plugin for every task you want to complete at this point.

Chatbots and Customer Service

GPT-4’s conversational abilities make it ideal for powering chatbots that provide customer support, offering a more human-like interaction.

This, of course, will be a massive use case in the months and years to come.

The Final Verdict: Which Model is Better?

When it comes to Claude 2 and GPT-4, choosing a winner hard.

Both models bring unique strengths to the table. Claude 2 shines with its focus on large contexts and ethical considerations, while GPT-4 impresses with its versatility and multimodal capabilities.

But what’s clear is that both models are bringing immense change to the AI landscape. Both are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with LLMs and generative AI tech.

So, whether you’re a leader, investor, developer, or simply someone curious about the future of technology, both Claude 2 and GPT-4 offer exciting possibilities.

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Rob Young
The Neuralist

AI and ML enthusiast | Striving to be an unbiased thought leader | Global Tech Product Leader and Strategist