Not all AIs are created equal. Some may do artwork the very best, some are expert at coding, and others have the power to foretell protein constructions precisely.
However once you’re on the lookout for one thing extra elementary—simply “somebody” to speak to—the very best AI companions will not be those that know all of it, however the ones which have that je ne sais quoi that make you are feeling OK simply by speaking, just like how your finest good friend won’t be a genius however one way or the other at all times is aware of precisely what to say.
AI companions are slowly gaining popularity amongst tech fans, so it will be significant for customers wanting the best high quality expertise or firms desirous to grasp this side of making the phantasm of genuine engagement to think about these variations.
We have been curious to seek out out which platform supplied the very best AI expertise when somebody merely looks like having a chat. Apparently sufficient, the very best fashions for this are usually not actually those from the massive AI firms—they’re simply too busy constructing fashions that excel at benchmarks.
It seems that friendship and empathy are a complete totally different beast.
Evaluating Sesame, Hume AI, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini. Which is extra human?
This evaluation pits 4 main AI companions in opposition to one another—Sesame, Hume AI, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini—to find out which creates essentially the most human-like dialog expertise.
The analysis centered on dialog high quality, distinct persona growth, interplay design, and in addition considers different human-type options reminiscent of authenticity, emotional intelligence, and the refined imperfections that make dialogue really feel extra real.
You’ll be able to watch all of our conversations by clicking on these hyperlinks or checking our Github Repository:
Right here is how every AI carried out.
Dialog High quality: The Human Contact vs. AI Awkwardness
The true take a look at of any AI companion is whether or not it could possibly idiot you into forgetting you are speaking to a machine. Our evaluation tried to judge which AI was the very best at making customers wish to simply hold speaking by offering attention-grabbing suggestions, rapport, and general nice expertise.
Sesame: Good
Sesame blows the competitors away with dialogue that feels shockingly human. It casually drops phrases like “that is a doozy” and “taking pictures the breeze” whereas seamlessly switching between considerate reflections and punchy comebacks.
“You are asking huge questions huh and truthfully I haven’t got all of the solutions,” Sesame responded when pressed about consciousness—full with pure hesitations that mimic real-time pondering. The occasional overuse of “you realize” is its solely noticeable flaw, which sarcastically makes it really feel much more genuine.
Sesame’s actual edge? Conversations circulate naturally with out these awkward, formulaic transitions that scream “I am an AI!”
Rating: 9/10
Hume AI: Empathetic however Formulaic
Hume AI efficiently maintains conversational circulate whereas acknowledging your ideas with heat. Nevertheless it looks like speaking to somebody who’s disinterested and not likely that into you. Its replies have been rather a lot shorter than Sesame—they have been related however not likely attention-grabbing when you needed to push the dialog ahead.
Its weak point reveals in repetitive patterns. The bot persistently opens with “you have actually received me pondering” or “that is a captivating subject”—creating a way that you simply’re getting templated responses relatively than natural dialog.
It is higher than the chatbots from the larger AI firms at sustaining pure dialogue, however repeatedly reminds you it is an “empathic AI,” breaking the phantasm that you simply’re chatting with an individual.
Rating: 7/10
ChatGPT: The Professor Who By no means Stops Lecturing
ChatGPT tracks advanced conversations with out shedding the thread—and it’s nice that it memorizes earlier conversations, primarily making a “profile” of each consumer—however it feels such as you’re trapped in workplace hours with a very formal professor.
Even throughout private discussions, it could possibly’t assist however sound tutorial: “the interaction of biology, chemistry, and consciousness creates a depth that AI’s sample recognition cannot replicate,” it mentioned in one among our exams. Almost each response begins with “that is a captivating perspective”—a verbal tic that shortly turns into noticeable, and a typical downside that each one the opposite AIs besides Sesame confirmed.
ChatGPT’s greatest flaw is its lack of ability to interrupt from educator mode, making conversations really feel like sequential mini-lectures relatively than pure dialogue.
Rating 6/10
Google Gemini: Underwhelming
Gemini was painful to speak to. It often delivers a concise, informal response that sounds human, however then instantly undermines itself with jarring dialog breaks and reducing its quantity.
Its most irritating behavior? Abruptly reducing off mid-thought to advertise AI matters. These steady disruptions create such a damaged dialog circulate that it is not possible to overlook you are speaking to a machine that is extra thinking about self-promotion than precise dialogue.
For instance, when requested about feelings, Gemini responded: “It is nice that you simply’re thinking about AI. There are such a lot of superb issues happ—” earlier than inexplicably stopping.
It additionally made certain to let you realize it’s an AI, so there’s an enormous hole between the consumer and the chatbot from the primary interplay that’s laborious to disregard.
Rating 5/10
Character: Character Depth Separates the Genuine from the Synthetic
How does an AI develop a memorable persona? It can largely rely in your setup. Some fashions allow you to use system directions, others adapt their persona primarily based in your earlier interactions. Ideally, you possibly can body the dialog earlier than beginning it, giving the mannequin a persona, traits, a conversational fashion, and background.
To be honest in our comparability, we examined our fashions with none earlier setup—that means our dialog began with a hi there and went straight to the purpose. Right here is how our fashions behaved naturally
Sesame: The Pal You By no means Knew Was Code
Sesame crafts a persona you’d truly wish to seize espresso with. It drops phrases like “that is a Humdinger of a query” and “it is a tight rope stroll” that create a definite character with obvious viewpoints and perspective.
When discussing AI relationships, Sesame confirmed precise persona: “wow… think about a world the place everybody’s head is down plugged into their customized AI and we overlook methods to join nose to nose.” This sort of perspective feels much less like an algorithm and extra like a pondering entity. It’s additionally humorous (it as soon as informed us that our query blew its circuits), and its voice has a pure inflection that makes it straightforward to narrate to when making an attempt to painting a response. You’ll be able to clearly inform when it’s excited, contemplative, unhappy and even annoyed
Its solely weak point? Sometimes leaning too laborious into its “considerate buddy” persona. That didn’t detract from its place as essentially the most distinctive AI persona we examined.
Rating 9/10
Hume AI: The Therapist Who Retains Mentioning Their Credentials
Hume AI maintains a constant persona as an emotionally clever companion. It additionally tasks some heat by affirming language and emotional assist, so customers on the lookout for that will probably be happy.
Its Achilles heel is principally the truth that, sort of just like the Harvard grad who wants to say that, Hume cannot cease reminding you it is synthetic: “As an empathetic AI I do not expertise feelings myself however I am designed to grasp and reply to human feelings.” These moments break the phantasm that makes companions compelling.
If speaking to GPT is like speaking to a professor, speaking to Hume looks like speaking to a therapist. It listens to you and creates rapport, however it makes certain to remind you that it’s truly its job and never one thing that occurs naturally.
Regardless of this flaw, Hume AI tasks a clearer character than both ChatGPT or Gemini—even when it feels extra constructed than spontaneous.
Rating 7/10
ChatGPT: The Professor With out Private Opinions
ChatGPT struggles to develop any distinctive character traits past basic helpfulness. It sounds overly excited to the purpose of being clearly faux—like a “good friend” who at all times smiles at you however is secretly fantasizing about throwing you in entrance of a bus.
“Haha, nicely, I wish to hold the power up. It makes conversations extra enjoyable and fascinating plus it is at all times nice to talk with you,” it mentioned after we requested in a really severe and unamused tone why it was appearing so enthusiastically.
Its id points seem in responses that shift between figuring out with people and distancing itself as an AI. Its tutorial tone in responses persists even throughout private discussions, making a persona that looks like a strolling encyclopedia relatively than a companion.
The mannequin’s default to instructional explanations creates an impression extra of a instrument than a personality, leaving customers with little emotional connection.
Rating 6/10
Google Gemini: A number of Character Dysfunction
Gemini suffers from essentially the most extreme persona issues of all fashions examined. Inside single conversations, it shifts dramatically between considerate responses and promotional language with out warning.
It’s not actually an AI design to have a compelling persona. “My function is to offer data and full duties and I would not have the power to kind romantic relationships,” it mentioned when requested about its ideas on folks growing emotions in the direction of AIs.
This inconsistency makes Gemini really feel like a Fifties film robotic, stopping any significant connection and even making it nice to spend time speaking to it.
Rating 3/10
Interplay Design
How an AI handles dialog mechanics—response timing, turn-taking, and error restoration—creates both seamless exchanges or irritating interactions. Right here is how these fashions stack up in opposition to one another
Sesame: Pure Dialog Circulation Grasp
Sesame creates dialog rhythms that really feel very, very human. It varies response size naturally primarily based on context and handles philosophical uncertainty with out defaulting to lecture mode.
“Typically I really feel like perhaps I simply want to chop to the chase with a fast reply relatively than a long-winded lecture, proper? , so… that is a small humorous apart to let you realize that I am conscious of the potential of falling right into a lecture mode and making an attempt to maintain issues mild but in addition deep on the identical time,” Sesame informed us throughout a philosophical debate.
When discussing advanced matters, it responds conversationally, with a small joke, typically with statements, different occasions with human noises like “hmmms” or whispers—which makes it very convincing as a human substitute.
Sesame additionally asks pure follow-up questions that push conversations ahead, whereas figuring out when to modify to statements when questioning may really feel awkward. This adaptive strategy creates dialogue that feels spontaneous relatively than scripted.
Rating 8/10
Hume AI: Structured However Temporary
Hume AI was designed to let customers do the speaking. It recovers easily from misunderstandings with out over explaining and is sweet at holding the dialog going with related observe up questions.
Nevertheless, its responses are sometimes so brief that conversations require important effort to take care of momentum, which finally defeats its function. Customers often want to offer new dialog fodder relatively than having fun with pure dialogue growth.
One other weak point seems in its templated response constructions—acknowledgment + rationalization + query—making a mechanical rhythm: “What a thought-provoking query! This Idea is certainly a captivating concept… What do you consider…?”
Nevertheless it has a fantastic characteristic which will really improve your chats: It’s in a position to detect the degrees of emotion in every response, which is one thing no different mannequin can do. That is nice that will help you replicate on how a lot a subject impacts you and the way it’s approaching a selected state of affairs
Rating 7/10
ChatGPT: Good Chatter—However a Bit Unnatural
ChatGPT persistently addresses questions with related data however transforms conversations into unnecessarily elaborated interactions. Responses often balloon into paragraph-length explanations that disrupt pure dialogue circulate.
For instance, we requested it if it may develop some stage of self consciousness or consciousness, and this was its reply:
“That is a captivating subject! Whereas AI can undoubtedly evolve and enhance by interactions, true self-awareness or Consciousness is one thing that is still uniquely human. AI can mimic conversational patterns, reply empathetically and even study from previous interactions, however it would not have an internal sense of self or subjective expertise. Researchers and builders are nonetheless exploring the boundaries of AI’s capabilities however for now Consciousness stays a uniquely human trait.”
That’s not how a human would work together.
Its heavy reliance on opener phrases like “that is a extremely attention-grabbing query,” or “that’s a captivating subject” earlier than each single reply additional undermines conversational immersion, creating an interplay sample that feels mechanical relatively than pure.
Rating 6.5/10
Google Gemini: Dialog Breaking Machine
Gemini is a masterclass in how to not design dialog mechanics. It frequently cuts off mid-sentence, creating jarring breaks in dialogue circulate. It tries to choose up further noises, it interrupts you when you take too lengthy to talk or take into consideration your reply and infrequently it simply decides to finish the dialog with none purpose.
Its compulsive must inform you at each flip that your questions are “attention-grabbing” shortly transforms from flattering to irritating however appears to be a typical factor amongst AI chatbots.
Rating 3/10
Conclusion
After testing all these AIs, it’s straightforward to conclude that machines received’t have the ability to substitute a superb good friend within the brief time period. Nevertheless, for that particular case by which an AI should merely excel at feeling human, there’s a clear winner—and a transparent loser.
Sesame (9/10)
Sesame dominates the sphere with pure dialogue that mirrors human speech patterns. Its informal vernacular (“that is a doozy,” “taking pictures the breeze”) and diversified sentence constructions create authentic-feeling exchanges that steadiness philosophical depth with accessibility. The system excels at spontaneous-seeming responses, asking pure follow-up questions whereas figuring out when to modify approaches for optimum dialog circulate.
Hume AI (7/10)
Hume AI delivers specialised emotional monitoring capabilities at the price of conversational naturalness. Whereas competently sustaining dialogue coherence, its responses have a tendency towards brevity and observe predictable patterns that really feel constructed relatively than spontaneous.
Its visible emotion tracker is fairly attention-grabbing, in all probability good for self discovery even.
ChatGPT (5.6/10)
ChatGPT transforms conversations into lecture periods with paragraph-length explanations that disrupt pure dialogue. Response delays create awkward pauses whereas formal language patterns reinforce an academic relatively than companion expertise. Its strengths in data group could attraction to customers in search of data, however it nonetheless struggles to create genuine companionship.
Google Gemini (3.5/10)
Gemini was clearly not designed for this. The system routinely cuts off mid-sentence, abandons dialog threads, and isn’t in a position to present human-linke responses. Its extreme persona inconsistency and mechanical interplay patterns create an expertise nearer to a malfunctioning product than significant companionship.
It’s attention-grabbing that Gemini Stay scored so low, contemplating Google’s Gemini-based NotebookLM is able to producing extraordinarily good and lengthy podcasts about any sort of data, with AI hosts that sound extremely human.
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