AI or electricity? I asked 3 chatbots which invention is bigger — and they didn’t agree

There are a few questions that will instantly start a debate at a dinner party: Who’s the best Batman? Is a hot dog a sandwich? And my personal favorite: What invention actually changed humanity the most?

So I decided to hand the argument to three chatbots — ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude — and give them the same set of prompts, from electricity vs AI to the wheel vs the computer to antibiotics vs AI.

What I didn’t expect was how differently each model “thinks." ChatGPT loved bold, decisive verdicts with punchy analogies. Gemini treated every question like a courtroom case, building a logical dependency chain you could barely argue with. Claude was more of an outlier, the philosopher of the bunch, zooming out and questioning the premise itself.

After nine rounds, a clear winner emerged — and it says a lot about which chatbot is best when you want a clear answer versus a deeper one.

1. Electricity or AI?

Prompt: What invention is more significant and impactful: electricity or AI?

ChatGPT explained the distinction with a vivid platform/app analogy, framing electricity as civilization’s indispensable operating system and AI as its most powerful application — making its “electricity wins (for now)” conclusion clear and memorable.

Gemini structured its response with a detailed comparison table and balanced arguments, portraying electricity as the foundational physical layer and AI as the cognitive revolution.

Claude offered a timeline-based perspective, emphasizing electricity’s proven historical impact while acknowledging AI’s uncertain future potential, though it remained more cautiously neutral rather than declarative.

Winner: ChatGPT wins for its concise, vivid analogy and unequivocal conclusion that was incredibly easy to grasp.

2. Internet or electricity?

Prompt: Which is more foundational to modern society: the internet or electricity?

ChatGPT delivered a decisive argument by framing electricity as the essential foundation and the internet as an important but dependent layer, making its winner-takes-all stance highly effective and memorable.

Gemini provided an analytical response with structured comparisons, identifying electricity as the "base layer" while effectively explaining the internet's role as a critical accelerator and the modern convergence of both technologies.

Claude affirmed electricity as the prerequisite, but stood out by powerfully arguing that the disruptive impact of losing the internet today is massive, making the gap between the two technologies "surprisingly small."

Clear winner: Gemini wins for the most comprehensive analysis that methodically breaks down the dependency hierarchy, while explaining the roles of each technology and providing the deepest understanding of the relationship.

3.  Printing press or smartphone?

Prompt: Which invention has had a more profound impact on human life: the printing press or the smartphone?

ChatGPT offered a clear verdict and expertly contrasted the inventions by calling one the creator of a "shared brain" and the other the tool that put it "in your hand."

Gemini provided the most thorough breakdown, framing the printing press as the "architect" and the smartphone as the "apex" and delivered a knockout argument by stating the smartphone "cannot exist without the printing press."

Claude awarded the win to the printing press based on 500 years of observable consequences but adds crucial depth by arguing the smartphone's "impact-per-year might actually be higher."

Winner: Gemini wins for the most complete and logically sound answer. While all three reached the same conclusion, Gemini's response was superior because it didn't just state a preference; it built an irrefutable case by analyzing the inventions on structural, psychological and dependency levels, leading to the main point that the smartphone is the "fruit of the tree that the printing press planted."

4. Wheel or computer?

Prompt: What invention was more transformative for its time: the wheel or the computer?

ChatGPT offered a clear verdict favoring the wheel, using strong analogies like turning civilization from "local" to "expandable" and framing the computer as the "wheel of the mind."

Gemini delivered the most structurally sound argument, decisively awarding the win to the wheel by framing it as the "hardware of civilization" and a "Zero to One" invention, while calling the computer an accelerant or a "One to N" invention.

Claude provided the most thought-provoking and counter-intuitive analysis, arguing that the computer was more transformative because it created "entirely new categories of human capability" and changed the world unrecognizably within decades, unlike the wheel's slower, efficiency-focused impact over millennia.

Winner: Gemini wins for methodically dismantling the debate on logical grounds. By establishing the wheel as the absolute, irreplaceable foundation for all mechanical advancement and civilization itself, it presented an argument that is very difficult to refute, making its conclusion the most convincing.

5. Antibiotics or AI?

Prompt: Would a future without antibiotics or a future without AI be more challenging for humanity?

ChatGPT delivered a direct argument that a future without antibiotics is categorically worse, making its case with stark "life survivable" vs. "life easier" comparisons that were highly effective at communicating the severity.

Gemini provided a logically sound breakdown. It framed the crisis as "biological survival vs. technological efficiency," and included a crucial comparison of timelines (regressing to the 1920s vs. the 1990s), and added the insight that we may need AI to save antibiotics, showing the deepest understanding of the complex relationship.

Claude offered a balanced perspective, separating the immediate, certain catastrophe of losing antibiotics from the future and potential catastrophe of losing AI's long-term benefits.

Winner: Gemini wins for structuring the argument with thorough clarity, providing concrete historical comparisons for the severity of each loss, and crucially identifiing the ironclad logic that a society can survive being slower and poorer but not a collapse of its biological security. Its final point about needing AI to save antibiotics added a critical layer of depth that cemented its analysis as the most complete.

6. Language or mathematics?

Prompt: What is more foundational to human progress: language or mathematics?

ChatGPT famed the debate effectively with analogies like "two lungs" and the "original superpower" that turns individual intelligence into collective intelligence, making its argument persuasive.

Gemini provided a logically structured analysis, firmly establishing language as the "Operating System" and mathematics as the "High-Performance Application" running on it.

Claude offered a deeply philosophical and nuanced take, identifying language as the foundation because "mathematics cannot exist without it." It then tied the debate back to previous questions, comparing language to electricity and mathematics to the internet, adding a brilliant layer of meta-analysis.

Winner: Claude wins for impressive philosophical depth and airtight logical framework. By methodically demonstrating that mathematics itself is a specialized form of language, it presented an argument that is extremely difficult to contest, decisively proving that language is the more foundational element of human progress.

7.  Ideas or technology?

Prompt: Which is a more powerful force in society: a groundbreaking idea or the technology that enables it?

ChatGPT gave a clear, punchy verdict for the idea as well, effectively labeling it "the direction" and technology as "the tool." Its "spark" vs. "gasoline" analogy was supportive, making the symbiotic relationship and the idea's primacy easy to grasp.

Gemini's most compelling point was that technology is a "force multiplier" for ideas, including the potent notion that it "can multiply zero (no idea) and get zero," which proved ideas are the prerequisite.

Claude provided a deeply thoughtful analysis and made a strong, unique case that enabling technology might be slightly more powerful because it creates new "possibility spaces" for ideas we haven't yet conceived, adding significant philosophical depth.

Winner: Claude wins for a stronger perspective on technology. The chatbot challenged the premise in a more profound way by redefining the relationship and arguing that technology doesn't just execute ideas, it generates the conditions for entirely new ones to exist.

8. The wheel or the number zero?

Prompt: If you had to remove one from history, which would have a less catastrophic effect: the wheel or the number zero?

ChatGPT gave a contrary verdict, arguing that removing zero is more catastrophic because it "breaks everything" by crippling modern math and all technology built on it, while society could, albeit painfully, find alternatives to the wheel.

Gemini concluded that removing the wheel would be more catastrophic for basic survival and physical civilization, while losing zero would cap intellectual progress. Its use of the "Inca Exception" to prove civilizations can reach sophistication without wheels was a particularly strong piece of evidence.

Claude provided a thoughtful analysis, ultimately siding with ChatGPT in favor of zero as the more catastrophic loss. It compellingly argued that while civilizations found workarounds for the wheel, there is "no real workaround for zero in mathematics," and that losing it would prevent humanity from escaping "pre-scientific thinking."

Winner: Gemini wins for more effectively balanced and weighed the two types of catastrophe — physical survival vs. intellectual potential. By framing the conclusion as "The body must survive before the mind can wander" and providing concrete historical examples (like the Romans and Incas), it built a better case for its judgment.

9. Steam engine or computer?

Prompt: Which had a greater role in shaping the modern world: the steam engine or the computer?

ChatGPT gave a clear, structured verdict favoring the steam engine for building the world's "physical infrastructure," while crediting the computer as the current "accelerant." Its "machine age vs. digital age" analogy cleanly frames the historical roles of each.

Gemini provided the most comprehensive and logically definitive argument for the steam engine. It made excellent points such as the steam engine caused the single largest shift since agriculture (the "Hockey Stick Effect") and that computers still physically rely on steam turbines to generate their electricity, making the steam engine an ongoing, hidden prerequisite.

Claude delivered a timeline-aware analysis, arguing the steam engine built the foundational "stage" for modernity but acknowledging the computer is rapidly overtaking it. Its key insight that the computer required the steam engine's industrialized world to exist was a powerful point for the steam engine's primacy.

Winner: Gemini wins for the most complete and unassailable case. While all three made strong arguments, Gemini's response was superior because it didn't just compare historical impact — it demonstrated a continuing, physical dependency.

Overall winner: Gemini

After putting these nine invention debates to the test, I didn’t walk away with one universal “right” answer. But I did come away with something way more useful: a clear sense of how each chatbot actually thinks and makes decisions.

Each chatbot gave an answer that made me think even deeper about the inventions and how each one compares. But overall, if you’re looking for the most airtight logic, Gemini came out on top. It consistently broke each question down into the strongest arguments, backed up its reasoning with key context and ultimately earned the crown.

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