I tested ChatGPT Translate vs Google Translate — one was the clear winner

Over the last decade, I’ve hopped into massive airplanes to go on grand expeditions across the globe. I’ve landed in places like Japan and Africa, and I still take pride in setting foot in the kinds of locales I used to only watch on the Travel Channel.

During my stays, I’ve always tried my best to chat with welcoming locals, and it still amazes me how Google Translate can turn my English into clear Japanese or Swahili in seconds.

So when I saw OpenAI launch a standalone translation service called ChatGPT Translate, I had to put it to the test. I pitted it against the long-running king of this tech (Google Translate, obviously) to see which one made my words read and sound better, both in text and out loud. I also tested how well each tool handled translations through images, documents and websites.

The results weren’t exactly shocking, and they made it clear one of these tools still has some catching up to do..

1. Text translation

I’ve messed around with ChatGPT plenty of times by asking it to translate friendly greetings. Now that ChatGPT Translate is officially out in the wild, I wanted to see if it delivers the same useful results.

I booted up the desktop version and kept the theme simple: stay cordial. I asked it to translate: “I hope we can hang out again. I had a good time going out with you” into Spanish.

ChatGPT Translate only took a second or two to turn my English into: “Espero que podamos volver a pasar tiempo juntos. Me lo pasé muy bien saliendo contigo.” And to its credit, it didn’t stop there. It also offered alternate versions depending on the vibe you’re going for.

When I switched the tone to something more business formal, it gave me: “Espero que podamos vernos nuevamente. Disfruté mucho salir con usted.”

The translation popped up after it kicked me back to the main ChatGPT page, where it also explained why it chose certain words to make the sentence sound more polished:

• “vernos nuevamente” conveys “hang out again” in a polite, formal way
• “usted” keeps the tone respectful
• “disfruté mucho” expresses that you had a good time politely

I was impressed with how ChatGPT Translate gave me a clear understanding of how it modified my English-to-Spanish translation to make it come out with a more respectful tone.

The one issue that arose (that gives Google Translate the upper hand) is that ChatGPT Translate only has 50+ languages to communicate with, as opposed to Google’s translation tool offering way more, with 243 languages.

Google Translate keeps it real simple—select your translated language, type in your phrase and it goes to work to produce results in seconds.

Winner: ChatGPT Translate.

At the end of this first experiment, ChatGPT Translate came out on top since it showcases four different methods that can flip whatever you say to make it sound more business formal or easily explainable to a class full of young students.

2. Vocal translation

Even though ChatGPT Translate says it also lets users translate via spoken words, you have to resort to using ChatGPT Voice to tackle that task. Pulling it up on mobile devices works a lot better in that regard, but it pales in comparison to how much easier it is to have your vocal phrases translated through the Google Translate app.

The app has the mic button ready to go as soon as you open it, as opposed to ChatGPT Translate not having that option readily available via mobile or desktop.

I also have to hand it to Google’s translation tool since its “Live Translate” mode easily allows for live conversations to be conducted with your phone in-hand.

Winner: Google Translate.

Google Translate gets the win here since it doesn’t push you to access a partner app to handle your vocal translation.

3. Image, document and website translation

At the time of this writing, ChatGPT doesn’t give you an image or document upload option through its dialogue box, even though it clearly states it can handle either of those assignments.

Not only does Google Translate easily accomplish those tasks, but it also lets its users paste in sites in other languages that can then be translated into the native tongue of their choice.

I used that neat trick to quickly translate Japanese gaming website Famitsu’s front page into English.

Winner: Google Translate.

Once again, Google Translate takes the win as it can translate more than just written expressions and spoken dialogue. Fingers crossed that ChatGPT’s advertised features (that sadly don’t exist yet…) get added in the near future.

Overall winner: Google Translate

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to see that Google Translate reigns supreme over ChatGPT’s new foray into translation software. While ChatGPT Translate’s ability to change your translated sentences according to certain social cues, Google Translate simply offers more languages to tinker with, plus the power to interpret images, documents, and websites in other dialects.

ChatGPT Translate can easily rise above its competitors with a few updates inspired by everything Google Translate has to offer. Your move, Sam Altman.

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