Tomato Sauce | Thinking AIs
If you’ve ever heard of ChatGPT and shuddered inside then you’ve come to the right place.
There’s a lot of hype out there about all the different AIs out there, but the ones you want to start with are your garden variety tomato sauces. ChatGPT is one, but you’ve got other flavours to reach for such as Claude, Gemini, and Copilot.
They all basically do the same thing, in much the same way as Heinz, MasterFoods, and Rosella all do the same thing. They just taste slightly different.
These AIs are a conversation partner. You can chat to them, tell them your thoughts, ask them a question, think something through with them, or ask for their help.
If you're not sure which one to start with, grab one and try it out. If you don’t like the flavour, onto the next. And remember…
… Tomato sauce goes with almost everything.
What’s on the shelf? Meet the sauces.
ChatGPT
Made by OpenAI
The OG sauce.
This is probably the one you've heard of first and there's a reason for that. ChatGPT kicked off the whole conversation back in 2022 and it's been growing ever since. It's versatile, it's capable, and it gets better all the time. A solid place to start if you haven't already.
Ready to get cooking?
Just open it up and have a go. Ask it something you've been curious about, give it a task, see what comes back. You really can't break it and it won't judge you for asking something basic.
The recipe is free. Go straight to the source.
Claude
Made by Anthropic.
Claude is particularly good at thinking things through with you.
If you've got something complex to work out, a piece of writing to tackle, or you just want a conversation that goes a bit deeper, Claude is worth getting to know. Give it some context about who you are and what you need and it really delivers.
A thinking partner worth getting to know.
Start by telling it a bit about yourself and what you're trying to do. The more context you give it, the better the conversation gets. Think of it like a new friend who's a very fast learner.
Want to know how to use it properly? They'll teach you themselves. For free. Straight from the kitchen at Anthropic.
🔗 Claude 101
Gemini
Made by Google
If you're already living in Gmail, Google Docs or Drive then this one is going to feel very familiar very quickly.
It sits right inside the tools you're already using which means less switching between apps and more actually getting things done.
It's already in your kitchen.
Try asking it to help you draft an email or summarise a document next time you're in Google Docs. It's already there waiting. You might be surprised how much time you save.
Free training, straight from the chef. No experience necessary.
🔗 Google Gemini Learning
Copilot
Made by Microsoft
Microsoft Copilot is built right into the Microsoft products most of us use for work every single day: Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams.
If your workplace runs on Microsoft there's a very good chance Copilot is already sitting quietly in your toolbar waiting to be useful. Worth having a look.
Hiding in plain sight.
Next time you're in Word or Outlook have a look for the Copilot icon. Ask it to help you draft something, summarise an email thread, or clean up a document. It's been there this whole time and most people have no idea.
Pull up a chair. The lesson is free and the sauce is on Microsoft.
🔗 Microsoft Copilot Training
DeepSeek
Made by DeepSeek AI
The one that got everyone's attention in recent years, and not just because of what it could do.
DeepSeek is a capable AI that arrived fast, performed well, and raised a lot of questions in its wake. It's worth knowing about because you'll hear the name, but it's also worth knowing that it's developed in China, which means different data laws, different jurisdiction, and a different set of considerations around what you share with it. That's not a reason to panic. It is a reason to think before you type.
It's also moving quickly. What's true about it today may not be true in six months, so if you're going to use it, go in with your eyes open and your personal details in your pocket.
Worth a look?
If you're curious, have a look. If you're using it for anything sensitive (work stuff, personal details, anything you wouldn't want on a public noticeboard) maybe reach for one of the other sauces instead.
The landscape around DeepSeek is still evolving.
We'll update this as things become clearer.
Before you dive in, there’s a few things worth knowing about all of them.
These AIs are not search engines. They don't go looking things up the way Google does. They generate responses based on everything they've learned, which means they can occasionally be wrong with complete and utter confidence. Always apply your own brain to what comes back.
Remember: You're the chef!!!
And perhaps most importantly, they are only as good as what you ask them. Walk up to the counter and say "I'll have something with chicken" and you'll get something with chicken.
Walk up and give them the full order and you'll get exactly what you wanted. Vague in, vague out.
Not sure how to place a decent order yet?
Head over to Getting Saucy.
It'll have you cooking in no time.
