Bye-bye ChatGPT – Chatbot alternatives

30 min Easy

Illustration eines kreativ angerichteten Reisgerichts, bei dem Linsen und Reiskörner ein stilisiertes Auge formen. Die Anordnung in grün erinnert an das Design aus dem Film ‚Matrix‘ und assoziiert gleichzeitig das Auge des Computers HAL aus ‚2001: Odyssee im Weltraum‘. Im Hintergrund sind frische Salbeiblätter und ein Löffel zu sehen.

This kitchen has a few important ground rules: Two European regulations (the General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR – and the EU AI Act) are also your digital shield. They are responsible for ensuring, among other things, that AI chatbots and systems in Europe must handle your data transparently and (relatively) securely, whereas large U.S.-based models often operate like a ‘black box’. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini or other U.S. providers store chats on U.S. servers by default and often reuse them for AI training. Under the GDPR, this is problematic because there is no adequate legal basis for data transfers to the USA.

If you don’t agree with this and you want more freedom of choice, this recipe is right for you. Because European alternatives and local solutions offer an environment where you at least play a role in determining the rules.

Different ways to cook

Our digital switch recipes provide an easy, simple way to give Big Tech the push, but there are other options available. We have tried to make it easy by focusing on a single approach and a small number of options, but there are other alternatives that are just as good. After all, what we mean by ‘good’, ‘not so good’ and ‘bad’ is open to debate: DI.DAY is about easy ways to give Big Tech the push (without getting into purism or being preachy). Our decisions are based on advice from our advisory panel.

An overview of the alternatives is available on the next page:

Alternatives to Big Tech

Ingredients

1 landmark decision

Do you need a chatbot that needs significantly more energy than a web search for your question or problem (our search engines recipe) or a Wikipedia article?

1 revelation

Many chatbots, including those in Europe, only exist because the copyright of authors, artists and, ultimately, all internet users has been seriously violated in their training process.

1 consideration

Do you still want to use a chatbot because it’s maybe the best way to solve your problem?

1 pinch of passion and curiosity

for discovering new chatbots.

Preparation

Just give it a try!

You don’t have to install anything. Why not try one of these European chatbots by simply clicking on the link the next time you do some research or draft a text:

Mistral AI LeChat

It's from France and almost feels like ChatGPT. The difference? Its data processing complies with European standards. It’s a good way to get a feel for “AI made in Europe”. However, as far as we know, copyright was also infringed during the training of Mistral.

Ecosia AI Chat

currently uses Mistral's AI models. Ecosia is based in Berlin and is therefore subject to European data protection standards (GDPR). According to its own statement, Ecosia feeds more renewable electricity into the grid than its searches consume.

Lumo

From the creators of Proton (see also recipes for Email and Cloud) in Switzerland. Describes itself as a “privacy-focused ChatGPT alternative” with all the familiar AI features. According to its own statements, it guarantees that user data is not read, stored, or used for AI training or advertising. It’s criticised that many details of the model remain unclear (including here).

Apertus

is an independent, open language model developed, among others, by researchers from Switzerland. Apertus runs on Amazon servers in Switzerland – according to the providers “almost as if we were running the whole thing on a computer in our basement.” On the Public AI network, the chatbot can be used free of charge after registration (unfortunately via Google, amongst others).

DeepL

It’s a good option if you need help with wording or translating. DeepL doesn’t just correct your text; it also suggests improvements to your style – straight from Cologne. So European data protection laws apply here too, but: in the free version, your input is used to train the AI.

DeutschlandGPT

uses U.S. AI models (such as Claude) and is therefore also subject to Big Tech regulations, but processes your requests in a (more) privacy-friendly way on predominantly German (mostly Telekom) servers. It is said to run exclusively on green electricity.

Dessert

Something like an AI camping kitchen for when you’re out and about: Your dessert is local, the AI runs directly on your computer. Internet is not necessary, no data transfer to third parties – and significantly lower energy consumption.

Download LM Studio or Ollama – these are programs that work like an “app store” for AI models. They are free and open source.
Select the model: Look for a small, efficient model such as Mistral-7B and download it. It also runs relatively smoothly on standard laptops. You also find more models at HuggingFace.
The first test: Disconnect from the internet and ask the chatbot a question. It’s a magical moment when your own computer suddenly “thinks” without a single cable attached.

Enjoy your meal! You have just taken a big step towards a more independent digital existence.

Once you #DIDit – share our post about the digital switch and inspire others to take control of their own digital lives!

Topping

A portal provided by the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung (GWDG / Society for Scientific Data Processing) primarily for the academic sector, is freely available. Via chat-ai.academiccloud.de users can access several chatbots, most of which are hosted in Germany itself. To use the service, users have to register (for free) for the Academic Cloud.

The German school chatbot Telli stores chat histories locally on European servers, but uses (and pays for) U.S.-based models: Requests are encrypted and results are only made accessible to the users themselves – not even school authorities have access. Registration is pseudo-anonymised to prevent traceability.

Clever developers are working on the grassroots AI offgpt.org – they are looking for further support for their organisation.

Businesses can also purchase and use larger open-source models from the IONOS cloud: cloud.ionos.de/managed/ai-model-hub

Tutorials on how to use LeChat can be found here, among other places: a LeChat video course, a critical analysis of Mistral, a look at other chatbots, and an AI course in book form.

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