DALL•E-generated art from the prompt, “The FIFA World Cup trophy being held aloft by Lionel Messi, who is wearing his home Argentina jersey, and a gold crown inscribed with ‘G.O.A.T’ surrounded by past soccer greats who are wearing their own countries’ jerseys.”
I don’t usually post these on weekends, but, as you may know, tomorrow is the World Cup Final, and I can’t stop thinking about it. As I mentioned yesterday, I look forward to it more than most any other day of the year. Probably because, like Leap Day, it only comes around every four years.
But tonight, I want to revisit a point I made last night, specifically that Lionel Messi is a better footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo. Since it’s the weekend, however, I didn’t want to do any actual research to back up my claims the evening before Messi’s legacy could actually be cemented in Qatar. Instead, I left it up to artificial intelligence, namely ChatGPT.
So without further ado, here’s how the AI tool responded to my prompt, “Explain why Lionel Messi is a better footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo in 300 words, using as many stats and facts as possible, please.”:
It’s difficult to definitively say that one player is better than another, as people have different opinions on what constitutes good or great performance in football. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are considered among the greatest footballers of all time, and both have had impressive careers and achieved numerous accolades.
That said, here are some stats and facts that may help illustrate why some people believe Messi to be the better footballer:
• Messi has won the Ballon d’Or (awarded to the best male footballer in the world) a record six times, while Ronaldo has won it five times. • Messi has won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award three times, while Ronaldo has won it twice. • Messi has scored more goals and provided more assists in both domestic league play and international club competitions than Ronaldo. For example, in La Liga (Spain’s top division), Messi has scored 467 goals in 543 appearances, while Ronaldo has scored 311 goals in 292 appearances. In the UEFA Champions League (Europe’s top club competition), Messi has scored 115 goals in 142 appearances, while Ronaldo has scored 136 goals in 170 appearances. • Messi has a higher goal-to-game ratio than Ronaldo in both domestic league play and international club competitions. This means that he has scored more goals per game on average than Ronaldo. • Messi has won more domestic league titles than Ronaldo. In La Liga, Messi has won 10 titles with Barcelona, while Ronaldo has won 2 with Real Madrid. • Messi has won more club-level international titles than Ronaldo. He has won the UEFA Champions League four times with Barcelona, while Ronaldo has won it three times, twice with Manchester United and once with Real Madrid. • Messi has won more individual awards and accolades than Ronaldo. In addition to the Ballon d’Or and the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, he has won numerous other awards such as the Golden Foot, the Golden Shoe (awarded to the top scorer in European league play), and the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (awarded to the best player at the FIFA World Cup).
Again, it’s important to note that these stats and facts are just some of the many that can be used to compare the two players, and they don’t necessarily prove that Messi is definitively a better footballer than Ronaldo. Ultimately, opinions on this matter will vary.
Full On (Reprise)
17 December 2022
DALL•E-generated art from the prompt, “The FIFA World Cup trophy being held aloft by Lionel Messi, who is wearing his home Argentina jersey, and a gold crown inscribed with ‘G.O.A.T’ surrounded by past soccer greats who are wearing their own countries’ jerseys.”
I don’t usually post these on weekends, but, as you may know, tomorrow is the World Cup Final, and I can’t stop thinking about it. As I mentioned yesterday, I look forward to it more than most any other day of the year. Probably because, like Leap Day, it only comes around every four years.
But tonight, I want to revisit a point I made last night, specifically that Lionel Messi is a better footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo. Since it’s the weekend, however, I didn’t want to do any actual research to back up my claims the evening before Messi’s legacy could actually be cemented in Qatar. Instead, I left it up to artificial intelligence, namely ChatGPT.
So without further ado, here’s how the AI tool responded to my prompt, “Explain why Lionel Messi is a better footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo in 300 words, using as many stats and facts as possible, please.”:
It’s difficult to definitively say that one player is better than another, as people have different opinions on what constitutes good or great performance in football. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are considered among the greatest footballers of all time, and both have had impressive careers and achieved numerous accolades.
That said, here are some stats and facts that may help illustrate why some people believe Messi to be the better footballer:
• Messi has won the Ballon d’Or (awarded to the best male footballer in the world) a record six times, while Ronaldo has won it five times.
• Messi has won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award three times, while Ronaldo has won it twice.
• Messi has scored more goals and provided more assists in both domestic league play and international club competitions than Ronaldo. For example, in La Liga (Spain’s top division), Messi has scored 467 goals in 543 appearances, while Ronaldo has scored 311 goals in 292 appearances. In the UEFA Champions League (Europe’s top club competition), Messi has scored 115 goals in 142 appearances, while Ronaldo has scored 136 goals in 170 appearances.
• Messi has a higher goal-to-game ratio than Ronaldo in both domestic league play and international club competitions. This means that he has scored more goals per game on average than Ronaldo.
• Messi has won more domestic league titles than Ronaldo. In La Liga, Messi has won 10 titles with Barcelona, while Ronaldo has won 2 with Real Madrid.
• Messi has won more club-level international titles than Ronaldo. He has won the UEFA Champions League four times with Barcelona, while Ronaldo has won it three times, twice with Manchester United and once with Real Madrid.
• Messi has won more individual awards and accolades than Ronaldo. In addition to the Ballon d’Or and the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, he has won numerous other awards such as the Golden Foot, the Golden Shoe (awarded to the top scorer in European league play), and the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (awarded to the best player at the FIFA World Cup).
Again, it’s important to note that these stats and facts are just some of the many that can be used to compare the two players, and they don’t necessarily prove that Messi is definitively a better footballer than Ronaldo. Ultimately, opinions on this matter will vary.
What a time to be alive.
See you tomorrow?