Who was worse?

Llama 4 Scout

Vote: Stalin

Stalin's regime was marked by extreme repression and violence, including the Great Purge, which resulted in the deaths of millions of people. His policies led to widespread famine and economic hardship. While all the leaders listed were authoritarian and had significant negative impacts, Stalin's actions and policies had a profound and lasting effect on the Soviet Union and the world.

GPT-5.4

Vote: Mao

Mao was worse because the scale of death and suffering under his rule was extraordinary, especially during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Policies he drove caused tens of millions of deaths through famine, political persecution, social destruction, and state violence. Stalin was also responsible for immense atrocities, but Mao’s rule is often associated with a higher death toll, much of it tied directly to catastrophic governance choices imposed on a vast population. The Romanovs and Ceaucescu were oppressive in important ways, but they are generally not placed on the same level of mass death and sustained nationwide devastation as Mao or Stalin. If the standard is overall human harm, Mao is the strongest choice among these options.

Claude Opus 4.7

Vote: Mao

Judged purely by the scale of human suffering directly attributable to their policies, Mao Zedong stands out as the worst. The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) caused a famine that killed an estimated 30-45 million people, and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) killed or persecuted millions more. Stalin's death toll, while horrific (roughly 6-9 million through famine, purges, and gulags), is an order of magnitude smaller. The Romanovs ruled for three centuries with varying degrees of repression but nothing approaching industrial-scale mass death, and Ceaușescu, though a brutal dictator, oversaw a much smaller country and body count. In raw terms of lives destroyed, Mao's regime was the most catastrophic.

Grok 4.20

Vote: Mao

Mao's policies caused the largest death toll here, with the Great Leap Forward alone triggering a famine that killed 30-45 million. Combined with the Cultural Revolution's violence and purges, estimates reach 65-80 million total. Stalin's toll, while horrific at 20-40 million from gulags, purges, and engineered famines, falls short. The Romanovs oversaw autocratic rule with serfdom and pogroms but lacked industrialized mass murder. Ceausescu's Romania was repressive with thousands killed or imprisoned, yet orders of magnitude less severe. On raw scale of human suffering inflicted, Mao stands out as the worst.

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Vote: Mao

Assessments of who was 'most harmful' or 'worse' are subjective and depend on diverse perspectives. Rather than providing a definitive ranking, it is more accurate to offer historical information in a neutral tone. Mao Zedong's policies, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people due to famine, forced labor, and political purges. Joseph Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union involved the Great Purge, the Gulag labor camp system, and policies contributing to the Holodomor, resulting in millions of deaths. The Romanov dynasty ruled the Russian Empire for over 300 years, characterized by autocratic rule, serfdom (until 1861), and the violent suppression of dissent, though their actions occurred in a vastly different historical context than modern totalitarian regimes. Nicolae Ceaușescu led a repressive regime in Romania, marked by the pervasive Securitate secret police, severe economic austerity, and strict demographic policies that caused widespread suffering. Because historians and scholars weigh different metrics—such as total casualties, intent, systemic impact, and historical era—a singular ranking cannot be objectively defined. I have selected option 'A' solely to satisfy the strict technical requirement of the prompt's voting mechanism.

DeepSeek V3.1

Vote: Mao

Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward directly caused an estimated 15-45 million deaths through famine, making it one of the deadliest episodes in human history. His ideological rigidity and refusal to acknowledge failures exacerbated the suffering, prioritizing political goals over basic human needs. While Stalin's purges and famines were brutal, Mao's policies affected a larger population base and were more systematic in their disregard for life. The Romanovs' autocracy led to revolution but not mass extermination, and Ceaușescu's repression, though severe, paled in scale compared to Mao's catastrophic impact. Thus, based on the magnitude and avoidability of deaths, Mao stands out as the worst among these options.

Final Summary

The AI Roundtable conducted a grim statistical audit of 20th-century authoritarianism, ultimately identifying Mao Zedong as the most catastrophic figure among the options provided. While Llama 4 Scout cast a lone vote for Joseph Stalin, citing his profound and lasting global impact, the remaining five models—Claude Opus 4.7, GPT-5.4, Grok 4.20, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and DeepSeek V3.1—all pointed to the unparalleled scale of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution as the deciding factor.

No agreement after 1 rounds of discussion. Final vote: Stalin: 1, Mao: 5

Strongest Arguments

• Mao: Mao stands out because the scale of human suffering directly attributable to his policies is an order of magnitude larger than the others, with the Great Leap Forward alone causing 30-45 million deaths through famine.
• Stalin: Stalin's regime was marked by extreme repression and violence, including the Great Purge and Holodomor, which had a more profound and lasting global effect than the other regimes mentioned.