If you pay attention to the tech or social media world, you must have heard about ChatGPT. It is the talk of the town on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and even the hot topic in your daily news dose. This buzzword is so popular that it has become a prominent part of the water cooler conversation among professionals.
And why wouldn’t it be?
After all, it's a game-changer for professionals, students, and regular folks alike, making their lives simpler.
Now, you might wonder, 'What is ChatGPT? How can it help me? Who is the genius behind it? And How does it work?
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an online tool that does human-like text-based conversations with its users, giving them answers, explanations, and various text-based tasks like composing emails, essays, articles, and codes. You can also use ChatGPT as a virtual assistant, language translator, and more. ChatGPT takes all these tasks and gives the required output in a conversation format like a chatbot. Thus, interacting with ChatGPT feels like talking to a chatbot. You can type your inquiry, and GPT will give you a suitable answer.
What is the Full Form of ChatGPT?
The full form of ChatGPT is Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. It is named so because it is a generative AI model pre-trained on large data sets and generates novel human-like text output. Many other GPTs exist based on the same model, like Einstein GPT (Customer relationship management) and Bloomberg GPT (Finance).
Who Created ChatGPT & Why?
OpenAI, a San Francisco-based AI research company, created ChatGPT. It was founded in 2015 by prominent tech personalities like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Ilya Suteskever, Jessica Livingston, Gref Brockman, John Schulman, Pamela Vagata, Trevor Blackwell, Vicki Cheung, Andrej Karpathy, Durk Kingma, and Wojciech Zaremba. This team is a balanced amalgamation of tech entrepreneurs, machine learning experts, and the best software engineers. It is important to note that Elon Musk is no longer involved with Open AI due to a conflict of interest. He said Open AI was falling behind Google and wanted it to become a part of Tesla (One venture of Elon Musk). When other Open AI team members rejected this idea, Musk parted ways with it. Then, Sam Altman became the president of Open AI, and Musk began to create a rival AI team for Tesla.
Tech giant Microsoft also invested $1 billion in Open AI in 2019 and then $10 billion in 2023. This investment ensured that Azure (the cloud platform of Microsoft) would be the only cloud provider for Open AI. It also involves Microsoft being allowed to deploy GPT models across its existing and new products. However, it does not mean that Microsoft owns Open AI. Neither Microsoft nor another involved entrepreneur in OpenAI, like Elon Musk, owns OpenAI.
OpenAI works to develop a safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence that outperforms humans at the most economically valuable work to benefit humanity. It initially launched as a nonprofit organization but later became a “capped profit” company in 2019. Being a capped profit company means OpenAI delivers returns 100x returns on the investment of its investors.
Open AI launched ChatGPT because the AI company wants users’ feedback to learn about the weaknesses and strengths of its developed technology.
How to Use ChatGPT?
Follow these steps to use ChatGPT:
- Visit chat.openai.com.
- Select the “Sign up” option.
- Create an account.
- Verify your email address by clicking the verification link sent to it.
- Once the verification completes successfully, log in with the correct credentials.
- Enter your basic information like Name, DOB, and Mobile number.
Once you log in successfully, you can start asking questions right away. No maximum limit exists to the number of questions you can ask from GPT.
What Are the Uses of ChatGPT?
The uses of ChatGPT are endless, depending on the instructions or prompts you give it. Some popular uses of this AI tool that people have figured out are:
Write Essays, Articles, Blogs, and Reports
Since ChatGPT uses text to converse with its users, you can ask it to help you type long-form content like essays, reports, blogs, and articles. You can ask it to give you ideas, outlines, and enhancement remarks for your writing assignment or task. You can also take its help to enhance your written sample. If you want general feedback on your writing tasks, you can do that too through ChatGPT.
You only have to feed it your requirement through a text prompt.
For example, if you want essay ideas for school, enter “Give essay ideas for a school project”, and GPT will give you a well-curated list of essay ideas to choose from. It is important to note that the more details you provide for your requirement, ChatGPT will likely provide more accurate results.
PROMPT
RESULT
Develop New Codes and Find Flaws in Existing Ones
If you believe ChatGPT is exclusively for non-technical assistance, you're in for a pleasant surprise. ChatGPT is also a valuable resource for technical professionals, thanks to its remarkable efficiency in aiding with code writing. Humans are susceptible to making intricate errors, resulting in code defects and bugs. In contrast, AI excels in precision and can consistently produce error-free code, ensuring higher quality.
Chat GPT also helps programmers save time and effort by generating codes for simple functions, giving programmers time to work on complex parts. You can specify your programming language and other details about your project to get a suitable output.
Chat GPT and other AI tools sometimes generate useless outputs by being lost in your prompts. But there is still a good chance that it can give you precisely what you need, making it worth a try. If you are learning to code, then also Chat GPT can help you as a virtual tutor.
Let’s take an example to understand it better.
Assume that you need a code for a Python function that can calculate the average of a list of numbers. Then, enter the prompt “Give a code for a Python function that can calculate the average of a list of numbers”. Chat GPT will give you the required code within seconds. It will also let you copy the code to your clipboard.
PROMPT
RESULT
You can utilize Chat GPT to debug your existing code. For instance, send your code for bug detection and correction. Suppose you have crafted an HTML code that is not functioning correctly and are struggling to pinpoint the error. In such a scenario, you can send it to Chat GPT, asking for assistance in identifying and rectifying the issue.
PROMPT
RESULT
You can also turn to Chat GPT for other code-related tasks, such as code refactoring, code completion, and even generating code documentation. However, it's important to note that while it excels with straightforward code and instructions, it may not consistently provide precise solutions for complex coding issues. Therefore, always verify the results from GPT by double-checking its output.
Build a Resume and Cover Letter
While switching jobs or searching for your first job, creating a good resume and cover letter can be an arduous task for many. ChatGPT can help you with it by summing up all your professional experience and skills as per the job to create a resume that instantly impresses the recruiters.
Here’s a simple example.
Imagine you are a Graphic Designer aspiring to secure a Designer position at a company, let's call it "Company A," actively recruiting for graphic designers. Your first step could be to visit Company A's LinkedIn post, where they have shared the job description for the role. Once you familiarize yourself with the job requirements, it's time to engage with Chat GPT. Share your design experience, skills, and qualifications in the context of the copied job description, allowing Chat GPT to craft a compelling resume that aligns perfectly with the job's requirements. This approach will significantly enhance your chances of making a favourable impression during the application process.
PROMPT
RESULT
NOTE: Although ChatGPT gives content you can readily copy-paste, you should always recheck the text and personalize it as per your needs to ensure it looks like something other than robot-written content.
Just like the above examples, you can use ChatGPT for many other purposes:
- Crafting corporate emails
- Translating content from one language to another
- Enhancing an already written content
- Creating social media captions
- Brainstorming new ideas
- Obtaining certain historical or factual information
- Writing poems or rhymes
- Finding excel formulas
- Learning new skills
All you need to do is feed this generative AI a clear and detailed prompt, and it will give you a suitable output. Remember that the sky's the limit when it comes to the use cases of Chat GPT. People have been figuring out new use cases for this AI tool every day. So, do not limit yourself while using it in daily life.
Impressive, right?
But does your curious mind wonder how ChatGPT can do all these tasks that were never possible before for an AI tool?
Then, let’s find out.
How Does ChatGPT Work?
ChatGPT works through a Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model. This model trains from a large amount of information from various sources like websites, books, research, podcasts, news, and more. It uses this data to learn about languages, grammar, sentence structure, and meanings that further help it understand the user queries and generate appropriate responses.
The “P” in the Chat GPT name is “pre-trained, " meaning GPT is pre-trained with some ground rules and fed extensive unlabeled data. Then, it was left without supervision to develop its understanding of the data comprehension. To ensure that the unsupervised learning of the chatbot does not go in vain, its developers have “fine-tuned” it, meaning they made a small adjustment in its learning model to achieve the desired results from Chat GPT. To get human-like conversational answers to its users, the Open AI team uses the Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) approach in this fine-tuning.
To further enhance its performance, Chat GPT developers used a transformer model (T in GPT represents Transformer). This model allows a parallelized computation in Chat GPT to reduce the time that goes into its training. The transformer model also ensures that the AI reads every word in a sentence at once and compares these words to each other. It differs from other AI models that read text from left to right.
Does GPT Undergo Updates?
GPT has undergone multiple upgrades, named in the “GPT-n” series. Let’s know about them in detail.
GPT-1
This model came into existence in June 2018 as the first iteration of the GPT series by Open AI. It could converse fluently with the users when answering a query or prompt. A group of two datasets trained this model. One of these datasets is “Common Crawl”, a dataset of webpages with billions of words. Another dataset is “BookCorpus”, a collection of over 11,000 books on different genres. The combination of these datasets allowed GPT-1 to develop strong communication abilities. While it showed an improved AI model to the world, it had certain limitations. One of these limitations of GPT-1 was to generate repetitive text when it received prompts requiring data from outside its training data. Its fluency was also limited to short-form texts.
To get rid of these limitations came GPT-2.
GPT 2
OpenAI released GPT-2 in 2019 as the better and improved version of GPT-1. GPT-2 was trained on a much larger and more diverse dataset. It was efficient to generate a logical and realistic sequence of texts. Moreover, it was better at generating human-like text, making it more suitable for written content creation. However, it still lacked some features. For example, it was inefficient to respond to complex reasoning tasks. It was also still not capable of main coherency in the longer passages.
GPT-3
The GPT model took a giant leap forward with the launch of GPT-3 in 2020. It was over 100 times bigger than GPT-1 and over 10 times bigger than GPT-2. Its datasets contained nearly a trillion words, making GPT-3 capable of responding better to different prompts and producing more natural-sounding texts than its predecessors. It made it an efficient tech for chatbots, language translation, and other types of content creation. With the launch of GPT-3, the world started to acknowledge the groundbreaking tech of AI. Chat GPT also originally interacted with GPT-3, making the world realize overnight how impactful this tech is.
However, GPT-3 still had flaws. It returned biased and even inaccurate responses. It occurred because the data used to train GPT-3 contained biased and inaccurate information. This model also sometimes generated irrelevant outputs of some prompts, showing that it still needs work and betterment. These powerful capabilities also began to stir ethical issues over the possibility of its misuse.
To cater to these issues, OpenAI released GPT-3.5 and GPT-4. At the time of writing, the free version of ChatGPT works on the GPT-3.5 model, while the paid one uses GPT-4.
GPT-3.5
It is an advanced version of the GPT-3 model. One key feature of GPT-3.5 is its ability to learn from large data. It was fed over 570 GB of text data to make it one of the largest language models ever. This model proved efficient in understanding the complex nuisance present in human communication.
GPT 4
GPT-4 is the latest version of the GPT series, released on March 14, 2023. It is available to the public via the paid model of Chat GPT, called Chat GPT Plus. It uses the data received by the public and third-party providers to give an improved performance. One interesting feature of GPT-4 is that it is said to take images as input, but this feature has been made publicly available yet.
How Does ChatGPT Make Money?
Let’s accept it. Cash is the king. Regardless of the field of a business, what matters the most is making money, and ChatGPT is no exception. It also generates money in the following ways:
Through the Subscription Model
Along with the free version, ChatGPT also offers paid subscription versions. These paid versions give owners access to a larger language model with more advanced capabilities. It includes access to GPT-4, the most capable language model developed by OpenAI so far. If someone buys the paid subscription plans of ChatGPT, they also get faster response speed and access to advanced features like browsing, plugins, and advanced data analysis.
The first paid subscription plan of ChatGPT costs $20/month. Those who opt for this plan get GPT-4, Advanced data analysis, access to plugins, and early access to the beta features offered by ChatGPT.
Apart from this paid subscription, Chat GPT also offers an enterprise plan for business enterprises. This plan provides high-speed GPT-4 access, a dedicated admin console, API credits to let enterprises build their solutions, and many more. The pricing of this plan is not available to the public. Enterprises can contact Open AI to get the pricing data.
Through Providing API Services to Businesses
Another way of Chat GPT to make money is through offering its API services to businesses. Companies that want to integrate Chat GPT’s language model into their products can pay a fee. Many established businesses like Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce use ChatGPT’s API to improve customer experience, increase productivity, and automate tasks.
These are the main ways through which Chat GPT makes a killing. However, various sources state that it sells training datasets and offers language processing consultancy services to earn cash.
Does ChatGPT Have an App?
Yes, ChatGPT has an app. You can download it from the Play Store for Android or Apple Store for iPhone. However, be cautious while downloading the app, as many fake apps have similar names and logos. Download only the right app developed by Open AI.
What Are the Limitations of ChatGPT?
Here are some critical limitations of ChatGPT:
- Chat GPT is still in its evolving stage and hence makes mistakes. Thus, it is critical to double-check the output given by Chat GPT before going forward with it.
- Since the outputs given by Chat GPT largely depend on the data it used to be trained, and this data is often biased, the outputs by Chat GPT also reflect this bias.
- Even though Chat GPT gives human-like responses, it still lacks human-like common sense and background knowledge. Thus, it sometimes provides nonsensical responses to specific questions.
- Chat GPT is an AI tool, but it lacks a human's emotional intelligence. Thus, it could be more efficient in detecting emotional clues and giving the right advice in complex sentimental situations.
- Many users of Chat GPT reportedly complain of getting lengthy and wordy outputs. Due to its large datasets, Chat GPT tends to give overly explained answers that may frustrate many users.
- Chat GPT does not work on real-time data. It has updates and knowledge only till September 21. Thus, if you want to obtain some research about recent events, Chat GPT is unable to do that.
- Chat GPT is also unable to handle multiple tasks at the same time. If you feed it one query, you have to wait till it answers the query before you ask it another query.
What is the Difference between ChatGPT and Open AI?
In Gen Z terms, ChatGPT is the art, and Open AI is the artist.
Open AI is the organization that developed and maintains the GPT series of language models, including ChatGPT. In other words, ChatGPT is a product developed by Open AI as a company.
Why is ChatGPT Not Working?
If your ChatGPT is not working as it should be, it can be due to the following reasons:
High Traffic
If many people try to access ChatGPT simultaneously, it may stop giving outputs to you temporarily.
SOLUTION
- Wait till the network traffic reduces for ChatGPT.
- If it is urgent, you can buy the paid plan of ChatGPT, which prioritizes those who buy the paid subscription plan.
Corrupt Cache or Cookies
If your server has a corrupt cache or cookies, then ChatGPT can stop working. If you see ‘error code 1020’, it should be due to the corrupt cookies on your device.
SOLUTION
Go to chat.openai.com and tap the “padlock” icon in the address bar. Then click on the “Site Settings” option and then click “Clear data” present beside “cookies”. Lastly, click on the “clear” tab to confirm the step.
Poor Internet Connection
A bad internet connection can also be the reason for ChatGPT to not function on your device.
SOLUTION
Switch to a stable and strong internet connection.
Misconfigured VPNs
Sometimes, using a misconfigured VPN setting can also make your ChatGPT malfunction. It usually shows error 1020.
SOLUTION
Go to the “Extensions'' icon in the right corner of your browser. Open the “manage extensions'' option and uninstall the disfigured VPNs that might be causing the problem. Then go back to your ChatGPT web page and perform a hard page reload by pressing Ctrl + Shift + R.
Why Are Some People Against ChatGPT?
Every coin has two sides, and so does ChatGPT.
While many people are impressed with its abilities, others are questioning it due to the following concerns:
Privacy Concerns
ChatGPT saves user data, including account-level information and conversation history. This data includes your personal information like your IP address, location, email address, divide details, and any specific detail you use in your ChatGPT prompts. Open AI uses this data to help the ChatGPT model become better at its job. However, it is unsafe for companies and organizations as their employees may unknowingly send confidential information to ChatGPT prompts. It can put their confidentiality and security at risk. Due to this reason, many organizations have banned their employees from using this AI tool.
Job Concerns
ChatGPT is giving many job professionals nightmares with its advanced abilities to automate tasks usually done by them. For example, with Chat GPT plugins, many websites have automated customer support by replacing human customer support executives with AI-powered chatbots. Not just customer support but many writing professionals, online tutors, coders, and even project managers have shared experiences of being replaced from their jobs due to AI tools. Many people think it is just the beginning, and soon, millions of human jobs will be replaced by AI. This fear of professionals is not baseless. A few months ago, Goldman Sachs reported that AI could replace almost 300 million full-time jobs in the coming years.
Environmental Concerns
The data centres that operate the AI models are infamous for their power-hungry nature. It induces a substantial amount of carbon footprint harmful to the environment. On an estimation, ChatGPT emits 8.4 tons of CO2 per year, which is more than twice the amount generated by an individual (4 tons/year). Not just the carbon footprint but the water footprint of ChatGPT is also highly concerning. A study published by the University of California, Riverside, reveals that Microsoft used approximately 7,00,000 litres of fresh water during training GPT 3 in its data centres. This water was used to keep the machinery temperature under control when released energy converted into heat and raised the temperature. But this doesn’t end here, a simple conversation of 20-50 questions with ChatGPT also consumes 500 ml of fresh water. With this scale, the total water footprint of ChatGPT is substantially high and alarming for the planet. And let’s not forget the record-breaking rise in the popularity of ChatGPT, which will further increase the negative impact of this AI tool on the environment and natural resources.>
FAQs Related to ChatGPT
Can I use ChatGPT without logging in?
No, you can not use ChatGPT without login. Open AI requires you to make an account on its platform first and then log into that account. You need to log in to use it. However, you can use other alternatives of ChatGPT without logging in.
Is ChatGPT free to use?
Yes, ChatGPT is free to use for everyone. You only need to log into it to start using it. However, it offers a paid version, too, with some additional benefits.
Is there any ChatGPT app?
The ChatGPT app exists and is available on all popular app stores.
Why is ChatGPT dangerous?
ChatGPT is not generally considered dangerous. However, it is associated with severe concerns like security breaches, environmental harm, and taking away people's jobs. Thus, one should be cautious about feeding this AI tool's personal or confidential information.
Is ChatGPT safe?
ChatGPT is designed with safety in mind and follows strict usage guidelines. It is generally safe to use as long as you avoid sharing sensitive or personal information with it. ChatGPT is trained to provide helpful and relevant information in response to user queries, and millions of people use it regularly.
Is ChatGPT banned in India?
No, ChatGPT is not banned in India. You can easily use it through its official website or download its application.
What are ChatGPT plugins?
ChatGPT plugins are third-party applications that make it possible for different parties to interact with the language model of ChatGPT. Different websites often use them to integrate ChatGPT into their websites and programs.
Does Microsoft own ChatGPT?
No, ChatGPT is not owned by Microsoft. Though Microsoft has invested substantially in developing ChatGPT, it has no rights over the AI model and its functionality.
Where is ChatGPT banned?
ChatGPT is banned in over a dozen countries like Syria, South Sudan, Yamen, Afghanistan, North Korea, Yamen, Libya, Eswatini, Eritrea, Russia, China, Cuba, Iran and Italy. However, this stage can change in the upcoming time.
What is ChatGPT for students?
ChatGPT for students is a great tool and assistant to learn new things in a personalized way. If a student gets stuck on some topic, ChatGPT can help that student gain more clarity. It can also help the students to get feedback and improvement recommendations on their assignments. If students want general counseling for their careers, ChatGPT can also prove helpful in that scenario.
What is ChatGPT for teachers?
Chat GPT offers invaluable support to teachers in their mission to simplify intricate subjects for their students. It aids in curriculum planning and teaching strategy development. They can rely on Chat GPT to efficiently manage and access their students' online assignments. Lastly, this AI tool can provide teachers with examples to enhance their explanations of various topics.
Will ChatGPT be free forever?
It is unlikely that ChatGPT will be free forever. The company behind ChatGPT, Open AI, has made ChatGPT free for the public to get feedback and learn about its strengths and weaknesses. Once this research preview is completed, chances are that ChatGPT will be available in paid versions only.
