Aaron Mok
Tue, May 16, 2023 at 12:41 AM GMT+6
ChatGPT is about to get a whole lot better.
OpenAI, the company behind the chatbot, announced it would roll out new features to ChatGPT-Plus users this week.
Users who pay for ChatGPT Plus, which uses GPT-4, are set to have access to a web-browsing feature that provides up-to-date information.
Web browsing has the potential to be a game changer — particularly in making ChatGPT a promising search engine.
Prior to the update, ChatGPT was limited in what it could answer, as it was only trained on data up until 2021. This made it useless regarding information about current events and real-time developments.
With ChatGPT's web browser, users can ask multiple questions — like who won the Oscars for best actor, soundtrack, and picture this year — and the bot will summarize the answer and news articles it deems relevant in a matter of seconds. A user can prompt a more nuanced answer if it doesn't provide the desired result.
The news comes as users are seemingly increasingly unhappy with Google's search engine. Some users have gone to Reddit to complain about it, saying that Google is "horrible for discovering the internet," has "gotten terrible for nuanced interesting queries," and "returns endless listicles and marketing BS."
A graphic displaying some of ChatGPT's plugins
Some ChatGPT-Plus users are set to have access to plug-ins that can integrate into existing platforms, as shown in this screenshot. OpenAI
ChatGPT-Plus users are also set to have access to more than 70 third-party plug-ins for web services like Expedia, Kayak, and Instacart. With these plug-ins, users can prompt ChatGPT to perform tasks on specific websites.
OpenAI's demonstration of its OpenTable and Instacart plug-ins, for instance, shows a user looking for vegan food in San Francisco. The user asks ChatGPT to suggest "one great restaurant" for Saturday and a "simple recipe" for Sunday. In seconds, the plug-in recommends a restaurant and generates a chickpea-salad recipe, including a list of ready-to-order groceries on Instacart.
ChatGPT's new features have the potential to make the lives of millions of users easier. Before the announcement, users flocked to the chatbot to boost their work productivity, enhance their dating profiles, and get weight-loss tips. With the plug-ins, OpenAI said users would be able to plan summer vacations, find online-shopping deals, and discover new restaurants on existing platforms.
ChatGPT-Plus users can use these features by clicking on their ChatGPT profile, pressing "Settings," and then going to the "Beta features" tab.
The news comes just days after Google announced it would make Bard, its ChatGPT rival, available in 180 countries. The search giant also announced it would launch an AI-powered search engine and integrate generative AI features across its existing workspace tools that could craft emails on Gmail, analyze data on Sheets, and more.
The widespread access to OpenAI's and Google's new AI tools signals that the AI wars are only continuing to heat up as Big Tech companies compete to make the most powerful and user-friendly AI.
Source:
https://shorturl.at/bcpu9
