ChatGPT can now access up-to-date information, fixing one of the key issues with the public version of the chatbot.
OpenAI announced this change in a tweet on September 27.
“ChatGPT can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources. It is no longer limited to data before September 2021,” it wrote.
This is enabled by a feature called “browsing”, which OpenAI claims may be particularly useful for those performing “technical research, trying to choose a bike, or planning a vacation”.
It should also help to fix some of the more frustrating ChatGPT issues, where the bot insists something is untrue because of the two-year black hole in its knowledge.
The bad news? Browsing and this up-to-date info recall aren’t available to everyone just yet. Only Plus and Enterprise subscribers can use it right now.
“Browsing is available to Plus and Enterprise users today, and we’ll expand to all users soon. To enable, choose Browse with Bing in the selector under GPT-4,” says OpenAI.
ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month, equivalent to around £16.40 based on today’s exchange rate. Plus also uses a more advanced version of the underlying AI software.
The basic ChatGPT experience uses GPT-3.5. You get GPT-4 with ChatGPT Plus. It makes the chatbot smarter, supports image recognition, and improves the bot’s memory.
New ChatGPT features
On September 25, OpenAI announced ChatGPT’s ability to “see, hear and speak” as a preview of what’s coming next to the chatbot.
The ChatGPT app for Android and iOS already lets you speak to make queries, but the update brings voice synthesis to let the bot talk, rather than just write back.
OpenAI suggests you might use this feature to “speak with it on the go, request a bedtime story for your family, or settle a dinner table debate”.
Image analysis and recognition support is part of the update, too.
On September 25, OpenAI said these new features would roll out to Plus and Enterprise subscribers “in the next two weeks”. However, you’ll already find examples of the bot’s image-analysis skills at work posted on social media.
