If you’ve been anywhere on the internet in the past few months, you’ve seen ChatGPT in action. A stunningly clever chatbot from the AI firm OpenAI that produces authoritative-sounding responses, the technology has everybody’s attention. Now, there’s a paid subscription tier called ChatGPT Plus offering premium features.
As for how this changes the fundamental AI experience many of us have dabbled with in some capacity? Only time will tell.
What does ChatGPT Plus do?
Priced at US$20 per month (approximately AU$28), one of the paid tier’s main benefits is having access during peak times. Sometimes, you may have been unable to process chat requests due to ChatGPT being at capacity. With ChatGPT Plus, you can jump the queue and avoid waiting for availability.
Additional benefits touted by OpenAI include faster response times and priority access to new features and improvements. ChatGPT is already quick on the draw, so the faster responses will likely apply to longer outputs.
As for the new features, OpenAI didn’t specify exactly what this entails, so we’ll have to wait and see for further details. Potential added features may include more business-centric functionality to compete with content AI services like Jasper. For now, OpenAI says it’s “options for lower-cost plans, business plans, and data packs for more availability.”
Chat GPT Plus is available in the US now, with a waitlist open for users in other countries.
Does this mean no more free access?
OpenAI claims that free access to ChatGPT will continue in some capacity. In fact, the company mentions that paid plans will support its free offering.
“We love our free users and will continue to offer free access to ChatGPT,” its blog post read. “By offering this subscription pricing, we will be able to help support free access availability to as many people as possible.”
The company continues by explaining that it “launched ChatGPT as a research preview so we could learn more about the system’s strengths and weaknesses and gather user feedback” which has seen millions of people participate.
AI technology such as ChatGPT has garnered global controversy over its use. Concerns range from inaccurate editorial content to cheating on school tests. Conversely, some positives include helping with brainstorming, while technology already exists to detect AI responses.
As the use of AI pushes further into the mainstream, ChatGPT Plus is another iteration of many to come.
