Now Everyone Can Have Their Own AI ChatGPT
This article first appeared in the Wiser! newsletter #147— an AI focused tech and business roundup of what’s going on and what’s coming next.
Image Credits: AI Generated On Canva
You Can Have Your Own Customised ChatGPT
OpenAI held its first ever conference for developers this week and made some significant announcements. The highlight was the introduction of something called “GPTs”. They’re significant because they give you and I the ability to create a custom version of ChatGPT.
That means that literally anyone (as long as you have a Plus account, a bargain at only $20/month), can create and tailor your own ChatGPT to perform a specific purpose or task. You can customise ChatGPT to be whatever you want it to be, such as a creative writing coach in the style of Hunter S Thompson, or an expert in sales or negotiation based on Jordan Belfort and Chris Voss, or even a handy guide for recipes in your kitchen in the unconventional style of Heston Blumenthal.
The point is that GPTs allow users to move away from “general output” that everyone gets when using ChatGPT, to custom and specific output based on whatever you want it to be.
This versatility was demonstrated live on stage by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who built a prototype of a GPT named “Startup Mentor.” I’ve included the link to Altman’s keynote below and it’s worth watching the whole 45 minutes, but if you just want the juice about GPTs, skip to 20 minutes in.
In Altman’s example he created a GPT called Startup Mentor. Startup mentoring is a subject Altman knows a bit about and he built the GPT to specifically offer advice to startup founders. To give Startup Mentor the Altman touch, he uploaded a bunch of transcripts from his past talks and speeches on the subject.
This uploaded data will train his customised GPT to provide advice to startups based on Altman’s way of thinking, whilst also having access to GPT-4’s vast knowledge base underneath it.
The beauty of this feature is that building GPTs requires no coding or technical skills, just some imagination, purpose and access to some data.
OpenAI, again, have put the power of AI into the hands of non-technical folk. You simply engage in a conversation with ChatGPT, provide it with some instructions and any relevant information, and the AI shapes itself accordingly.
Personalised GPTs go further than just personal use too. These GPTs can also be shared with a wider community publicly or be built privately to operate just within your company or community.
Which is why OpenAI is launch a GPT Store later this month!
The GPT Store could be as significant for ChatGPT as the App Store was to making the iPhone the catalyst for the mobile generation.
The GPT Store will feature GPTs from verified builders that can be used by anyone, whilst ChatGPT Enterprise customers will be able to deploy their own internal-only GPTs for specific tasks via the GPT Store.
But the GPTs were just the tip of the iceberg at the conference.
The paid for version of ChatGPT is now based on GPT-4 Turbo which has an updated knowledge base and includes information up until April 2023. (The free version of ChatGPT stops in September 2021.) They have also removed the need to specify plugins, ChatGPT will just figure out what you need and take action on it.
They have massively expanded the context window to 128,000 tokens. What this means is that you can now load massive amounts of data into ChatGPT, more than four times larger than the previous version of GPT-4. To put it in perspective, 128,000 tokens are equivalent to about 100,000 words and significantly more than the 75,000 word limit of Anthropic’s Claude.
So what? Imagine giving ChatGPT the 99,000 words of the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” and asking ChatGPT to explain Scout Finch’s relationship with his father, Atticus Finch, which is central to the story. That would make homework a lot easier!
The other big announcement was the launch of the Assistance API. This is a feature designed to enable the creation of assistive experiences, including voice-powered ones. Expect to see major brands build whole new customer experiences using Assistance API. With ChatGPT in the background, you won’t even know it’s there!
➜ Here’s The Thing: The pace at which new features are being rolled out is unprecedented. And not insignificant either.
Being able to create your own, personalised, custom-build GPT is an awesome capability. With no technical knowledge, anyone with an idea can unlock the power of AI for the bargain price of only $20/month. ChatGPT will even write the design prompts for you!
But this is not the end of the matter, we’re only just at the beginning. As Greg Brockman, one of the co-founders of OpenAI, says about, “a year from now we will look back fondly on the AI that exists today as quaint and antiquated.”
Watch Sam Altman’s Keynote (YouTube) | OpenAI Dev Day Website | Wired
Further Reading From Rick Huckstep
➜ Join my mailing list, get the Wiser! newsletter every Sunday and claim your free Beginner’s Guide to ChatGPT.
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Do You Use Canva? Try Picsart Instead, It’s A Cheaper Alternative
Canva is my go-to content creation tool for images and artwork. With the paid for version, Canva has integrated a bunch of tools that I could get for free on a piecemeal basis, but the convenience of having them all integrated into a single app is worth the $120/year subscription.
Now that Canva is tightly integrated with ChatGPT and DALL-E, the value of Canva is even greater for me.
However, if you’re looking for a less costly alternative that packs a punch with integrated AI tools, look at Picsart. The image creation platform costs only $40/year and is great value for money now that it has launched Ignite, a suite of over 20 AI tools for digital content creation. The tools include image editing features, GIF and sticker generation, and AI-powered QR codes and advertisements.
The company aims to provide a comprehensive platform for businesses and individuals to enhance their digital content with AI.
➡️ Here’s The Thing: According to Grand View Research the global content creation market is expected to touch $69.8 billion by 2030, growing at over 13% a year.
Much of that growth will come from the adoption of tools like Canva and Picsart using integrated services with foundation AI technologies embedded in the platform. The cost of the subscription is outweighed by the convenience of having multiple AI features all in a single place.
About The Author
Rick Huckstep has worked in technology his entire career, as a corporate sales leader, investor in tech startups and keynote speaker. From his home in Spain, Rick is thought leader in artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and the future of work.
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