ChatGPT can now speak, process images and search the internet, says OpenAI
ChatGPT is now able to search the internet to provide answers to queries based on information in real-time, the generative AI tool’s creators have said.
OpenAI, the firm behind the popular chatbot, announced the step forward on Wednesday – giving it the ability to search for information online.
Until now, ChatGPT’s knowledge was constrained to information prior to September 2021 – one of the key limitations of the tool.
But OpenAI announced: “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.
“Browsing is particularly useful for tasks that require up-to-date information, such as helping you with technical research, trying to choose a bike, or planning a vacation.”
The feature has initially launched for business users and subscribers to the $20-a-month Plus tier, but the firm said it would “expand to all users soon”.
OpenAI had earlier tested a feature that allowed users to access the latest information through the Bing search engine within its premium ChatGPT Plus offering but it later disabled it because of fears that it could allow users to bypass paywalls.
It comes two days after the announcement that ChatGPT would gain voice and image capabilities – allowing it to understand photos and hold a “back-and-forth conversation”.
OpenAI said in a blog post that the new voice capability “is powered by a new text-to-speech model, capable of generating human-like audio from just text and a few seconds of sample speech”.
The artificial intelligence will also be able to “understand” images, which the company said could allow users to “troubleshoot why your grill won’t start, explore the contents of your fridge to plan a meal, or analyze a complex graph for work-related data”.
The two features are only available on paid tiers for now, with the firm stressing it was deploying the capabilities “gradually” to minimise the risks that “malicious actors” could use voice capabilities to “impersonate public figures or commit fraud.”
The blog post said: “OpenAI’s goal is to build AGI that is safe and beneficial. We believe in making our tools available gradually, which allows us to make improvements and refine risk mitigations over time while also preparing everyone for more powerful systems in the future. This strategy becomes even more important with advanced models involving voice and vision.”
It added: “Plus and Enterprise users will get to experience voice and images in the next two weeks. We’re excited to roll out these capabilities to other groups of users, including developers, soon after.”
There were reports earlier this week that OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup behind ChatGPT, is talking to investors about a possible sale of existing shares at a much higher valuation from a few months ago.
The proposed deal could value Microsoft-backed OpenAI at between $80 billion to $90 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the potential share sale – which would make OpenAI one of the world’s most valuable private companies.
OpenAI founder Sam Altman was among the signatories earlier this year to a letter warning that artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of humanity.
The single-sentence statement, whose signatories also included two so-called “godfathers” of AI technology as well as dozens of academics and developers, read: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
