Ultimate Guide: What Is GPT-4?

What Is GPT-4?

GPT-4, short for Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4, is the fourth iteration of the GPT family of large language models developed by OpenAI. It is the successor of the GPT-3 model, which powers the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT. GPT-4, like its predecessor, GPT-3, is designed to generate human-like text, complete tasks such as summarization and language translation, and even generate creative writing such as poetry, lyrics for music, and fiction.

It has been trained on a massive corpus of text data and can perform a wide range of natural language processing tasks with impressive accuracy and fluency.

Before its public launch, the prospect of GPT-4 had generated a lot of excitement in the AI community due to its touted capabilities and potential applications in various fields.

How to Access GPT-4 on ChatGPT?

So GPT-4 is here, but how do you join in on the action? How do you try out all its touted capabilities?

OpenAI has put its newest, sleekest GPT-4 model behind its $20 monthly subscription plan. While this is not good news for free ChatGPT users, it is another reason to upgrade to the paid tier. If you're already on the paid plan, you can bump your account's GPT model from GPT-3.5 default and legacy to GPT-4 on demand, giving you the option to switch between both models. This should help you really appreciate the power of the GPT-4 iteration.

For the free tier users, to get started with GPT-4, you'll need a ChatGPT+ subscription. So, how do you upgrade to the ChatGPT+ plan?

How to Upgrade to ChatGPT+?

1. To upgrade your ChatGPT account to the premium ChatGPT+ plan:
2. Head over to ChatGPT.
3. On the bottom of the left sidebar of the chat interface, locate and click on Upgrade to Plus.
4. 
5. You'll get a pop-up comparing the free plan and the ChatGPT Plus plan. Tap on the green Upgrade Plan button.
6. 
7. Up next, you'll be redirected to a page to provide your credit card details and other billing information. Provide all the required information and make payment.
8. Once your payment has been confirmed, you should now have access to the OpenAI GPT-4 model alongside the older GPT-3.5 default and GPT-3.5 legacy models.
9. Choose the GPT-4 model from the drop-down on your ChatGPT chat interface, and start using GPT-4 with ChatGPT.
10. 

One way to be sure you're using the GPT-4 model instead of the older models is to check the color of the OpenAI logo that precedes ChatGPT's responses. GPT-3.5 model responses are preceded with a green-white logo, while GPT-4 responses are preceded with a black-white logo.

But what if you don't want to upgrade to ChatGPT+? Is this the end of the road for free-tier users? Not really. Here's how to use GPT-4 for free.

How to Use GPT-4 for Free?

While you can't currently access GPT-4 on the free version of ChatGPT, an alternative route is to use the Bing AI Chat. Yes, Bing AI is powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 model and has been for a while. So, if you've been using the new AI-powered Bing, you've been using GPT-4 without realizing it. If you're concerned about the difference in the quality of responses between GPT-4 on Bing Chat and GPT-4 on ChatGPT, don't panic.

Bing Chat's GPT-4 isn't much different from ChatGPT's version. If anything, Bing's intricate tethering to the internet gives it access to much more up-to-date and relevant data and can produce more timely and relevant information as a result. ChatGPT, on the other hand, is limited by the cut-off date of its knowledge base.

Bing Chat aside, it's unclear whether GPT-4 will ever be available for ChatGPT free tier users. However, OpenAI is already making the GPT-4 model available to third-party developers, so sooner rather than later, you'll likely be able to access third-party apps powered by GPT-4.