Long-awaited: Just a few months after launching as a prototype, ChatGPT may soon become a ubiquitous artificial intelligence tool for both professionals and consumers. It starts with Microsoft’s Bing, which seems to be turning into the first mass market search engine based on generative algorithms.
Microsoft recently strengthened its partnership with OpenAI by integrating several artificial intelligence services into the Azure cloud platform and investing an additional $10 billion in a research lab in San Francisco. Now the giant from Redmond is going to turn ChatGPT OpenAI into the basis of a potentially “intelligent” next-generation search engine for the Internet.
According to an unconfirmed Semafor report, integration between Bing and the chatbot ChatGPT capabilities will happen in the coming weeks. Microsoft will use the OpenAI GPT-4 language model, which is a faster version of the GPT-3.x machine learning model currently used by the aforementioned ChatGPT.
Speed is indeed an important condition for a search engine, and GPT-4 can apparently provide answers to text prompts in seconds compared to the few minutes required for GPT-3/ChatGPT. With a publicly available version of Bing based on GPT4, Microsoft can give its ailing search engine a chance to finally challenge Google’s iron grip on online search and contextual advertising.
Google, of course, is working on its own ML chatbot for web search and other services, having recently called founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who have returned to retirement, to help. Soon, users will be able to check how the idea of a search engine responding to a query in spoken language actually works, and whether it’s really a good idea.
OpenAI is also thinking about the future, although this time it is for its own sake. After previous rumors and indiscretion, the organization officially introduced a paid “pilot” subscription called ChatGPT Plus.
Like the free version of ChatGPT, the new Plus service provides an interactive AI that “can communicate with you, answer additional questions and challenge incorrect assumptions.” By paying $20 per month, users will get some additional benefits, such as shared access to ChatGPT even during peak hours, faster response time (perhaps thanks to a new improved machine learning model?) and priority access to future features and improvements.
ChatGPT Plus will be available to customers residing in the US, as OpenAI begins to “invite” people from the service waiting list in the coming weeks. Extended access and support for additional countries will appear later.
As for the free version of ChatGPT, OpenAI says it will continue to offer the service with the same limitations and features. The paid subscription will be used to “support free access”, as well as to finance the organization’s activities and research activities. At the moment, millions of free users have given their feedback, and OpenAI is already thinking about the next steps in the evolution of ChatGPT, such as a mobile application and a proper application programming interface (API).
