AI Chatbot ChatGPT Bolstered with Extensive Knowledge Upgrade, Says OpenAI

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman revealed at the company's inaugural developer conference on Monday that their chatbot, ChatGPT, has received a substantial knowledge upgrade. The AI-powered chatbot, which was made publicly accessible in November last year, was originally trained on data only till September 2021. This update is a significant leap forward for ChatGPT. Currently, only those who pay for access to OpenAI's most powerful large language model (LLM) will be able to access this enhanced information.

ChatGPT's knowledge upgrade was shared during the inaugural OpenAI DevDay. According to Altman, the chatbot's knowledge base now extends to world incidents and data up to April 2023. Up until this update, users were restricted to querying the chatbot regarding events before September 2021. That implied the chatbot could not provide accurate answers on recent global events such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, or the progression and decline of the coronavirus pandemic over the past couple of years.

Earlier in the year, OpenAI added a 'Browse with Bing' feature. While it enabled users to procure information from the web through the chatbot, this process took more time and didn't rely on the chatbot's inbuilt information or the data it was trained on. Addressing disappointing knowledge gaps, Altman echoed the team's commitment to never let GPT-4's knowledge about the world lag so far behind current events again.

The latest version, GPT-4 Turbo, will be supported by upgraded information and exhibit innovative capabilities like processing an image as a prompt. It can also provide more detailed responses, having been trained to read up to 300 pages of a book, and can even assist in software development.

The caveat is that only a selected group of ChatGPT users will presently receive access to the updated knowledge. OpenAI specified that customers who have subscribed to GPT-4 Turbo — their most advanced LLM currently — will reap the benefits of a more knowledgeable ChatGPT. The company is previewing GPT-4 Turbo for developers and plans to launch it in the coming weeks.