Move over Netflix! I'm paying for ChatGPT Plus

Last weekend, I upgraded to ChatGPT Plus, an AI language model that generates human-like responses to text prompts, and I have zero regrets.

If you don’t yet know about ChatGPT, it’s an AI (Artificial Intelligence) language model that generates human-like responses to text prompts, enabling natural language conversations with machines. It was developed by OpenAI and made available as a free online tool on November 30 last year.

I started using ChatGPT shortly after, and it continues to amaze me. Here are some reasons why:

It's Google on steroids. Ask it about something, and you’ll get an answer with good context, no ads, and no need to sift through numerous web links.

It builds context through discussion, so you can start with a general question and through follow up dialogue ask for more details, which generates more accurate responses over time.

If you write something and aren’t happy with the style, it will adjust the text to match the tone you want. For example, if you write something that you think might come across as a bit blunt or unfriendly, ChatGPT can quickly adjust that.

It writes code.

It’s not perfect, but it's so good that I found myself using it every day. The problem was that as more people started using it, it became increasingly busy, and I found myself getting locked out, and I missed it!!

What I’ve found is that ChatGPT Plus is even better than ChatGPT. It does seem to have better discussions and it does give more sophisticated responses than the free version. It surprises me sometimes such as by saying ‘that’s a good question’, when I asked it why it programmed a piece of code the way it did.  It generates longer and more sophisticated responses, it’s faster, and best of all, I have guaranteed access.

So, I upgraded.  In New Zealand it costs US$23 per month (including 15% GST), which is about $1.18 per day. I haven’t told my wife about this yet because she’s thoroughly sick of me talking about ChatGPT, and she’ll just roll her eyes – albeit in a friendly way. For me, it’s a good value purchase because it helps me with work and learning. For example, I use it when writing code, to make some emails more friendly, and it helps me learn new things by generating explanations in a conversational tone, and introducing new ideas or angles on a subject I hadn’t considered.

Will I keep paying? I’m not sure. Microsoft will soon release ChatGPT-type functionality in Edge, and Google won’t just let this happen without responding. I’m sure though, that this disruptive technology will change many, many things. It’s costly to develop, and more costly to run than traditional search (like Google), and depending on how it’s presented, there may be no ad-revenue, so it seems likely that paid language models are here to stay.

Do I have privacy concerns? Yes, I am careful about the information I give ChatGPT, but even so, I’m conscious about how much it could learn about me with the information I’m giving it.

If you haven’t already tried ChatGPT, I strongly recommend you try it for yourself and share your own experiences with the tool. It is one of the most exciting new technologies I’ve seen in a long time.