The capabilities of Open AI’s ChatGPT Plus (the $20 a month paid version of ChatGPT) are constantly evolving, with new features being introduced every few weeks. Keeping up with these changes has become quite challenging, so I’ve decided to produce a quick guide to the complete feature set of ChatGPT Plus as of October 2023. I hope this guide will help you get the most out of the paid version of ChatGPT by understanding the different modes and features.
Web Version
As you can see in the screenshot above, the web version of ChatGPT Plus has 5 main modes of operation: Default, Browse with Bing, Advanced Data Analysis, Plugins, and DALL·E 3. If you have ChatGPT Plus but don’t see one of these features, go to the “Beta Features” section of the Settings and enable the missing mode.
Now let’s dive into each mode and explore its capabilities.
Default Mode
The Default mode offers the basic text conversation abilities of ChatGPT, using the GPT-4 Large Language Model. This is the go-to mode for general queries, answering questions, creative brainstorming, and more. ChatGPT will provide a response based on its existing knowledge base, which currently spans up to January 2022.
A super useful feature that was recently added to the Default mode is image input. By pressing the image icon on the left side of the message box, you can upload an image to ChatGPT. ChatGPT can then analyze the image, provide information on answer questions based on the image. For example: “Here’s the inside of my fridge. Give me some recipe ideas”. Or: “This is my living room today. How can I improve it to make it more modern looking?”. Or even: “Here’s a screenshot of a Web UX. Write code that replicates it”.
Browse with Bing
The 'Browse with Bing' mode allows ChatGPT Plus to pull up-to-date information from the web using either user-provided web links, or web searches on certain topics. It’s important to note that there is a time limit on web searches, so you can’t expect ChatGPT to browse ALL the relevant information available on the web. When searching the web, ChatGPT will “click” on the first few search results (as a human would…) and summarize information from those pages.
Advanced Data Analysis
Initially known as Code Interpreter, this mode enables users to upload a file to ChatGPT, and then request an analysis or processing to be performed on the file. ChatGPT writes and executes Python code to fulfill the request, and then provides a link to download the output file. With the Advanced Data Analysis mode, users can delve into datasets, draw inferences, and obtain graphs and charts. This mode is a boon for researchers, data analysts, and anyone looking to crunch numbers and gain insights.
Plugins
Plugins extend the capabilities of ChatGPT by integrating it with a variety of web services, such as Wolfram for performing computations, OpenTable for restaurant reservations, and Instacart for grocery orders. Hundreds of plugins are available in the ChatGPT Plugin Store, but only 3 can be active at any given time. ChatGPT decides which of the active plugins to use for a specific request based on the context of the conversation.
DALL·E 3
DALL·E 3 is the image creation mode of ChatGPT. Users provide a description of an image, and ChatGPT generates several variants of that image which can then be downloaded. There are two main advantages of using DALL·E within the context of ChatGPT vs. using it (or other AI image generators) standalone. First, you don’t need to be an expert in image prompt engineering - all you need to do is to provide a rough description of what you want to create, and ChatGPT will create elaborate prompts based on your description, and feed them into the DALL·E engine. Second, you can easily refine or modify visuals through natural conversations., rather than iteratively revising your full prompts through trial-and-error.
Mixing Modes
A new update that was released to all users on Nov. 10, 2023 enables using all of these modes (except Plugins) concurrently, with ChatGPT automatically selecting the relevant mode based on context. This means that in Plugins mode, which is the only mode that is left as "stand-alone", you can't process information from the Internet, perform data analysis, or create images. You can overcome this limitations by using dedicated plugins for these functionalities, such BrowserOp for Internet browsing, Noteable for data analysis and Michelangelo for image creation.
Mobile App
The ChatGPT mobile app for iOS and Android only supports the Default, Browse with Bing and DALL·E modes of ChatGPT Plus. If you want to use Plugins and Advanced Data Analysis on your mobile, just access ChatGPT on your mobile browser at https://chat.openai.com instead of the mobile app.
Voice Input
In the mobile app you can input requests (prompts) using your voice instead of typing them. Just press the wave icon on the right side of the message box, and speak into the microphone. ChatGPT will transcribe your voice into a text command that will appear in the chat window, and then respond to your request using text. This feature is available in all three modes - Default, Browse with Bing and DALL·E.
Voice Conversation
In Default mode, the mobile app also supports two-way voice conversation or voice chat. By pressing the “headphones” icon at the bottom of the screen, ChatGPT enters a conversational voice mode, where you dictate your prompts and ChatGPT answers back in a natural sounding voice. In the Settings you can currently choose between 5 different built-in voices, both male and female. Try this out - having a voice conversation with your AI assistant creates a personalized and engaging experience that is a step above text chat…
In Conclusion
ChatGPT Plus offers an array of advanced features and modes that set it apart from its free counterpart, and for me at least, are well worth the price tag of $20 a month. You can use it to create and analyze images, gather insights from data, summarize up-to-date information from the web, interface to a huge number of web services, and talk with a human-sounding AI assistant. There's a lot to explore and utilize, so dive in, experiment, and unlock its full potential for your unique needs.