The free version of ChatGPT can do a lot, but is ChatGPT Plus worth its subscription fee? This article breaks down the differences.

The article from ZDNet (GPT-3.5 vs GPT-4: Is ChatGPT Plus worth its subscription fee?, written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols and available here), does a great job of breaking down the differences between the free version and the paid version, which includes ChatGPT Plus and GPT-4.

OpenAI describes GPT-4 as “10 times more advanced than its predecessor, GPT-3.5. This enhancement enables the model to better understand the context and distinguish nuances, resulting in more accurate and coherent responses.” Specifically, OpenAI refers to several differences, including:

• Number of Parameters: OpenAI doesn’t reveal the exact number of parameters used in GPT-4. However, according to Andrew Feldman, CEO of AI company Cerebras, GPT-4 has been trained with around 100 trillion parameters. That’s an order of magnitude greater than GPT-3 with its 175 billion parameters.
• Multimodal Model: GPT-4 is a multimodal model, which means it can process both text and image data. For instance, it can accept an image as part of a prompt and provide an appropriate textual response. Here’s an example: GPT-4 can “view” an image of your refrigerator contents and provide you with recipes using the ingredients it “sees” (presumably, your refrigerator needs to be less cluttered than mine for it to “see” anything).
• Memory: GPT-4 has a much longer memory than previous versions. While GPT-3.5’s short-term memory is around 8,000 words, GPT-4’s short-term memory extends to around 64,000 words. Additionally, GPT-4 can pull text from web pages when you share a URL in the prompt.
• Plugins: With plugins, another beta feature, OpenAI — and third-party developers — can work with external application programming interfaces to make ChatGPT-4 “smarter”. For example, with the Expedia and Kayak travel plugins, you can ask for the best flights to Vancouver. Or with the Ask Your PDF ChatGPT Plugin, OpenAI will seek your answers from any PDF document you point it to. It’s a beta feature, so keep that in mind.

The net result of these improvements is that GPT-4 is “smarter” than its predecessor. For example, GPT-4 has achieved higher scores on exams, including the LSAT, SAT, Uniform Bar Exam, and GRE. However, two things give me pause:

• OpenAI claims that GPT-4’s answers are “40% more likely to produce factual responses than GPT-3.5”: That’s great, but certainly no guarantee of accuracy. Check that output, as this guy learned the hard way!
• On the AP English Language and Composition test, GPT-4 still only scores a 2: As the author notes, that score will not get you into the college of your choice, and it certainly shouldn’t get you a job as a writer.

Whew, my job is safe, at least for now. 😉

So, is ChatGPT Plus worth its subscription fee? To use a lawyerly answer, it depends. If $20 a month is worth it to you to get better quality answers – albeit answers that you’ll still need to fact check and for which you’ll need to massage the content – then yes. Especially if you can’t figure out what to make for dinner tonight. 😀

So, what do you think? Do you have a monthly subscription fee to use GPT-4, do you use the free version, or do you not use it at all? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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