ChatGPT users on mobile can finally, and properly surf the web with their favorite chatbot AI.
When OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, the tech world went into a frenzy, simply because it never saw anything like it. Competitors scramble, and users couldn't be happier.
While ChatGPT is very capable, and even more capable when subscribers of its ChatGPT Plus were given access to the smarter GPT-4, the thing about ChatGPT is that, it was never really able to browse the web.
Its knowledge cuts off in 2021.
This time, OpenAI is finally allowing users to use the chatbot to browse the web.
Read: To Provide Real-Time Information, Microsoft Gives ChatGPT Access To Bing's Search Engine Data
In a dedicated help page, OpenAI announced two updates to its mobile ChatGPT app.
The first, is the launch of the 'Browsing' feature so users of its chatbot can get "comprehensive answers and current insights on events and information that extend beyond the model's original training data."
To use this feature, users must enable Browsing in the 'new features' section of the ChatGPT app's settings page. Then, they have to select GPT-4 in the model switcher, to then choose 'Browse with Bing' in the drop-down.
With Browsing, ChatGPT can tap into Bing for answering users' questions.
By allowing the chatbot to get more information by allowing it to scout the web, ChatGPT can make the bot a lot smarter.
This will certainly make ChatGPT a more useful assistant, particularly for research.
Prior to this, asking ChatGPT about anything that happens after 2021 wouldn’t yield anything particularly useful.
And this is where the good things come to an end.
This is because OpenAI only allows ChatGPT to browse the web through Microsoft's search engine, which is Bing.
In a business perspective, this happens because Microsoft is one of the main backers of OpenAI, and has been supporting its cause and development since OpenAI was relatively an unknown company.
But this means that, ChatGPT’s information-seeking capability is totally reliant on Bing, and if ever the Bing missed an answer, users cannot switch to an alternative.
Back in 2011, an analysis found that Bing was potentially unfairly serving more Microsoft-related results than Google links. More recently, a study showed evidence that Bing’s top search results contained an "alarming" amount of disinformation.
The second update, is Search History Improvements.
According to OpenAI, tapping on a search result takes users directly to the respective point in the conversation.
Read: Microsoft Reportedly Ignored OpenAI's Warning About The Unreliable Generative AI