OpenAI started it. The company is the hype, but that doesn't mean it can offer more than others.
At this time, the most capable multimodal AI model for ChatGPT, is GPT-4. But the company has optimized that version to reduce cases of "laziness" where the model doesn’t complete a task, which results in GPT-4 Turbo.
This version can solve difficult problems with greater accuracy than any of its previous models, thanks to its broader general knowledge and advanced reasoning capabilities.
GPT-4 is available in the OpenAI API to paying customers, and so does GPT-4 Turbo.
But Microsoft, as the main backer of OpenAI, is giving Copilot users access to GPT-4-Turbo for free.
Previously, GPT-4 Turbo was only available on the paid premium version of Copilot, but this time, anyone can use it without having to buy a subscription.
Microsoft has quietly upgraded its AI tool, and is giving all Microsoft Copilot users access to GPT-4 Turbo on any compatible device, including Windows PCs, Macs, and iPads.
What this means, users of Copilot can now enter longer prompts and get better responses.
This happens because GPT-4 Turbo's context window is 128,000 tokens, compared to just 32,000 with GPT-4. In practice, this means that an AI chatbot powered by GPT-4 Turbo is able to process more than 4x the amount of text.
While many casual users may never get close to using its full context window, it means that users should be able to prompt it with way more context to improve output results, if they want.
It also has a more recent knowledge cut-off date, which means that it should be able to answer questions about more current information.
For GPT-4 Turbo, it's pulling info up to April 2023, while older versions are restricted to January 2022.
So not only that the GPT-4 Turbo-powered Copilot can process longer prompts, because it can also create responses that are more likely to be accurate compared to older models.
"After quite some work, GPT4-Turbo replaced GPT-4 in the Copilot free tier," announced Mikhail Parakhin, the CEO of advertising and web services at Microsoft, in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
After quite some work, GPT4-Turbo replaced GPT-4 in the Copilot free tier. Pro users can still choose the older model, if prefer (there is a toggle).
— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) March 12, 2024
Moving forward, both the free and premium tiers of Copilot will automatically default on GPT-4 Turbo (Creative or Precise Mode mode).
However, Parakhin noted that Pro tier subscribers do have the option to change the model, and have the ability to switch if they want to.
This upgrade should be a welcome move.
But, it should be noted that there can be issues.
For example, only users on the free version of Copilot may not have access to GPT-4 Turbo during peak times. When Copilot is experiencing a lot of traffic, Microsoft will automatically prioritize paying subscribers.
During peak times, Pro tier users shall continue access to GPT-4 Turbo and free tier users may be bumped down to an older model.
Regardless, GPT-4 is still an advanced model, and that it's more or less equal to other notable models from rivals, like Google's Gemini, for example.