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Here’s how to use ChatGPT, no matter where you use it! Desktop computer (meaning PC or Mac), web browser, and mobile app coming up back to back. OpenAI’s ChatGPT (and GPT-4 LLM under the hood) has gone from being a relatively new AI language model-based application to taking the tech and internet worlds by storm in under a year. Since its introduction to the public, the model has been making headlines due to its popularity and many potential use cases. But how do you use it? If you’re new to ChatGPT or want some extra tips, read on.
How to use ChatGPT – step-by-step
Many users have been wowed by the model’s capabilities which is no surprise as both the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 (for ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Enterprise) large language models are phenomenal. ChatGPT has shown its power by passing the law bar exam, tackling a Google coding test, and more To try it for yourself, the steps are below. Try “What is ChatGPT – and what is it used for?” or “How to use ChatGPT on mobile” for further reading on ChatGPT. If you are looking for some inspiration about what ChatGPT can do, who better to ask than ChatGPT itself? This is what the chatbot has to say:
“You can use ChatGPT for a variety of tasks, such as:
- Text generation: writing stories, poems, and scripts
- Answer questions
- Translate language
- Summarize texts
- General chatting
- Generating creative ideas“
So, if you want to find out how to use ChatGPT the instructions and tips below will get you started with the ai chatbot.
Step
Sign up to OpenAI
To be able to use ChatGPT, OpenAI requires you to make an account. To start things off, head to OpenAI’s ChatGPT website.
You can also sign in with a Google or Microsoft account.
Step
Create an account
Once you are on the ChatGPT site, you will have the option to “Sign up” and create an OpenAI account.
After that, simply click “Sign up” and choose your preferred login method.
If you see an ‘at capacity’ error, your best option is to either wait or refresh your page. If these two methods do not work, read our article here where we show you how to resolve this.
Step
Confirm your account
fThe next step is to confirm your account. If you have chosen to sign up via email, OpenAI will send a verification email to your inbox. Follow the link to complete this step.
OpenAI will ask you for your first and last name, followed by your phone number to further verify your account.
After that,ill in these details and follow the next verification steps.
For more detailed info on logging in to ChatGPT check out our dedicated article
You must be over 18 to use ChatGPT.
Step
Ask ChatGPT a question
Once you have signed in, you will be presented with a screen that looks similar to the image below. To use ChatGPT all you have to do is type anything into the search bar. As a result, ChatGPT will respond to your prompt.
The possibilities feel almost endless, but sking ChatGPT ‘Can you…’ will allow you to see if the application can help you with your query.
Note, that the more details and information you give the AI bot, the more specific the response will be. For example, if you wanted to write lyrics to a song in the style of a particular artist, you can tell ChatGPT that. What if you want the lyrics to rhyme? ChatGPT can do that too, as long as you prompt it beforehand.
Using ChatGPT – Top tips
What’s great about the tool, is that ChatGPT can respond to previous answers it has given. So, let’s say ChatGPT has managed to produce some song lyrics but you wanted them in a punk rock style. You can just type “write this again but in the style of punk rock” and it will rewrite it in a new style, tone, or format. This ability is only limited by the context length, which is thousands of characters long – plenty of referential memory for coherent conversations. The exact context length of each AI model is stated on OpenAI’s API pricing page (useful even if you don’t plan on using the API yourself).
If you need to get longer responses you can do that by prompting ChatGPT. It can learn along with you in real time. It does this via a process called reinforcement learning, using human feedback. In other words, tell it what it got wrong and it will correct itself! The natural language processing AI has a context window of 4,096 tokens (which can be as many as 8,000 words) and will draw from the context of your entire conversation to decide on the most appropriate response. This is one of the many objective performance benchmarks that all LLMs (Large Language Models) compete on, so expect this to increase in the near future.
To get the most out of ChatGPT, it’s best to know what you want to achieve ahead of time. It will respond best to specific prompts and may ask you to provide more detail if your request is a little vague. It may provide vague answers including information or detail which is not relevant to your request. Ultimately, the more information you provide with your request the chances of getting a quick and effective answer.
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How do I use ChatGPT on my laptop?
To use ChatGPT on a laptop:
- Open any web browser (Popular web browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera).
- After that, go to https://chat.openai.com/
- Subsequently type a prompt into the prompt window.
- Hit “Enter” or “Return” to submit the prompt.
- The AI chat bot will process your prompt and output a response for you to use as you wish.
How do I use ChatGPT on my desktop?
To use ChatGPT on desktop computer:
- Open any web browser (Popular web browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera).
- Go to https://chat.openai.com/
- Type a prompt into the prompt window.
- Hit “Enter” or “Return” to submit the prompt afterward.
- Lastly, the AI chat bot will process your prompt and output a response for you to use as you wish.
How to use ChatGPT on PC
As a PC is a kind of desktop computer, you can use ChatGPT via web browser using the steps above.
How to use ChatGPT on Mac
As a Mac is a kind of desktop computer, you can use ChatGPT via web browser using the steps above.
How do I use ChatGPT on mobile?
Using ChatGPT on mobile comes with more options than anywhere else!
To use ChatGPT on mobile, either:
- Download the ChatGPT app for iOS or Android.
- Go to https://chat.openai.com/ via any web browser (e.g. Google Chrome or Safari).
- Subsequently, type a prompt into the prompt window.
- Tap the arrow to the right of the prompt window.
- Lastly, the AI chat bot will process your prompt and output a response for you to use as you wish.
Use ChatGPT plugins
ChatGPT plugins require a subscription plan to ChatGPT Plus or ChatGPT Enterprise, which also grants you priority access to the service and first look at new features too.
ChatGPT browsing – Browse with Bing
One such new feature includes internet accessibility for all ChatGPT users (both free users and those with a paid subscription plan). As of September 27th, 2023, plugins are not required to use ChatGPT with internet access. Instead, simply turn on “Browse with Bing” from the same drop-down list as ChatGPT plugins. This web browsing functionality removed the knowledge cutoff previously set to September 2021, being the last time the GPT-4 dataset was updated. This internet access amplifies how useful plugins can be – highly recommended!
Use ChatGPT in specific ways
How to use ChatGPT to write a cover letter
As we all know, filling out a job application is a long and laborious task. Why not speed up the process by having ChatGPT compose your cover letter?
To do so, simply ask the bot to write you a cover letter. Be sure to specify the job role and your experience as this will ensure the letter is more tailored to the vacancy. That’s it! The AI bot will then write you a draft cover letter in seconds.
How to use ChatGPT to write a CV
Luckily, ChatGPT also has the ability to help you put together a CV for a job application. This method requires a bit more input from your end, but seems to offer a good chance of improving interview opportunities. Take a look at:
To start things off, just ask ChatGPT to write a CV. The bot will respond by asking you for your experience, education history, and skills. Submit these details, then watch the magic happen. The AI bot will start churning out an entire CV for you!
How to use ChatGPT to summarize an article
It’s incredibly straightforward to summarize an article with ChatGPT. All you need to do is copy the text of the article you want it to look at and then type the prompt: “Summarize the text below”. This will provide a brief summary of the article’s topic and content.
You can also get more takeaway information by typing something like: “Summarize the text below, putting the key points into a numbered or bullet point list”. As a result, you can get the important takeaways needed within the article.
How to use ChatGPT in business
ChatGPT has a ton of uses for business. If you are working on your own business, it can help with things like drafting business plans and documents useful for the starting and running of a business that may otherwise take a lot of time.
Comparatively, if you want to use ChatGPT’s technology in your business, you will need to register to make use of the ChatGPT API.
How to use ChatGPT for coding
If you don’t know how to program software, ChatGPT can code for you! It can produce code in languages such as Python and C++, but if you don’t know these you may miss important errors and functionality.
Having said that, if you have some understanding, ChatGPT can explain and simplify code. You need only to prompt, eg: “Explain the following code”, or “What is this function doing?”. If you are a developer with knowledge of coding, ChatGPT can be used to improve, rewrite, and write test cases for code.
How to use GPT-4 and GPT-4V
To use the latest of ChatGPT, you need to pay for one of the two existing subscription models — Plus or Enterprise. GPT-4V is identical to GPT-4, with the addition of image input functionality. It is a VLM, or Visual Language Model, meaning that in addition to the natural language processing of GPT-4, it has image recognition capabilities. The VLM will be used automatically for prompts that require an image output, as long as DALL-E 3 is enabled within ChatGPT.
How to manage your ChatGPT data
If you’re keen on using ChatGPT, you’ll want to be aware of your own privacy. Not just in regards to the terms of service, but how to manage your data too. Managing your data in ChatGPT means that you can do the following:
- Access your entire chat history
- Turn off your chat history – Toggle ON or OFF the ‘Chat History & Training’ option. This will prevent your history being kept and prevent it from being used to help train ChatGPT for future responses.
- Delete your ChatGPT history
To access these options, navigate to your profile and select the ‘Settings’ option.
ChatGPT on your phone
Download the ChatGPT iOS app for iPhone and other apple mobile devices here.
Download the ChatGPT Android app for all other smartphones and tablets here.
Alternatively, you can access ChatGPT via web browser. This is exactly the same process as using it on your desktop computer. Simply, head to chat.openai.com and sign in (or create an account) and voila. You now have access to ChatGPT. To send the AI bot a request, all you have to do is type your prompt into the text box and tap submit. ChatGPT on a smartphone works just like it would on your computer.
How can I use ChatGPT without phone number?
You cannot use ChatGPT without a phone number. To use ChatGPT, you must sign in, and the account creation process includes the submission of a phone number.
How can I use ChatGPT without login?
You cannot use ChatGPT without logging in. The identity verification process of creating an account helps OpenAI manage the creation of spam accounts. Otherwise, a single power user could run hundreds or thousands of accounts simultaneously, incurring unlimited costs to OpenAI for running those requests. Therefore, the AI firm doesn’t allow users to use ChatGPT without an account.
FAQs
Can ChatGPT refuse to answer my prompts?
Yes, on some occasions the AI chat bot may refuse to answer your prompt. This will only happen if the AI assistant deems them inappropriate or unsafe. This includes prompts that violate OpenAI’s rules such as requests that involve illegal activity or are offensive and discriminatory.
Final Thoughts
So, that’s all you need to know to get started and how to use ChatGPT. Using the AI model is very easy to do – the only real obstacle is OpenAI’s capacity error. We think that when it comes to using the free version of ChatGPT, it’s a powerful tool that has a multitude of uses, from creative writing to creating blog posts.
The OpenAI chatbot does now feature mutlimodality, similar to rival chatbots Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) and Google Bard. With visual input capabilities enabled by the GPT-4V VLM (Visual Language Model) and output via DALL-E 3, OpenAI’s chatbot is the most useful of its peers.
How to use ChatGPT Plus
In recent news, OpenAI has announced a paid subscription service for Chat GPT, named ChatGPT Plus. The service comes in at $20 a month and promises to give Chat GPT Plus subscribers special benefits over free members. The benefits include access even during peak times, faster responses, and priority to the latest features. If you are a frequent user of the AI chatbot, this could be an attractive upgrade for you.