The world has been impacted, once again, by the latest presentation of OpenAI, the new artificial intelligence model called GPT-4o. It assumes that we currently have four different models and you probably have no idea what the difference is between all of these AI models. Well, we are going to explain the main characteristics of each of these versions of ChatGPT.
To bring artificial intelligence closer to the average user, OpenAI has developed ChatGPT. We can say that this is nothing more than a friendly user interface that allows you to interact with the different existing models. It would be a bit like Windows, which in the end is nothing more than a user interface to interact with the computer components.
Currently, the GPT-3.5, GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4o models are available. These languages, despite what it may seem, have quite a few differences between them. We are going to tell you what the main characteristics of each of them are.
GPT-3.5
Model that is based on GPT-3 and was launched by OpenAI in March 2022. It is characterized by having received greater amounts of data for training. This is the model used for the free version of ChatGPT and does not offer an internet connection.
It is characterized by having received improvements in the understanding of the prompts (the text we enter) and the generation of content with a more natural language. It offers better consistency, relevance and contextual compression than its predecessor, allowing it to handle more complex instructions.
You should know that there is a variant called GPT-3.5 Turbo that is little known. It has some improvements compared to the original version and is more of a preview of what GPT-4 was. It has not had a real implementation for the user, it was something else for developers to prepare before the arrival of the new version.
GPT-4
This model was launched in March 2023 and has the ability to, in addition to processing text, also be able to process images. Thanks to this new feature, you have a greater ability to understand and generate content that has to do with images.
This model has the ability to better understand the context, it has the ability to perform complex reasoning, it gives more precise answers and, in theory, it generates text that is more similar to what a human could write. This variant includes different adjustment and customization options depending on use cases.
Due to having greater capabilities, it also requires greater computing resources than its predecessor. This new system generates higher infrastructure costs for the company.
To access GPT-4 from ChatGPT you need to pay a monthly fee. As an alternative, you can use Microsoft Copilot, which uses GPT-4 precisely for its operation.
GPT-4 Turbo
Variants of GPT-4 released in November 2023 as a revision to the language model. Its main characteristic is that it requires less computing capacity to operate, allowing operating costs to be reduced.
Response times are improved, making it a more optimal model for applications that require fast interactions. On the negative side, precision is reduced in very specific tasks. Furthermore, GPT-4 Turbo is only accessible through the paid version. There is no other way to use it.
GPT-4o
It is the latest version of the OpenAI model available since May 2024. Note that the “o” in its name comes from the term “omni.” It has been called this because it is a more human experience, having the ability to process audio almost as quickly as in a conversation between people.
This new model has, in addition to the ability to interpret text and images, the ability to interpret audio and videos. It even has the ability to remember objects and events.
Performance is actually identical to GPT-4 Turbo for text and code reasoning. But, it offers greater speed and is also cheaper in using the API.
OpenAI is making this model the default for ChatGPT. Note that this model has limitations in the number of messages you can interact with each day. When the limit is exceeded, it changes to the GPT-3.5 model for those who have the free version of ChatGPT or the paid version that corresponds to each plan.
Note that GPT-4o has the ability to perform online searches for free using the Bing search engine, owned by Microsoft. This feature, to date, is only available to those who will pay for the plan that integrates GPT-4.