The best things you can do with the new AI chatbot

OpenAI stunned everyone earlier this week with a new and improved version of ChatGPT, its AI chatbot that has quickly become an essential sidekick for 100 million users.

Known as GPT-4o (“o” stands for “omni”), the upgraded bot promises to be the Siri you’ve always dreamed of. It can sing, express emotions, instantly translate languages, describe the world in live videos, talk to you (and itself), and much, much more.

In essence, the bot is a better, more powerful and faster variant of OpenAI’s flagship AI, GPT-4. Even though it has the same size brain as its predecessor, it can do a lot more with it, especially when it comes to text, voice and display capabilities. Best of all, it will be available to both free and paid ChatGPT users in the coming weeks, with audio and video features added later.

Here are the top things you should try first when it finally reaches these shores:

What can you do with GPT-4o?

Here are some of the main use cases for GPT-4o, including those showcased by OpenAI at its recent demo event and examples from online AI power users.

A more “human” voice assistant

ChatGPT can now function as a full-fledged voice assistant. Imagine Alexa being able to have a free-flowing conversation based on what she can see and hear. But that’s not all. OpenAI has also tried to make the bot more human by allowing it to express different emotions and even describe how you’re feeling. In demos, the bot told a bedtime story, sensed and mimicked sarcasm, correctly guessed that it was talking to an OpenAI employee from the company logo on their hoodie, and recognized when a person was smiling in live video.

He was so eager to please that some netizens even joked that they had developed feelings for the female voice bot. In an interview, OpenAI boss Sam Altman signaled that this is the next generation of digital assistants, suggesting that the bot will always be ready to help, similar to Siri. Depending on your preference for the AI, you’ll either fall in love with it or be completely creeped out by it.

Prepare for a job interview using multiple ChatGPTs

ChatGPT users are already asking for career tips and advice on everything from writing cover letters to improving their CVs. In the near future, you’ll be able to take your prep work one step further by asking the bot to give you tips on what to wear to an interview based on your appearance. The AI ​​did just that in a demo, advising an OpenAI employee to run a hand through his messy hair and take off his hat before a big meeting.

What’s more, with OpenAI previewing the immersive video and audio-enabled interaction between a pair of bots, you can reenact the entire interview between the two GPTs to get you ready for the big day. Of course, it’ll probably require some legwork to set up, including lengthy instructions for two boots, but it might be worth it if it lands you your dream job.

Host business meetings

It looks like ChatGPT will soon start popping up in a lot more places, including Zoom calls with coworkers. The bot can apparently follow a meeting, determine what each participant is talking about, direct the conversation, and summarize everything at the end.

His attention span will likely be governed by his context window, which refers to the amount of words he can digest when formulating a response. It’s notable that the demo of this benefit only lasted two minutes, so it’s unclear how it would fare in longer meetings.

Now you can continue your video calls with ease, as OpenAI has launched a dedicated Mac app for ChatGPT. The digital assistant was also seen refereeing a game of rock, paper scissors and could theoretically oversee other simple pastimes. Don’t tell him to keep an eye on your kids, as some social media users have suggested.

Take an AI translator with you on your next holiday

OpenAI wants to make translating languages ​​more seamless than the tools we currently have (think image recognition powerhouse Google Lens).

In a nifty demo, the GPT-4o eavesdropped on and translated multilingual Italian and English conversations between two people. While the speakers carefully enunciated their words, it all felt a bit fictionalized, calling into question the bot’s real-life prowess.

For example, will he be able to distinguish between different Italian dialects, such as Sicilian, Neapolitan and Sardinian? Still, showing a foreign menu that looks like gobbledegook can be a lifesaver.

Ask an AI teacher to help with homework

One of the biggest concerns that has emerged since ChatGPT’s overnight success is its use in education. Some schools even banned the bot out of fear that students would use it to cheat on their homework.

So, to avoid any concerns, OpenAI seems to be focusing more on GPT-4o’s ability to act as a teaching aid rather than a wholesale article writer. The bot was shown helping a young boy with his geometry homework on an iPad, using vision and sound to move back and forth and guide him to a solution. In this section, ChatGPT accurately interprets the child’s drawings and responds with feedback in its typically positive manner.

The new feature may still alarm those who believe AI will take our jobs, but as a free learning tool, it will likely appeal to many parents and children.

Web search, file uploads, data analysis

With the release of GPT-4o, ChatGPT free users will finally get most of the premium features that were previously limited to monthly subscribers.

For example, the bot will be able to retrieve relevant, up-to-date information from the web using Microsoft’s Bing search engine. It will also have the power to transform your uploaded data into interactive tables and graphs. More broadly, you’ll be able to instruct it to edit videos, images, documents, and more. OpenAI says these advanced tools will arrive in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, some users have already shared new ways they’re using this skill set, including deciphering ancient handwritten letters.