How Do You Use ChatGPT? Free Access and Sign-Up (January 2023)

The ChatGPT general-purpose chatbot prototype developed by OpenAI is now available as a free research preview that anyone can try. OpenAI, known for developing the text-to-image generator DALL-E, is now experimenting with automated text-generation AI. The chatbot is based on OpenAI's GPT-3.5 technology model, which is meant to flow more, as if you were chatting with a real person. Typing your query should result in a detailed answer of a few sentences or paragraphs. How do you use ChatGPT? Is it free? Do you need to download it? How do you register an OpenAI account? Let's take a look!

Is ChatGPT Free?

Yes, using the basic version of ChatGPT is completely free. Of course, it is not free for OpenAI to keep it running. Estimates are that OpenAI is currently spending about $3 million a month to keep ChatGPT running, which comes to about $100,000 a day. OpenAI also recently announced a new paid, premium version of its chatbot called ChatGPT Professional. However, as of January 2023 you can only join the waitlist, and the monthly price is unknown. Features that may be found in ChatGPT Premium include no restrictions, an unlimited number of prompts and no downtime. Although ChatGPT is free, it is sometimes unavailable because of "capacity," which has been constantly complained about lately.

Do You Need to Download ChatGPT?

ChatGPT can be used through a web page, so there is no need to download it. OpenAI has not yet released an official app, even though app stores are full of fake versions. Since these are not official ChatGPT apps, they should be installed and used with caution. It seems you can download ChatGPT locally through GitHub, but that is not necessary to use it.

How Do You Use ChatGPT?

The ChatGPT web page is simple: it has an area where results are filled in and, at the bottom of the page, a text box for users to type a question. We started with questions, but OpenAI recommends entering a statement for the best possible result.

For example, entering "explain how the solar system was made" will give a more detailed result with more paragraphs than "how was the solar system made," although both queries will give quite detailed results. You also have the option of more specific input requests, such as an essay with a certain number of paragraphs or a Wikipedia page. With the request "write a four-paragraph essay describing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," we got an extremely detailed result.

If there is enough information, the generator will carry out commands with the right details. Otherwise, ChatGPT is likely to fill in the gaps with incorrect data. OpenAI states that these instances are rare. The brand also states that ChatGPT currently has "limited knowledge of world events after 2021."

Even so, you have the option of entering queries continuously until you close your browser or reset the thread to delete your previous requests. You can also use ChatGPT in dark mode or light mode. You can reach the OpenAI Discord server and blog from this web page and log out from there.

How Do You Register an OpenAI Account?

Using the ChatGPT chatbot is quite simple: all you have to do is type your text and get the information. However, OpenAI requires an account before you can use any of its tools, so if you don't have one, you need to sign up. You have the option of choosing easy sign-in with a Google or Microsoft account.

Otherwise, if you have another kind of email, you can enter it manually. After that you must enter a phone number, but keep in mind that you cannot use a virtual phone number (VoIP) to sign up for OpenAI. Then you will receive a verification number that you will enter on the sign-up page to complete the setup.

You know you have signed up successfully when you see some housekeeping rules about ChatGPT, including possible errors in the data, how OpenAI collects data and how users can submit feedback.