GPT-4 for dummies: 101 on the even more powerful version of ChatGPT

Just under four months after OpenAI launched ChatGPT, the AI-model that has an almost human-like ability to produce well-researched content in seconds, it has come out with ChatGPT-4, or GPT-4, the latest iteration of the AI model taking the world by storm. 

GPT-4 is OpenAI's most advanced model yet and has the power to score higher on real-world tests, accept images and can process words eight times faster than GPT-3. The new, upgraded system has the potential to revolutionise the world we live in even more than it already has so today, we break down what exactly the platform is and if it could potentially overtake the advertising industry. 

What is GPT-4?

GPT-4 is OpenAI's latest iteration of its AI model that has revolutionised the platform. While OpenAI has frequently made updates to its original system up to GPT-3.5, this is the company's most significant upgrade. With the new upgrade, you will now have a system that is more capable and reliable, according to OpenAI in a blog post on its website.

"GPT-4 is more reliable, creative, and able to handle much more nuanced instructions than GPT-3.5," the company said. It added that the system can also handle a significantly higher volume of input text which means that it can now analyse more complex topics and respond in a more accurate way. You can also now present GPT-4 with images, graphs, and infographics when it comes to prompting the system into action to further increase its usefulness. 

One of the main issues that was initially faced by ChatGPT was that it would produce non-factual responses to prompts and that it was not creative enough.

With GPT-4, responses will be 40% more factual. It can also predict text in character and can pretend to be different personas.

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While these changes seem minor, it does drastically change the capabilities and possibilities of the platform particularly when it comes to schools, writing jobs, advertising and more. 

Could GPT-4 overtake the advertising industry?

Back when ChatGPT first launched, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out to industry players to ask them what they thought of the platform and if they thought the system had the potential to overtake certain roles in the industry. At that point, many noted that while the platform is revolutionary, that it "won’t be changing the industry dramatically just yet", according to a spokesperson at Publicis Groupe.

Months later, we reached out to them once again and asked them what they thought of GPT-4's role in the advertising industry will be considering the evolution of the platform and how it has been adopted by Microsoft, schools, offices and more. 

Surprisingly, the industry professionals we spoke to were still of the belief that GPT-4 will not fully overtake the industry. Don Anderson, the CEO of Kaddadle noted that while ChatGPT-4 has the potential to support certain roles, he is not convinced that it will outright eliminate or pose a full-on threat to writers and marketers as there still needs to be a human filter to ensure that accuracy and ethics are upheld. 

"I would think social media management is likely to be the one area of communications to be immediately affected, as generative AI tools provide an immediate option for on-the-fly content generation and media planning, budgeting and scheduling," Anderson said.

We’ll surely see an increased use of generative AI, particularly given enhanced multimodal systems that allow for broader text, audio and video options, in a variety of creative industry applications.

He continued by saying that GPT-4 will likely be key in basic promotional videos, blog posts, PR communications and newsletters. He noted that he himself has used it for minor copywriting and communication tasks such as initial PR outlines, creative briefs for partners and for script thought starters.

Saying that, Anderson mentioned that he does see posts on social media from self-employed marketers who claim to be broadly leveraging ChatGPT across copywriting, SEO keyword development, media planning and budgeting, among other everyday tasks. 

"From a content marketing lens, what we could end up with is the rise of a new legion of specialists who will guide, review, fact check and revise the output of ChatGPT4, applying a particular brand's spin or voice to any AI generated copy or creative," said Anderson.

He continued by saying that we will also likely see increased industry pushback with more agencies likely adopting a position that their output and solutions are non-AI generated to resonate more with certain brand advertisers and industry categories who want that level of trust resonate more with certain brand advertisers and industry categories who want that level of trust and safety, particularly those operating in a highly regulated space like financial sector.

 Agreeing with Anderson, Edwin Yeo, the general manager at Strategic Public Relations Group said that while there is little doubt that generative AI will, at some point, be able to replace more mundane duties such as lead generation ads or some degree of performance marketing, we are still a long way from it being able to replace human creativity. 

He added that technology, in his opinion, is a long way from being able to replicate a level of experimentation that is involved with coming up with creative and original ideas. 

Additionally, it is important to note that the impact of AI on marketing teams is a complex and multifaceted issue, according to Ashvin Anamalai, the CEO of DNA Creative Communications.

While it's true that the technology has the potential to automate certain tasks and make some roles redundant, it's important to recognise that marketing is an inherently human-driven field that requires a range of relationship-building skills and expertise that requires "The Human Touch".

He continued by saying that it is unlikely that companies will simply streamline their marketing teams in a bid to save costs for the time being. "But who knows what the future holds?" he asked.

How can one access it?

GPT-4 will be available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers with a usage cap. ChatGPT Plus launched in early February and is currently priced at US$20 per month. Subscribers are able to unlock new features and benefits with ChatGPT Plus. A few of these benefits include general access to ChatGPT, a faster response time and priority access to other new features and improvements.

When it comes to GPT-4, OpenAI noted in its statement that it will adjust its exact usage cap depending on demand and system performance in practice. It admitted though that that it initially expects a severe capacity constraint and that it will be scaling up and optimising the platform over the coming months. 

"Depending on the traffic patterns we see, we may introduce a new subscription level for higher-volume GPT-4 usage; we also hope at some point to offer some amount of free GPT-4 queries so those without a subscription can try it too," said OpenAI.

To get access to the GPT-4 API, interested users can also sign up on a waitlist. 

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