chatgpt tutorial: how to use chatgpt by openai

There’s a new artificial intelligence chatbot in town. has taken the internet by storm. People have been using it to compose music, understand complex topics, make jokes, write movie scripts, and even debug computer codes. Such is the bot’s popularity; it took only five days to score its first million users.

So what’s all the fuss about? This detailed tutorial explains precisely how to use ChatGPT. But before we delve into the details, let’s first consider what ChatGPT is and what’s causing the huge buzz surrounding the latest AI tool.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, a research firm based in San Francisco. It is a language learning model compatible with both supervised and reinforcement machine learning techniques. Unlike most other chatbots, ChatGPT relies on a vast and complex learning model. It can understand your messages’ meaning and context and generate human-like responses.

ChatGPT is still in its early phases. The prototype was made available to the public on Nov. 30, 2022. That said, it is already showing potential as a multi-utility AI tool. As well as idea development, gameplay, scriptwriting, and more, you can also use the tool to chat about any topic of your interest. 

Sounds great! But how do I use it? Let’s dive straight into: here’s how to use ChatGPT.

ChatGPT fees

To start using ChatGPT, you must be 18 or above and have an OpenAI account. The chatbot is currently available for free. However, OpenAI launched a new paid subscription place called ChatGPT Plus on Feb. 1, 2023, that costs users $20 per month. The paid plan is initially available only for users in the United States, although the company has assured that it will be gradually extended to other countries and regions.

ChatGPT Plus offers the following benefits over the free version:

• Uninterrupted access to ChatGPT, even during peak hours.
• Priority access to new features and updates.
• Faster response time.

How to use ChatGPT

The sign-up process is relatively straightforward. Here’s how you do it:

Go to the OpenAI website and click on the Try ChatGPT button. You will find the option toward the top of the website interface. Alternatively, you may also click on this link to go straight to the chatbot interface.

Up next, you will be asked to log in or sign up. If you do not already have an OpenAI account, sign up using your email address. You may also have to share your mobile number before you’re let in. 

Once you’re in, you will be greeted with a few standard disclaimers. These include a notice that AI trainers may review your interaction with ChatGPT to evaluate the system’s performance. You might want to skim these disclaimers for a general overview of what to expect.

Now, you can start interacting with ChatGPT. Find the message box toward the bottom of the interface to begin a conversation. 

ChatGPT will generate a response quickly. As a starting point, we asked a simple question: “What is ?” The bot took about five seconds to come up with a response (see fig. below). We liked how the explanation was to the point and easy to understand. If you are unhappy with the response, you could hit the button Try Again. The bot will then try to answer you differently.

You may continue the conversation by replying to ChatGPT’s messages using the message box.

Or you can also click on the “New Thread” button on the left sidebar to reset the current conversation and start a new one.

Based on the limited time we spent chatting with the bot, it does a decent job with human-like responses. You can’t really tell that you are talking with an AI unless, of course, you know it already. Although perhaps the lack of typos and the faster typing speed could raise some suspicion!

You could also use ChatGPT to write or debut programming codes.

Or, you could even write (or borrow ideas for) movie scripts. We tried out a script idea for a horror movie where Keanu Reeves plays the ghost of John Wick. This is the result: 

Coming soon to a theater near you!

Note that the growing popularity of ChatGPT often leads to network congestion, which renders the service slow or unresponsive at times. This mostly happens when an overwhelming number of users are trying to access the service at the time same time, which then overloads the servers. However, paid ChatGPT subscribers are expected to be immune from these outages.

ChatGPT releases AI classifier to detect AI-written text 

With the growing popularity of ChatGPT, there are rising concerns among educators that students might start relying too heavily on AI tools to complete their homework and assignments. For instance, a recent showed that one in three college students surveyed was using ChatGPT to complete writing assignments. 

This raises questions about the long-term effects on students’ learning and development. Will this technology enhance their education or hinder it? OpenAI seems to have tuned in to the gripes of the educators that share these concerns. The company recently released an AI classifier tool to tackle the issue head-on. The free web-based tool allows users to determine whether a piece of text was written by a person or an AI.

Using the tool is quite easy. All you have to do is go to the AI classifier, login, and paste the text you want to examine. The tool will then categorize the text on a scale, ranging from “likely AI-generated” to “very unlikely.”

However, the classifier is still a work in progress and may not be always accurate. OpenAI acknowledges this. The company said the following in a blog post to prevent any confusion over the classifier’s accuracy:

“Our classifier is not fully reliable. […..] We’re making this classifier publicly available to get feedback on whether imperfect tools like this one are useful. Our work on the detection of AI-generated text will continue.”

ChatGPT is definitely worth a try

That pretty much sums up how to use ChatGPT. The chatbot packs some serious punches, indicative of the innovation and utility of AI and machine learning. We were particularly impressed with the cohesion of its movie ideas and the clarity of its answers. However, the technology is still in the early stages of development. In fact, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman publically stated, “ChatGPT is incredibly limited.” The entrepreneur also wrote that it would be a mistake “to be relying on it for anything important right now.”

That said, you can still use the text and ideas generated by ChatGPT for personal and commercial purposes. It’s best to take an idea from the bot and build on it rather than using it as it is. ChatGPT doesn’t yet have a mechanism to weed out plagiarism, so make sure you’re putting your own spin on things.

Frequently asked questions