Custom chatbot apps backed by OpenAI’s text- and image-generating AI models (e.g., GPT-4 and DALL-E 3) are available for purchase in the GPT store, which the company hinted about last week.
The GPT Store, a new tab in the online ChatGPT client, showcases a variety of GPTs created by OpenAI’s partners and the larger development community. The community leaderboard is a great place for GPT users to see what others are talking about and what’s hot in several categories like lifestyle, writing, research, programming, and education.
Anyone with a paid subscription to ChatGPT Plus, ChatGPT Enterprise, or the brand new ChatGPT Team plan from OpenAI can shop at the GPT Store. An AllTrails trail recommender, a Khan Academy code teacher, and a Canva content creator are just a few of the GPTs that will be available at launch. Currently, you can use them all for free. (“More on that later.”)
A developer’s level of coding expertise is irrelevant while creating GPTs, and GPTs can take on any complexity the developer desires. With OpenAI’s GPT-building tool, GPT Builder, developers can describe the features they want their GPT to have in plain English, and the tool will try to create an AI-powered chatbot that can carry out those features.
For instance, a GPT can be taught to answer questions on ingredients for a particular recipe by training on a collection of cookbooks. Alternatively, a GPT might consume a company’s proprietary codebases, allowing developers to review their style or produce code that adheres to best practices.
By submitting their GPTs to OpenAI’s new review system, which combines human and automatic assessment, developers may confirm that their GPTs adhere to the company’s terms of use and get them listed in the GPT Store. (Users can also report GPTs that they believe have slipped through the cracks.)
I emailed OpenAI a number of questions regarding the “human” component of the GPT Store review process, such as the reviewers’ compensation and access to mental health resources, in light of the company’s history of hiring underpaid, overworked contractors in developing nations to moderate and enhance its GenAI systems.
As of the time of writing, the company had not answered; however, I will update this piece if they do respond. Developers will not have the ability to charge for GPTs at launch. The “GPT builder revenue program” is set to be unveiled by OpenAI in the first quarter of this year. American builders will be able to earn money through “user engagement” with their GPTs.
OpenAI has promised to clarify the payment requirements in due course. Last year, during OpenAI’s inaugural developer conference, DevDay, the GPT Store was announced. However, it was postponed until December, perhaps as a result of the leadership shakeup that happened in November, immediately following the announcement.
(In a nutshell, OpenAI’s board of directors fired CEO Sam Altman, only to reinstate him with a new board following investor and staff fear.) GPTs make it easy for anyone to build generative AI apps, at least for the models developed by OpenAI.
Consulting firms whose core competency is creating GPTs for clients would find themselves in the dust if GPTs take off. We’ll just have to watch how things turn out, but that doesn’t bode well.
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