OpenAI announces GPT-4, the new generation of AI language model

“We’ve spent 6 months iteratively aligning GPT-4 using lessons from our adversarial testing program as well as ChatGPT, resulting in our best-ever results (though far from perfect) on factuality, steerability, and refusing to go outside of guardrail,” the company said in a research blog post.

GPT-4 can generate captions, classifications, and analyses. It is also capable of handling 25,000 words of texts, enabling content creation, extended conversations, as well as document search and analysis.

OpenAI says the new model will produce fewer factually incorrect answers. In fact, the company claims GPT-4 performs better than humans on many standardised tests. For example, GPT-4 performed at the 90th percentile on a simulated bar exam, the 93rd percentile on an SAT reading exam, and the 89th percentile on the SAT Math exam, OpenAI claimed. However, the company has acknowledged GPT-4’s limitations such as “social biases”, hallucinations, and adversarial prompts.”

“The model can have various biases in its outputs—we have made progress on these but there’s still more to do,” the company said in a blog post.

GPT-4 isn’t a huge leap from GPT-3.5 and the research firm admits that, calling the new latest version of its primary large language model more iterative. “In a casual conversation, the distinction between GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 can be subtle. The difference comes out when the complexity of the task reaches a sufficient threshold—GPT-4 is more reliable, creative, and able to handle much more nuanced instructions than GPT-3.5,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post.

OpenAI said it used MicrosoftAzure to train the model; the Redmond giant has invested billions of dollars in the startup. OpenAI’s GPT model powers the popular chatbot ChatGPT and  Microsoft’s Bing AI chat. The new Bing AI chatbot uses GPT-4, Microsoft officially confirmed after months of rumours.

The new model will be available to paying users of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s $20 monthly subscription and will also be available as part of an API which allows programmers to integrate the AI into their apps. OpenAI says it’s already partnered with a number of companies to integrate GPT-4 into their products, including Duolingo, Stripe, and Khan Academy.

The race to AI domination has gained steam over the past few months, with both Microsoft and Google jumping into the space. Generative AI, as many believe, will lay the groundwork for many future products currently in the pipeline. OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in November and instantly the chatbot went viral. Microsoft’s interest in generative AI and its investment in OpenAI has put Google in a tight spot. The Silicon Valley heavyweight has been under pressure to deeply integrate artificial intelligence capabilities in its core apps such as Gmail and Docs.