OpenAI LP is enhancing the ChatGPT experience for subscribers with the addition of web browsing capabilities and access to more than 70 plugins that will roll out this coming week.

The launch of the experimental new features will enable ChatGPT to accomplish many more tasks than it could before, the company tweeted Friday. ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that has taken the internet by storm with its almost humanlike ability to respond to questions and prompts.

However, one of its main limitations is that it was trained on publicly available data on the internet as it was at the end of 2021, meaning its responses are not always up to date. ChatGPT isn’t aware of the most recent happenings in the world, and its answers very often reflect that.

With rival chatbot tools such as Google LLC’s Bard able to connect to the internet, ChatGPT has been seen by some as now lagging behind. However, the latest updates should change that. The ChatGPT plugins are internet-connected tools available in beta designed to extend its features by performing various tasks, such as searching the internet, providing weather forecasts, helping users shop for new products, find sports results and more.

The plugins are being made available only to ChatGPT Plus subscribers for now, and must be enabled in the user settings under the “Beta Features” option. The premium service, which costs $20 a month, allows users to access an updated version of ChatGPT that’s powered by OpenAI’s latest large language mode, GPT-4. The company said it has partnered with various third-party companies to create its first breed of plugins, including Slack, Expedia Inc., Shopify Inc., Wolfram Alpha LLC, Instacart, Klarna Bank AB and OpenTable Inc.

With the plugins enabled, ChatGPT can now parse up-to-date web content, visualize and analyze data, help users to find a job, learn a foreign language and more, the company said. For instance, the ChatGPT Kayak Plugin can help users to shape their holiday ideas and search for locations, flights, hotels and more. Meanwhile, the ndricks Sports Plugin finds and compiles sports news and other information.

In a blog post, OpenAI explained that all of its new features will now be launched in various stages. During the alpha testing phase, only a small group of users will have access for initial testing and feedback. Then in beta, all ChatGPT subscribers who’ve opted in will be able to access the new capabilities. Finally, once all kinks have been ironed out and the feature has been assessed as meeting OpenAI’s quality standards, it will be made generally available to all ChatGPT users.

Last week, OpenAI’s competitor Google announced the worldwide launch of Bard, with free access to many of the features that can be accessed on ChatGPT only through a paid subscription.

Image: Freepik