OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plugins explained

In March, Microsoft-backed OpenAI announced that it is working on developing plugins that will serve as "eyes and ears" for ChatGPT. This would allow the ChatGPT to significantly enhance its capabilities as an adaptable tool for users to delegate a wide range of tasks.   

On Friday, OpenAI announced in a release note that it will roll out ChatGPT Plugins to ChatGPT Plus subscribers this week. The company said the beta release allows ChatGPT to access the internet and to use 70+ third-party plugins. 

But what exactly do these plugins comprise, who has access to them, and why is it a big deal?  

How does ChatGPT plugin work?  

ChatGPT is an advanced language model built by OpenAI based on the Generative Pre-trained Transformer architecture. ChatGPT can communicate with people on many topics and deliver useful information using its advanced natural language processing.   

ChatGPT plugins will improve natural language processing and user communication. For example, sentiment analysis plugins can help ChatGPT understand the emotions behind a user's text input, making it easier to provide personalized responses. Similarly, entity recognition plugins can help ChatGPT identify specific entities in a user's text input, such as names or locations, to provide more relevant responses.  

OpenAI says this upgrade will enable ChatGPT “access up-to-date information, run computations, and use third-party services”. The company has also hired ChatGPT plugin developers from a waiting list to construct these additional capabilities. The first plugins include Expedia, Klarna, Slack, Wolfram, OpenTable, Shopify, and more.   

OpenAI will host its own web browser and code interpreter plugins. Two capabilities that let ChatGPT access the internet and run code.  

Who can access ChatGPT plugins?  

Initially, these plugins were exclusively accessible to a restricted group during a "limited alpha" phase. OpenAI's recent announcement has brought about a significant development for ChatGPT Plus users, as over 70 third-party plugins have been introduced.  

"We’re rolling out web browsing and Plugins to all ChatGPT Plus users over the next week!" OpenAI announced in a tweet. "Moving from alpha to beta, they allow ChatGPT to access the internet and to use 70+ third-party plugins."  

We’re rolling out web browsing and Plugins to all ChatGPT Plus users over the next week! Moving from alpha to beta, they allow ChatGPT to access the internet and to use 70+ third-party plugins. https://t.co/t4syFUj0fL pic.twitter.com/Mw9FMpKq91

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 12, 2023

When subscribing to ChatGPT Plus, users can find the plugins under the "Beta Features" section in their settings. These plugins are designed to activate automatically. For a monthly fee of $20, users can now access OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 model, which represents a notable improvement over its predecessor, ChatGPT-3. Subscribers of Plus will be granted access to a vast selection of over 70 third-party plugins. These tools are capable of parsing through website content, visualizing and analyzing data, and facilitating language learning.   

While users have the freedom to install multiple plugins, they are restricted to utilizing a maximum of three at any given time. The wide variety of plugins serves an extensive range of industries and enterprises, spanning from retail and property to finance, tourism, and gastronomy.  

Why is it a big deal?  

The potential impact of ChatGPT plugins on the competitive field of generative AI leadership has become more evident as ChatGPT evolves into an extensive platform rather than a mere tool. Enabling ChatGPT to browse the internet may potentially reduce hallucinations and assist companies in refining their data collection strategies. The rise of ChatGPT as a one-stop-shop for browsing could potentially jeopardize certain websites. Moreover, it may pose security risks for confidential information.   

ChatGPT's capabilities have undergone a sea change with the introduction of expanded access to plugins for all $20/month subscribers. And it couldn't have arrived at a better time, as Google just last week at I/O announced some major improvements to Bard.  

It is clear that OpenAI is facing competition from the open-source community. Many developers are working on autonomous AI agents with web-surfing capabilities. For example, the startup Hyperwrite recently announced its own demo of an AI agent that can surf the web, used through a Chrome extension.  

OpenAI is simply moving fast to stay ahead of the competition.