ChatGPT is going to change how it appears to users with free or Go accounts, starting with the U.S.
ChatGPT gets ads in Free and Go tiers
Users of the generative AI platform in the U.S., sporting a free account or the new, cheaper Go plan, will start seeing ads in ChatGPT now, the company has announced.
Currently, ads will remain limited to these two options for subscriptions (free and Go) and will be shown to users who are logged in. Additionally, OpenAI says it won't be showing ads to minors.
The company also underlines that ads would not influence the answers that the generative AI chatbot gives. Meanwhile, OpenAI has also claimed it will not provide advertisers with content from your ChatGPT conversations.
Image Credit - OpenAI
As for the ads themselves, they would appear with a label "sponsored". The information in the ads will be displayed separately from the answers from the chatbot to ensure there's no confusion.
That's mainly done because, reportedly, OpenAI is not making a profit from ChatGPT, while the free and Go tiers do require continuous investments into infrastructure. Apparently, the company plans to cover some expenses with the help of ads.
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Meanwhile, subscribers to the Plus and Pro plans for the chatbot are not going to see ads. There's also an option for compromise (a rare thing, if I may add), where you can opt out of ads but you'll have to have a lower daily free messages limit.
The ads that will be shown will be based on the conversation topic, past chats, and past interactions with ads. For example, if you're talking about recipes, ChatGPT may show you ads for groceries or meal kits.
Meanwhile, advertisers would be receiving aggregate information. That would include the number of clicks or views of an ad. However, the info they receive won't include chat history, ChatGPT memories, or personal user information. Ad data is reportedly going to be deleted, and you can also disable personalization.
The service allows you to dismiss ads and also provide feedback about them. You can also receive information about why a certain ad was shown to you. Additionally, ads on sensitive topics like mental health, general health, and politics would not be shown.
How do you feel about ads inside your AI conversations?
The rollout is somewhat of a test at this point
OpenAI says that the current rollout will be used for the company to learn and test to get the experience just right for its users. The company is saying that it believes ChatGPT can be "uniquely valuable for people".
As we mentioned previously, subscribers with Plus and Pro accounts are not going to see ads. The same is applied to the Business, Enterprise, and Education plans.
Meanwhile, other competitors of ChatGPT seem to be mostly against adding ads in their chatbots. For example, Anthropic, the company behind Claude AI, recently promised it's keeping the chatbot ad-free. Google also has a similar stance with Gemini, claiming that it appears to be quite early for ads in chatbots in general.
I don't like ads, but I'm not against monetization
Personally, ads are probably the thing on the internet that bothers me the most. However, I understand and stand by companies needing to fund themselves, and I would never ask any company to offer things for free.
How I deal with ads is paying for a subscription. This way, I support the company whose service I like using and also spare myself from annoying ads. If I don't like the service enough to pay for it, then I'm just not going to use it. But that's just me, other people may choose to see ads and not pay. It's all a matter of personal choices, your budget, and your preferences.
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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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