ChatGPT has been a useful tool for a lot of people, whether it serves as an assistant for work or personal matters. For those who use the AI chatbot often, a new useful feature has been launched by OpenAI where certain instructions will be applied to all future conversations.
OpenAI's Custom Instructions
Those who use ChatGPT for particular tasks may now enable instructions for the chatbot to respond in a manner that they would prefer every time they use it. By clicking on a user's name, the option for Custom Instructions will appear where they can add instructions on both fields.
For example, they can customize whether ChatGPT should respond in short or long responses, or they can instruct the chatbot to do so casually or formally. Users can also tell the chatbot to provide opinions or remain neutral, as well as how they want ChatGPT to address them.
Users are allowed two custom instructions, both of which will have a 1,500-character limit. It can be edited and removed anytime the user decides to. However, a new conversation must be created every time changes are made to the custom instructions.
These instructions will influence the output from added plugins as well, according to OpenAI. Sadly for non-paying users, the feature is only available for theChatGPT Plus plan and has not been rolled out in the UK and the EU.
As for privacy concerns, the custom instructions will not be accessible to shared link viewers. Although the information users provide for the feature will be used to improve ChatGPT's model performance, they can opt out of their data being used at any time.
The instructions will remain on the user's account as long as they don't delete it. In the event that they do while allowing OpenAI to use their data to train the model, users will have a 30-day window before the custom instructions are deleted permanently.
If the user wants to remove the previous custom instructions that they have provided from appearing in prior chats, they will have to clear the conversations from their chat history. These conversations are held by OpenAI for 30 days as well before they are deleted permanently.
ChatGPT Plus
If the custom instructions feature is something that a user needs, it might be time to subscribe to ChatGPT's paid version. ChatGPT Plus will cost $20 a month, and of course, they come with perks that users won't get with the free version.
The benefits include having general access to the chatbot. Although this seems like a standard perk even for non-paying users, ChatGPT Plus is prioritized during peak times, meaning that paying subscribers will not have to wait for the chatbot's availability.
The response times will also be faster compared to the standard ChatGPT. When the company releases new features and improvements to the chatbot, Plus users will have priority access to them. The ChatGPT Plus plan can be a useful service for those who use the chatbot for professional matters.
