
ChatGPT: what it is, how to utilize it, everything you require to know around the celebrated AI
ChatGPT is a generative AI that can get it and reply questions utilizing characteristic dialect. This tool has quickly made a place for itself in our daily lives. How does it work? Here’s everything you require to know around it.

Since its disclosure to the world on November 30, 2022, ChatGPT has captured the collective creative ability in a way that few advances do. His meteoric rise to success is easily explained. Imagine a virtual assistant, designed by OpenAI, capable of not only holding a conversation with almost human ease but also composing texts with impeccable precision and punctuation.
This technical feat is not only impressive: it opens the door to a world of possibilities, where conversations with a machine become as natural and enriching as those we have between humans. Since then, many chatbots have been released, all with the aim of outclassing it: Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Bing, Claude 2, etc. The list goes on.
In fact, many of you are trying to tame this new technology that is taking up more and more space in our lives. To get to the bottom of the matter, here’s our complete guide to ChatGPT and how to use it.
🔥 ChatGPT: the latest news
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🤔 What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a conversational agent using artificial intelligence. Specializing in discourse, the chatbot was created by OpenAI, a company co-created by Elon Musk in 2015 and esteemed at about US$85 billion in 2024. The acronym GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer.
Available — in French — since May 2023, the conversational robot is able to understand users’ questions and answer them in a language relatively close to that of a human. At least, he’s able to remember what you’ve asked him to do.
ChatGPT openai artificial intelligence
It is refined based on OpenAI’s GPT language model, with supervised learning and reinforcement learning, both of which use human trainers to improve the performance of the software. For the free version, it currently relies on more than 175 billion parameters taken into account for content creation.
In concrete terms, ChatGPT responds to your queries entered in a dedicated text box. The chatbot then processes your request and responds to it based on the information it has. During its first months in the wild, the robot could not pick up its information from the Internet, contenting itself with relying on a body of knowledge that stopped at September 2021.
Until July 2024, ChatGPT’s knowledge stopped at January 2022. That is, he did not have access to events or information that had occurred after that date. But since this summer and the arrival of GPT4o-mini for everyone, the ChatGPT database now stops at October 2023. Paid clients of ChatGPT can get to more up-to-date data through real-time web browsing.

👉 How to utilize ChatGPT?
See you on chat.openai.com. You’ll need an OpenAI account to use ChatGPT. Registration is free. If you don’t have an account, click Sign up. You can then put your email and a password or choose to create it with your Google, Microsoft, or Apple account.
Once your OpenAI account is created and the ChatGPT chat box opens, type a question in the chat box at the bottom to get started, type your text, and press Enter.
Select New chat in the top left at any time to start a new conversation.
If you don’t like an answer, you can put a thumbs down. The opposite is valid with the thumbs up if an answer seems correct to you. In any case, you can put a comment to improve the chatbot.
Alternatively, you can download the official chatbot apps. The iOS version of ChatGPT has been available since May 24, 2023. The Android app arrived later, downloadable since July 25, 2023. It is also recently available on macOS.

ChatGPT updated August 2023
Note that ChatGPT is also used on some car models. Citroën has integrated it into its DS 3, DS 4, DS 7 and DS 9 models, and Mercedes-Benz also offers it in its vehicles equipped with MBUX. Peugeot has also been doing so since July 2024, with cars with the integrated voice recognition function (OK Peugeot).
💶 Is ChatGPT free?
ChatGPT comes in two packages: one is free, and just requires an OpenAI account, and the other is paid and is called ChatGPT Plus, for about twenty euros per month. But with three models accessible (GPT4o-mini, GPT-4o, and GPT-4) it can be troublesome to select the right one for you.
Launched in 2022, GPT-3.5 was the to begin with ChatGPT show to be broadly accessible. He is known for his capacity to create practical and coherent writings, interpret dialects, and reply questions in an instructive manner. However, he can sometimes lack precision and nuance, and his limited memory can restrict him in complex tasks. Since July 2024, it has been replaced by GPT-4o mini, which is much more efficient. It is always completely free.
Introduced in May 2024, GPT-4o is establishing itself as an improved and accessible version of GPT-3.5. Surprisingly free too (but limited to a few prompts per day), it offers increased processing speed, better natural language understanding and a powerful voice assistant. Its larger memory allows it to handle more complex tasks, such as writing long articles or generating code. In addition, its voice assistant allows for a smooth and natural interaction, comparable to an advanced personal assistant.

Two GPT-4os interacting and singing
Announced in March 2023, GPT-4 is only accessible through the paid ChatGPT Plus subscription at €20 per month. It offers advanced language, image and sound processing and generation capabilities, but it is currently the only paid version.
Features include a better understanding of emotions and context, the ability to generate even more creative text formats, and deep integration with third-party applications. Recently, the paid subscription also allows you to take advantage of an advanced chatbot builder, called GPT Builder. This option allows you to build your own chatbot and then exchange it to other users.
But why a paid version of ChatGPT? While the average cost of each response is relatively low — in the order of a few cents — server maintenance is currently very expensive for OpenAI, which is looking for ways to monetize its platform to amortize its operational costs.
Very recently, OpenAi has also launched ChatGPT Edu, another version aimed at universities. some concrete examples of the use of AI in higher education, such as personalized tutoring for students, help with CV writing and job search or support with research and correction for teachers. This very specific version is not yet available in France.
Finally, OpenAI is developing GPT-5, a large language model that is poised to revolutionize the way we interact with AI. Much more effective than GPT-4, it is right now in preparing and is not anticipated to see the light of day some time recently 2025.
🧐 What can you do with ChatGPT?
Companies and individuals can use ChatGPT for many editorial tasks. Its capabilities are very broad. The chatbot is an ally of choice for formatting a text, automating redundant processes, awakening your creativity and more generally increasing your productivity. Here are some use cases:
Write text (articles, fiction, speeches, professional emails, social media posts, etc.)
Summarizing a long text
To translate
Solving math problems
Develop or debug code.
Deciphering a subject
Make lists (shopping, to-do, useful resources, data to organize)
Finding creative ideas
Make programs (stages of a trip, steps to lose weight, etc.)
Unlike some chatbots, ChatGPT remembers previous messages given to it during the same conversation. It also allows the user to provide corrections and is further trained to refuse inappropriate requests.
There are many techniques to get the answers you’re looking for. It’s the art of prompting: here are some tips on how to use ChatGPT like a pro. To summarize, here are several foolproof techniques to harness the potential of AI:
Detail the context of your request
Ask him to improve and refine an answer
Break down your prompt into several questions
Demand multiple options in their answers
Give him a function, a job
Ask for multiple perspectives
With GPT-4 available in the paid version, it is already possible to interact with images or video. And good news, ChatGPT now welcomes DALL-E 3 directly into its interface. For reference, OpenAI’s generator allows you to create images using a simple text prompt.
On the other hand, video generation via the Sora model could be integrated into ChatGPT Plus with GPT-5, which promises to be much more efficient than the current version.
To read: Here are all our tips for using DALL-E 3 like a pro.
Is ChatGPT entitled to plugins?
OpenAI has also introduced plugins that allow for increased uses of ChatGPT. In particular, they allow you to control certain applications such as Expedia. Just tell the bot to arrange a trip for you on a given date and place. They will then organize the trip by booking the flights in your Expedia cart. It will then generate a link through which you can pay for your order.
Here are some other examples of really handy plugins:
Prompt Perfect to formulate your prompt
Show Me Diagrams to get answers in the form of visual representations
Zapier to automate your regular tasks
Find here our selection of the 10 best plugins for ChatGPT.
Let’s also remember that ChatGPT also offers you to design personalized GPTs, designed for specific needs. This feature used to be reserved for paid users, but the good news is that custom GPTs are now open to everyone, even if restrictions limit the number of interactions possible.
👀 Can we tell if I have used ChatGPT?
This is the million-euro question that a good number of students are probably asking themselves at the moment. We think, for example, of these students in Lyon who called on ChatGPT to turn in their homework and who were fooled.
If OpenAI claims the opposite and says that ChatGPT is undetectable, it is still possible to detect the use of ChatGPT, just by checking with the person or student directly if they have mastered their subject behind it.
In the United States, the website CNET preferred to use ChatGPT to automate the production of some of its articles on finance that only needed to change some data. But the pot of roses was quickly discovered by other editors: following this, 12 CNET journalists were fired.
ChatGPT job loss
Despite this, AI models are being developed to detect ChatGPT, such as GPTZero, created by Edward Tian, a student at Princeton University. However, beware of the limits posed by this kind of detector since it is enough to take the text well for the illusion to be perfect. Even OpenAI has temporarily shut down its own AI-generated text detector “due to its low accuracy rate.”
It should be noted, however, that a text generated by ChatGPT is less complex than content designed and written by a human. By getting into the habit of reading answers produced by the chatbot, it is quite easy to see some redundancies in its writing style, punctuation, etc.
Still, for OpenAI, ChatGPT is a great educational tool. Teachers can always try to make classroom teaching more interactive and fun.
The accuracy of some of the tool’s answers has also been questioned many times in recent months. Some answers are plausible, others are spectacular, but some remain incorrect, even absurd.
So don’t hesitate to check for yourself if his words are right and don’t take anything for granted. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, does not hide his fears about the possible excesses of chatbots. In particular, he fears that artificial intelligence will be exploited by totalitarian regimes and for disinformation purposes.
OpenAI CEO, CTO on risks and how AI will reshape society
ChatGPT also raises deeper ethical and moral concerns. Even if it is trained not to respond to inappropriate requests and will always remain “smooth” in its responses, ChatGPT can be subconsciously offensive.
In addition, ChatGPT is already widely used by cybercriminals to design malware. On the dark web, cybercriminals talk about all kinds of uses with chatbpot, such as making malicious code written, dealing with stolen user data, scanning files from infected devices, and more. Finally, you should know that Russian hackers are already using ChatGPT to carry out some of their cyberattacks.
There is also the problem of the overall quality of the content present on the Internet in the long term, as we have already explained to you. Indeed, while it seems difficult to believe that all journalists will be replaced by robots, the mass publication of information, created from sources cross-checked by artificial intelligence itself and unverified, could flood the Internet with disinformation.
By artificially creating articles from content that has already been created, AI simply puts together information that has already been published. However, the more false content multiplies, the more likely AI will be to write new articles from this false content.
In addition, the quality of his answers could deteriorate further on current issues. Indeed, the media massively block ChatGPT. The latter no longer has access to the pages of many of the most reputable newspapers such as the New York Times or Le Monde, annoyed to see their copyrighted content ingested by the bot. But the ability to access real-time information and news sources can vary and evolve with new policies or licensing agreements.
In addition, the use of ChatGPT by students poses real problems in their learning process. Getting a ready-made assignment obviously does not allow you to develop your critical thinking, learn to organize your ideas or solve problems. Sciences Po has banned ChatGPT, with offending students risking expulsion.
Read: ChatGPT: an insoluble security flaw is weighing on the future of chatbots
👨 💻 Is it risky to use ChatGPT for data protection?
If you log in to your OpenAI account and use ChatGPT, the chatbot won’t install anything malicious on your device. Your only concern would be that OpenAI suffers a data breach and exposes your personal data, which is a risk with any online account.
Nevertheless, avoid injecting personal information into ChatGPT. According to OpenAI’s ChatGPT FAQ, the chatbot records your conversations that are reviewed by OpenAI for development purposes.
So don’t enter any sensitive data about yourself. The bug that occurred on March 21, 2023 is a telling warning: the ChatGPT conversation histories of some users were exposed on the accounts of other users, prompting OpenAI to cut off the service urgently.
According to a study by Cyberhaven, tens of thousands of workers have disclosed sensitive information about their company to ChatGPT. At Amazon, a lawyer from the legal department even noticed that artificial intelligence responses were similar to internal and normally confidential data of the company. Thus, even Microsoft and OpenAI ask their employees not to disclose confidential information.
In the same way, ChatGPT finds itself in turmoil in Europe: a cybersecurity researcher has filed a complaint for non-compliance with the GDPR. A few months earlier, Italy had banned ChatGPT until it could comply with the EU’s strict data protection laws. In France, the CNIL is also conducting an investigation.
How do I delete my ChatGPT account?
If you want to delete your data, you can always delete your entire OpenAI account, which is irreversible. On the other hand, their website doesn’t make things any easier. We tried to do this through their help section, to no avail.
However, here is the only process that worked to delete a ChatGPT and OpenAI account and associated data:
In the subject line, put “Account Deletion Request.”
In the body of the email, put “Please delete my OpenAI account.”
The process is expected to take several days depending on how fast they are.
Read: ChatGPT: Kenyan employees paid $2 an hour denounces psychological “torture”
ChatGPT is not working, what should I do?
If you use ChatGPT regularly, you’ve probably found that the chatbot often crashes. This is usually due to the increased number of users overloading OpenAI’s servers. Here are some ways to access the chatbot anyway.
👉 How do I export my ChatGPT chats?
Exporting your data from Chat GPT is a quick and easy process, but it will take some time depending on how you use the bot. Here’s a quick and easy guide on how to export your data from ChatGPT.