After a year and a half of using the free version of ChatGPT, I signed up for a paid subscription. This paid version, ChatGPT Plus ($20/month), has been around since February 2023, when it was launched to provide paying subscribers with better performance and priority access to new features. But now seemed like a good time to take the plunge.

Why so? One reason is that in September, OpenAI unveiled a new series of AI models “designed to spend more time thinking before they respond.” The company claimed this new series, named OpenAIo1, “can reason through complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous models in science, coding, and math.” While not planning to stress-test that claim, I was intrigued by the additional firepower, which was immediately available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers. So, I upgraded, although with some mental reservation.

Disruptive and Unstoppable

A professional writer using a tool like ChatGPT is entitled to mixed feelings. What comes to mind is the prediction (attributed to Marx) about the capitalist selling the communists the rope with which they will hang him. Am I buying the rope? Funding my executioner? Is the proliferation of ChatGPT going to hasten my downfall? Here are a few comments, one general and three specific.

First, at a high level, the generative (Gen)AI and large language model (LLM) genies are out of the bottle. What ultimate shape they take, how much data-center energy they consume and capacity they require, what guardrails are built, how they will disrupt and enhance business and work – those are all open questions. But they’re open and moving, not static, however much some tech leaders have wanted to press “pause.”

ChatGPT, Marvel and Risk

In my case, I’m curious, as noted above. More specifically, one of my clients is engaged in deep neural networking – the computational engine of LLMs – so I’ve been exposed to this technology on its theoretical and scientific side. As I discovered in my years as a journalist and editor, it always helps to see real outcomes. (Listen to the vendor, for instance, but try to get into a headend or data center and talk to front-line techs.) Gaining access to the latest features of a commercial product is one way to see how LLMs look in practice.

As for the threat, the arrival of ChatGPT in late 2022 seemed less intimidating to me than to business writers who are more consumer oriented. But it rapidly improved. Have I lost any business because of it? Probably. Have I gained any work as a result? Actually, yes. It’s no secret, but even after the improvements, AI-generated output can still sound robotic and contain inaccuracies.

Tech companies need to project a human voice that is both precise and fresh – especially when they are cutting-edge, like many of my clients. They can lose value through inferior messaging, whether created by GenAI or a sub-par writer and editor, or a combination thereof. ChatGPT may work as a starter, but not a finisher. I’ve already been asked to conduct a few AI clean-up operations.

Buyer Beware

Finally, to reiterate, ChatGPT is a tool. Above all, from my perspective, it’s a research tool. Historical flashback: Before the internet and internet browser, there were card catalogs and newspaper clipping services. We’re in another transition period now. LLMs are not search engines, but they’re similar. Both can be used and misused. And neither generates perfect results. As always, caveat emptor.

For now, I am buying. I may revert to the free version if ChatGPT Plus proves to be over-engineered for my purposes, i.e. producing these kinds of deliverables. If I do downgrade, I may need to deal with OpenAI’s CSRs, or its chatbot equivalents. I expect them to be good.