I finally bought a subscription to ChatGPT Plus, and it’s worth it

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during my initial interactions with ChatGPT Plus, I wasn’t entirely convinced that OpenAI’s $20/month subscription was worth it. While the updated chatbot powered by GPT-4 was quite fun to try, the free version seemed good enough for most indications. I’m not a software developer who needs a skilled coding assistant; I am a nerd who uses chatbots to have entertaining conversations with artificial intelligence and brainstorm a little.

On May 12, OpenAI announced that users who pay for ChatGPT Plus will be able to access beta versions of their chatbot with searching the web and accessories. Curious about the new features, I avoided a takeout night, ate some disgusting leftovers, and spent money to finally upgrade my personal ChatGPT account. So far, web browsing features are slow to load and responses still contain false information at times.

I’ll probably keep my subscription even with that in mind, because using a chatbot to browse the internet is fascinating and useful in so many ways. Thinking of subscribing to ChatGPT Plus to play with the web browsing beta? Here’s how to enable the experimental feature and some tips to help you get started.

How to access ChatGPT with web browsing

It only takes a couple of steps to activate the web browsing version of ChatGPT. First, go ahead and sign in to your open AI account or create a new user profile. Don’t forget that you will need to pay $20 per month for ChatGPT Plus to use the beta features.

next visit chat.openai.com to open ChatGPT. In the bottom left corner, click the three dots next to your email address, and then choose Settings and beta features. Make sure the button next to searching the web is green and alternates to the right.

The final step is to go back to the main ChatGPT page, start a new chat window and click on the GPT-4 option at the top of the screen. Mouse over “GPT-4” and select Browsing to allow the chatbot to search the internet for answers to your prompts. Subscribers are allowed a limited number of web browsing notices per day.

Tips for experimenting with the Beta

Before we begin, it’s important to understand the difference between the new plugin features and the ChatGPT web browsing beta. Plugins are more specific and involved than the web browsing option. For example, you could theoretically order your purchases through Instacart or start booking your flights on Expedia with ChatGPT Plugins. I need to do more testing before recommending them, but what I’ve seen from web browsing makes my subscription worthwhile.

How do you use it? Let’s start with something fun and simple. I’m excited to play the new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game, so I asked ChatGPT for tips to get it right when starting out. Searched the web for “new Zelda game beginner’s guide”, then the chatbot pretended to click this helpful article on Polygon, and later visited the site’s home page multiple times, as well as its YouTube page. Although the chatbot got a bit lost on the journey and blamed “time constraints” for not providing a more comprehensive answer, ChatGPT was able to paraphrase key details from Polygon’s strategy guide.

Are you looking for a horror movie to watch on Netflix? ChatGPT recommended Psychopath (1960) based on this article Paste and Be quiet (2016) based on a Uproxx blog. Maybe you want to see something in theaters? I asked for hours at the nearby AMC for after work. The chatbot remembered that it was located in San Francisco based on a previous message and found several late-night screenings of The Super Mario Bros. movie and Blackberry.