Exploring the Evolution of ChatGPT: From GPT-4 to the Latest GPT-4o
The field of artificial intelligence has witnessed remarkable strides over the past few years, particularly in the realm of natural language processing. OpenAI’s ChatGPT series stands as a testament to this progress, showcasing increasingly sophisticated models that push the boundaries of what AI can achieve. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the evolution from GPT-4 to the latest and most advanced version, GPT-4o. Each iteration brings unique enhancements in capabilities, performance, and cost efficiency, reflecting the rapid advancements in AI technology and its growing accessibility. Let’s dive into the features and improvements of each version to understand how OpenAI continues to innovate and lead in the AI landscape.
Understanding ChatGPT: ChatGPT, based on OpenAI’s GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture, is a state-of-the-art language model designed to generate human-like text based on the input it receives. It learns from vast amounts of text data to understand and generate contextually relevant responses.
OpenAI announced GPT-4 Omni(GPT-4o) as the company’s new flagship multimodal language model on May 13, 2024, during the company’s Spring Updates event. As part of the event, OpenAI released multiple videos demonstrating the intuitive voice response and output capabilities of the model.
What is GPT-4o?
GPT-4o is the flagship model of the OpenAI LLM technology portfolio. The O stands for Omni, a reference to the model’s multiple modalities for text, vision and audio.
The GPT-4o model marks a new evolution for the GPT-4 LLM that OpenAI first released in March 2023. This isn’t the first update for GPT-4 either, as the model first got a boost in November 2023, with the debut of GPT-4 Turbo. The GPT acronym stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. A transformer model is a foundational element of generative AI, providing a neural network architecture that is able to understand and generate new outputs.
GPT-4o goes beyond what GPT-4 Turbo provided in terms of both capabilities and performance. As was the case with its GPT-4 predecessors, GPT-4o can be used for text generation use cases, such as summarization and knowledge-based question and answer. The model is also capable of reasoning, solving complex math problems and coding.
The GPT-4o model introduces a new rapid audio input response that — according to OpenAI — is similar to a human, with an average response time of 320 milliseconds. The model can also respond with an AI-generated voice that sounds human.
Rather than having multiple separate models that understand audio, images — which OpenAI refers to as vision — and text, GPT-4o combines those modalities into a single model. As such, GPT-4o can understand any combination of text, image and audio input and respond with outputs in any of those forms.
The promise of GPT-4o and its high-speed audio multimodal responsiveness is that it allows the model to engage in more natural and intuitive interactions with users.
What can GPT-4o do?
At the time of its release, GPT-4o was the most capable of all OpenAI models in terms of both functionality and performance. The many things that GPT-4o can do include the following:
- Real-time interactions. The GPT-4o model can engage in real-time verbal conversations without any real noticeable delays.
- Knowledge-based Q&A. As was the case with all prior GPT-4 models, GPT-4o has been trained with a knowledge base and is able to respond to questions.
- Text summarization and generation. As was the case with all prior GPT-4 models, GPT-4o can execute common text LLM tasks including text summarization and generation.
- Multimodal reasoning and generation. GPT-4o integrates text, voice and vision into a single model, allowing it to process and respond to a combination of data types. The model can understand audio, images and text at the same speed. It can also generate responses via audio, images and text.
- Language and audio processing. GPT-4o has advanced capabilities in handling more than 50 different languages.
- Sentiment analysis. The model understands user sentiment across different modalities of text, audio and video.
- Voice nuance. GPT-4o can generate speech with emotional nuances. This makes it effective for applications requiring sensitive and nuanced communication.
- Audio content analysis. The model can generate and understand spoken language, which can be applied in voice-activated systems, audio content analysis and interactive storytelling
- Real-time translation. The multimodal capabilities of GPT-4o can support real-time translation from one language to another.
- Image understanding and vision. The model can analyze images and videos, allowing users to upload visual content that GPT-4o will understand, be able to explain and provide analysis for.
- Data analysis. The vision and reasoning capabilities can enable users to analyze data that is contained in data charts. GPT-4o can also create data charts based on analysis or a prompt.
- File uploads. Beyond the knowledge cutoff, GPT-4o supports file uploads, letting users analyze specific data for analysis.
- Memory and contextual awareness. GPT-4o can remember previous interactions and maintain context over longer conversations.
- Large context window. With a context window supporting up to 128,000 tokens, GPT-4o can maintain coherence over longer conversations or documents, making it suitable for detailed analysis.
- Reduced hallucination and improved safety. The model is designed to minimize the generation of incorrect or misleading information. GPT-4o includes enhanced safety protocols to ensure outputs are appropriate and safe for users.
GPT-4 vs. GPT-4 Turbo vs. GPT-4o
Here’s a quick look at the differences between GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4o:
Feature Comparison of GPT Models
GPT-4
- Release Date: March 14, 2023
- Context Window: 8,192 tokens
- Knowledge Cutoff: September 2021
- Input Modalities: Text, limited image handling
- Vision Capabilities: Basic
- Multimodal Capabilities: Limited
- Cost: Standard
GPT-4 Turbo
- Release Date: November 2023
- Context Window: 128,000 tokens
- Knowledge Cutoff: April 2023
- Input Modalities: Text, images (enhanced)
- Vision Capabilities: Enhanced, includes image generation via DALL-E 3
- Multimodal Capabilities: Enhanced image and text processing
- Cost: Three times cheaper for input tokens compared to GPT-4
GPT-4o
- Release Date: May 13, 2024
- Context Window: 128,000 tokens
- Knowledge Cutoff: October 2023
- Input Modalities: Text, images, audio (full multimodal capabilities)
- Vision Capabilities: Advanced vision and audio capabilities
- Multimodal Capabilities: Full integration of text, image, and audio
- Cost: 50% cheaper than GPT-4 Turbo
In conclusion, the progression from GPT-4 to GPT-4 Turbo and now to GPT-4o illustrates OpenAI’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI technology. Each version builds upon its predecessor, offering greater context, enhanced multimodal capabilities, and improved cost efficiency. The latest version, GPT-4o, sets a new standard with its comprehensive multimodal integration and affordability, paving the way for more innovative and accessible AI applications in the future. As we embrace these advancements, the potential for AI to transform industries, enhance creativity, and improve daily life continues to expand, showcasing the exciting future of artificial intelligence.
