OpenAI’s Great Leap Forward with ChatGPT

The launch of ChatGPT from OpenAI in November 2022 showed just how dramatically generative AI can and will change marketing. It was very clear from version 3.5 that it will influence everything from creative concepting to media optimization. But 3.5 was really just the beginning, and the pace at which OpenAI is developing the ChatGPT product has been relentless. The latest features add another step change in capability for marketers and consumers alike.

New Features for ChatGPT

On September 25, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT can now see, hear, and speak. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT is getting a voice and image upgrade, with a new, more intuitive interface that lets you talk to it or show it what you're talking about.

With voice and image input, ChatGPT will become more versatile and accessible (or so OpenAI says). For example, you can snap a photo of a landmark on vacation and have a live conversation about its history and significance. Or, you can take a photo of your fridge and pantry to get recipe ideas and ask follow-up questions for a step-by-step guide. And if your child is struggling with a math problem, you can take a photo of the problem set, circle the tricky part, and have ChatGPT share hints with both of you.

These new capabilities will make ChatGPT more engaging and helpful for a wider range of tasks. Whether you're looking for a travel companion, a cooking assistant, or a math tutor, OpenAI hopes that ChatGPT can now help you in more ways than ever before.

Of course, OpenAI hopes to extend its influence across the way people use generative AI, too. And who can blame them? ChatGPT competes against an increasingly crowded set of gen AI tools including the Bard and image-based gen AI tools such as MidJourney. In addition, Google continues to refine its own Search Generative Experience, which uses conversational AI to return deeper and more intuitive search results (and we recently updated you about how SGE is performing).

OpenAI is embedding multi-media functionality as I write this post. So far, early adopters given a sneak peek have been impressed. Here on Twitter/X is an impressive sampling of the kinds of sophisticated multimedia searches that people can do with ChatGPT, including an intricate analysis of the human brain structure based on an image.

Implications

So, what does all this mean to marketers? Well, just as consumers can use multi-media ChatGPT, so can marketers. I see two clear disruptive applications for the latest ChatGPT upgrade:

• Firstly for customer service: businesses will now be able to use ChatGPT to create chatbots that can answer customer questions in a more comprehensive and informative way. This can lead to more natural and engaging conversations with customers, which can help to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Second for conversion rate optimization: (CRO) experts can scan/upload an image of site or page along with the customer personas being targeted and get optimization feedback and recommendations which may then be used for hypothesis and testing.

Bottom line: ChatGPT just got a huge boost because you're no longer confined to text-based prompts but can use images as well as voice.

But this does not mean ChatGPT does all these things well on its own. Like any tool, the output is only as good as the input. Poor inputs lead to poor, and often incorrect, outputs. A human being needs to manage it proactively, guiding the initial prompts and follow ups to get the best answer. This underscores an important point: while anyone can use ChatGPT, not anyone can use it well.

We Still Need People

Here's what ChatGPT does not and should not do: replace people. As I've stated before, at IDX, we strongly advise against entrusting AI with the task of drafting significant amounts of written content or generating images. This caution stems from:

• Ethical and legal concerns regarding AI potentially appropriating and utilizing the creative output of the originator without proper attribution or compensation.
• Our belief that algorithms will increasingly penalize detectable AI-generated content because ultimately the algorithms need human-produced content to maintain their relevance.
• Our commitment to empowering people to think better and create more effectively with AI rather than turning the entire process of creativity over to a machine. If machines create all content, all businesses will become commoditized.

At IDX, we're incorporating AI into our content creation responsibly and efficiently. Learn more about our content and creative services. Contact us to learn how we can help you waste less and grow more.

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