How to use ChatGPT: A beginner’s guide to the most popular AI chatbot

While ChatGPT can write workable Python code, it can’t necessarily program an entire app’s worth of code. However, users have noted that there are some character limitations after around 500 words. ChatGPT is AI-powered and utilizes LLM technology to generate text after a prompt.

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MCP, an open-source standard, helps AI models generate more accurate and suitable responses to specific queries, and lets developers create bidirectional links between data sources and AI applications like chatbots. Researchers at Stanford University have observed that therapy chatbots powered by large language models can sometimes stigmatize people with mental health conditions or respond in ways that are inappropriate or could be harmful. OpenAI has launched a new API feature called Flex processing that allows users to use AI models at a lower cost but with slower response times and occasional resource unavailability. Instead, it should be used as a tool to generate text or complete language-based tasks, and any information provided by the model should be verified with credible sources.” Even answers to questions about computer programming languages, an unlikely source of hallucinations, have proved inaccurate so often that the popular programming question-and-answer site Stack Overflow temporarily banned answers from ChatGPT. Despite decades of using AI, Wall Street professionals report that consistently beating the market with AI, including recent large language models, is challenging due to limited and noisy financial data. In the 2020s, the rapid advancement of deep learning-based generative artificial intelligence models raised questions about the copyright status of AI-generated works, and about whether copyright infringement occurs when such are trained or used.
OpenAI launched Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, letting U.S. users purchase products directly from Etsy and, soon, over a million Shopify merchants without leaving the conversation. The partnership is part of OpenAI’s broader effort to develop AI-driven e-commerce tools, including collaborations with Etsy and Shopify. OpenAI has launched its AI browser, ChatGPT Atlas, starting on Mac, letting users get answers from ChatGPT instead of traditional search results. The company says it has improved ChatGPT’s responses by consulting more than 170 mental health experts to handle such conversations more appropriately than earlier versions. OpenAI revealed that a small but significant portion of ChatGPT users, more than a million weekly, discuss mental health struggles, including suicidal thoughts, psychosis, or mania, with the AI.
An app for Windows launched on the Microsoft Store on October 15, 2024. According to the company, Plus provided access during peak periods, no downtime, priority access to new features, and faster response speeds. GPT-based moderation classifiers are used to reduce the risk of harmful outputs being presented to users. An optional “Memory” feature allows users to tell ChatGPT to memorize specific information. It is designed to generate human-like text and can carry out a wide variety of tasks.

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Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. ZDNET’s recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. When asked if there really was such a Greek myth, ChatGPT apologized and replied that there was no such myth but that it had created a fable based on its understanding of Greek mythology. The model can add two-digit numbers (e.g., 23 + 56) with complete accuracy, but for multiplying two-digit numbers (e.g., 23 × 56), it produces the right answer only about 30 percent of the time. By means of a series of such tests, a computer’s success at “thinking” can be measured by its probability of being misidentified as the human subject.
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Timeline of the most recent ChatGPT updates

ChatGPT is programmed to reject prompts that may violate its content policy. In one instance, ChatGPT generated a rap in which women and scientists of color were asserted to be inferior to white male scientists. OpenAI has sometimes mitigated this effect by updating the training data. ChatGPT’s training data only covers a period up to the cut-off date, so it lacks knowledge of recent events. In July 2025, OpenAI released ChatGPT agent, an AI agent that can perform multi-step tasks.

• ChatGPT now receives 2.5 billion prompts daily from users worldwide, including roughly 330 million from the U.S.
• OpenAI first previewed the model in December alongside a more capable system called o3.
• By popular request, GPT-4.1 will be available directly in ChatGPT starting today.GPT-4.1 is a specialized model that excels at coding tasks & instruction following.
• While OpenAI has a similar deleted data retention policy for ChatGPT, the retention period for ChatGPT is only 30 days, which is 60 days shorter than Operator’s.
• Disney is putting $1 billion into OpenAI as a way to dive into AI, letting users on Sora create videos using over 200 Disney characters, at least for the first year exclusively.
• The ChatGPT-generated avatar told the people, “Dear friends, it is an honor for me to stand here and preach to you as the first artificial intelligence at this year’s convention of Protestants in Germany”.

ChatGPT includes a built-in image generator that’s powered by GPT-4o. Ask it to find, for example, the best humidifier available — and specify any features or a price range. You can probably tell by now that ChatGPT is far more than a simple chatbot. Once you’ve chosen a model and even a mode or tool in ChatGPT, it’s time to finally ask something.
Within five days of its introduction, more than one million users had signed up for a free account to interact with ChatGPT. For example, “the cat foxygold casino sat on the mat” is more likely to occur in English than “sat the the mat cat on” and thus would be more likely to appear in a ChatGPT response. Judges in the US and Pakistan have endorsed using ChatGPT to investigate legal questions during a case. In an American civil lawsuit, attorneys were sanctioned for filing a legal motion generated by ChatGPT containing fictitious legal decisions. In November 2025, OpenAI acknowledged that there have been “instances where our 4o model fell short in recognizing signs of delusion or emotional dependency”, and reported that it is working to improve safety.

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Personal data has to be accurate,” said Joakim Söderberg, data protection lawyer at Noyb, in a statement. Meta also plans to bolster its presence in India by constructing a large 3GW data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Users on ChatGPT’s free tier can now access the new version of Advanced Voice Mode, while paying users will receive answers that are “more direct, engaging, concise, specific, and creative,” a spokesperson from OpenAI told TechCrunch. The update enables real-time conversations, and the AI assistant is said to be more personable and interrupts users less often. OpenAI has updated its AI voice assistant with improved chatting capabilities, according to a video posted on Monday (March 24) to the company’s official media channels. OpenAI also said Mark Chen would step into the expanded role of chief research officer, and Julia Villagra will take on the role of chief people officer.

• ChatGPT users will see an updated “chain of thought” that shows more of the model’s “reasoning” steps and how it arrived at answers to questions.
• OpenAI has released a post on the recent sycophancy issues with the default AI model powering ChatGPT, GPT-4o, leading the company to revert an update to the model released last week.
• In September 2025, following the suicide of a 16-year-old, OpenAI said it planned to add restrictions for users under 18, including the blocking of graphic sexual content and the prevention of flirtatious talk.
• This includes the ability to make requests for deletion of AI-generated references about you.
• OpenAI, facing a lawsuit from the parents of a 16-year-old who died by suicide, said in its blog that it has implemented new safeguards for ChatGPT, including stronger detection of mental health risks and parental control features.
• General Services Administration (GSA) added OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to its approved AI vendor list, allowing agencies to access these tools through preset contracts without negotiating pricing.

However, the analysis doesn’t consider the additional energy costs incurred by ChatGPT with features like image generation or input processing. In a post on X, Altman said that, in the coming months, OpenAI will release a model called GPT-5 that “integrates a lot of OpenAI’s technology,” including o3, in ChatGPT and its API. OpenAI intends to release several “agent” products tailored for different applications, including sorting and ranking sales leads and software engineering, according to a report from The Information.

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According to OpenAI, as of August 7th 2025 nearly 700 million people use ChatGPT weekly around the world. As ChatGPT follows a dialogue format, it is also able to answer follow-up questions, elaborate on previous responses and rework results accordingly. Users can simply type a question or task (also known as “prompts”) into ChatGPT and it will generate relevant, conversational text responses. We explain everything you need to know about the AI-powered tool ChatGPT here, including how it works, whether it’s free to use and how you can use the tool yourself.
More and more tech companies and search engines are utilizing the chatbot to automate text or quickly answer user questions/concerns. Both the free version of ChatGPT and the paid ChatGPT Plus are regularly updated with new GPT models. ChatGPT is a general-purpose chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to generate text after a user enters a prompt, developed by tech startup OpenAI.
I’ve covered the models and modes above, but here’s a reminder of all the core features (as of October 2025). Apart from models, there are modes and tools in ChatGPT that allow you to go beyond basic chatting. To get started, simply go to chatgpt.com or install the official app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. There’s even a Projects feature that keeps all your chats organized, plus a Library to manage all your generated images. This year alone, OpenAI peppered us with new models, modes, and features to play with inside the AI.