OpenAI now lets you use ChatGPT without an account, but there is a catch

OpenAI today announced its next big plan to expand the usage of its generative AI-based model, ChatGPT. The company today announced that now anyone can use ChatGPT even if they don’t have an account. As of now, users need to create an account on ChatGPT’s official website in order to use features and services offered by the AI assistant. But now, users can open ChatGPT’s official website and start using it for free.

“It’s core to our mission to make tools like ChatGPT broadly available so that people can experience the benefits of AI…Starting today, you can use ChatGPT instantly, without needing to sign-up,” Open AI wrote in a blog post adding that it is rolling out this feature across the globe gradually.

But there’s a catch!

OpenAI says that it will use users’ interaction with ChatGPT to train and improve its large language model or LLM. In simple words, whatever conversation you have with ChatGPT will be used by OpenAI to its own benefit, which lies in improving the AI assistant using more data. “We may use what you provide to ChatGPT to improve our models for everyone,” the company wrote.

Thankfully, there is a way to turn this feature off.

How to prevent OpenAI from using your data to train ChatGPT

Step 1: Open chatgpt.com in your web browser (to use it without creating an account).

Step 2: Click on the question mark at the bottom left corner of the screen.

Step 3: Click on the Settings button.

Step 4: Toggle the button off that says, ‘Improve the model for everyone’.

Wait, there’s more.

OpenAI says that while it has opened doors for almost anyone to use ChatGPT, there are some obvious benefits to creating an account, even if you don’t want to pay for some of the more advanced features.

The company says that the features such as the ability to save and review users’ chat history, share chats, and advanced features such as voice conversations and custom instructions will remain inaccessible to the users who use ChatGPT without creating an account.

Additionally, OpenAI says that it has introduced additional content safeguards for this experience, such as blocking prompts and generations in a wider range of categories, to make the experience safer for users. However, the company is yet to specify which categories it plans to block in case of account-less users.