Do leaders need to pay for ChatGPT 4?

If you're as obssessed with ChatGPT as I am, you will already be aware that ChatGPT-4 was released in the middle of this week. It is available now for those who have subscribed to ChatGPT plus - a USD $20 per month subscription model that gives you faster response times, higher usage limits and early access to new features and improvements.

If you're not quite as obssessed you might be wondering what the difference is between the free and paid versions, and whether it's worth paying for.

So for the first part of the question, I of course asked ChatGPT to let me know. Here is it's response:

1. Improved language understanding: GPT-4 may have a better grasp of language, context, and nuance due to improvements in the model architecture and training process.
2. Enhanced knowledge base: GPT-4 would have a more up-to-date knowledge base, having been trained on data up to September 2021 compared to GPT-3's June 2020 cutoff.
3. Reduced errors: GPT-4 may have fewer errors in its responses, thanks to refinements in the architecture and training process, which can lead to better comprehension and accuracy.
4. Better context retention: GPT-4 may have improved capabilities in retaining context over a longer conversation, providing more coherent and relevant responses.
5. Enhanced creativity: GPT-4 may generate more creative responses, given its larger architecture and updated training data, which could make it more suitable for tasks like storytelling or brainstorming.

 So does it stack up on these improvements and does it make it worth paying for?

I've conducted a couple of quick tests, using the same prompt in each version of ChatGPT (you can see them here on Google Drive if you're interested).

I can definitely see a difference in conciseness and flow - GPT is a little more human like in it's general answers (of course, you can change it's speech patterns through prompts). Version 3.5 is configured to be a lot faster at the moment, however we're still talking way faster than a human regardless of version.

Both versions still require plenty of your human skills; to check for accuracy, to check it makes sense, to add your authentic voice... however version 4 needs less of it.

So, is it worth paying for?

Of course the answer is going to be 'it depends'. 

For general work purposes, where you're asking it to rewrite an email so it sounds more professional, or give you 5 ideas for a newsletter article on Just what is Human Design, or ask it how to influence senior leadership in your organisation - I would say you will get a great response from version 3 without paying for it.

If you're looking at more complex uses - rewriting online page content, getting insights into a complex problem, need information between June 2020 and September 2021 or you just like using the best tool possible, then USD $20 per month might well be worth it.