OpenAI's latest update brings more natural conversations, emotion sensing and faster responses to ChatGPT, starting with Plus subscribers
OpenAI has started rolling out its upgraded Voice Mode for ChatGPT, offering users more natural-sounding audio conversations with its flagship chatbot.
The revised Voice Mode is currently only available to a small number of ChatGPT Plus users, the $20 a month subscription that provides subscribers with priority access to more advanced models and multimodal capabilities.
“Advanced Voice Mode offers more natural, real-time conversations, allows you to interrupt anytime and senses and responds to your emotions,” OpenAI said when announcing the rollout.
ChatGPT Plus users lucky enough to be given alpha access to the new Voice Mode will be notified via email and a mobile app notification.
OpenAI said it plans to widen access “on a rolling basis” with every ChatGPT Plus user to be given access in the fall.
OpenAI said the alpha release would help improve the feature before a wider rollout, with the company planning to publish a detailed report on Voice Mode’s underlying AI model, GPT-4o, later this month.
New video and screen-sharing capabilities are also coming to ChatGPT, but OpenAI said these will launch “at a later date” and did not provide a provided.
ChatGPT’s Voice Mode feature was first unveiled in September 2023, with users able to talk to the chatbot in back-and-forth conversations.
However, the feature was rudimentary at best and was locked behind a paywall. OpenAI announced at its spring update in June that it would be widening access to the Voice Mode feature with a new underlying AI model offering improved conversations.
The upgraded voice feature offers improved response understanding, with the ability to better follow instructions, such as responding in a specific voice or tone. ChatGPT’s Voice Mode can now generate responses much faster, with users able to interrupt the bot during a response to request changes.
The feature was expected to be released in the summer but has been pushed back to fall to ensure it is safe for wider usage.
The Microsoft-backed company said it brought in more than 100 external red teamers to test the product’s outputs across 45 languages.
“Since we first demoed advanced Voice Mode, we’ve been working to reinforce the safety and quality of voice conversations as we prepare to bring this frontier technology to millions of people,” OpenAI said this week.
The upgraded Voice Mode also features built-in systems blocking violent or copyrighted content requests.
Another block was implemented to stop Voice Mode from generating responses that differ from its four preset voices.
The original number of voices was five, but it was reduced after actor Scarlett Johansson complained about the fifth preset, stating that it was “eerily similar” to her voice.
The rollout of the chatbot’s new voice feature comes the same week OpenAI announced it is testing a new search feature for ChatGPT, SearchGPT, that would provide users with a more conversational search experience.
Read more about:
ChatGPT / Generative AIYou May Also Like
