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What is it?
ChatGPT is an OpenAI product that gives users access to a large language model through a conversational interface. You type a question or instruction, and the model generates a response based on patterns from its training. For many people it is their first practical encounter with AI.
ChatGPT is available as a free tier and as a paid subscription with access to more capable models, plugins, and file uploads. For business use, OpenAI also offers Team and Enterprise plans with stronger privacy guarantees and no use of your data for training.
Why it matters for SMEs
ChatGPT has significantly lowered the barrier to using AI. Employees without a technical background can use it for tasks that were previously too time-consuming to do well.
- Ready to use for office work straight away: drafting and rewriting text, summarising documents, composing emails, and analysing data are faster than ever, without any setup required.
- Broadly usable without training: the model understands plain language, so anyone who can clearly describe what they want can get started immediately.
- The entry point to more: many organisations that now use AI seriously started with ChatGPT. It builds intuition for what AI can do before investing in purpose-built applications.
The limit is what the product cannot do: it has no access to your systems, does not know your customers, and cannot take actions in other software. That is where AI agents and integrations begin to add real value.
How it works
ChatGPT has a simple interface, but the mechanism underneath is OpenAI's large language model, such as GPT-4o. The model predicts the most appropriate text based on your input and its training on vast amounts of text data.
- You type a prompt: a question, instruction, or context describing what you want.
- The model processes the input: it analyses the prompt and generates a response, word by word, based on patterns.
- You receive a response: text, a list, an analysis, or a draft, depending on your request.
- You refine: you follow up with additional questions or instructions to improve the result.
ChatGPT retains context within a conversation, but not between conversations. For applications where the product needs to know your customers or processes structurally, you need additional setup, such as a system prompt or integration with your data.
Example in practice
Picture an employee at a housing association who needs to write a weekly summary of the past week's inspection reports for management. She pastes the reports into ChatGPT with the instruction: 'Summarise in two pages, grouped by type of issue, in professional English.' In ten minutes she has a usable draft that she reads through and adjusts before sending.
Comparison and misconceptions
ChatGPT is a product; GPT-4o is the underlying model. Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini are comparable products built on different models. For business use with stricter privacy requirements, choose the ChatGPT Team or Enterprise plan, or an API implementation where your data is not used for training.
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