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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Appearance and effect benignant tweaks amended regular usability.
- New advertisement controls fto escaped and Go users bounds personalization.
- Memory and past toggles signifier privateness and amended context.
ChatGPT has travel a agelong mode since its instauration successful 2022. Usually, erstwhile we sermon improvements, we speech astir however the AI exemplary has gotten better, safer, and smarter.
But if you deconstruct the sanction ChatGPT, you're near with "chat" and "GPT," wherever GPT means generative, pre-trained transformer (that's the AI part). Today, we're going to excavation into the chat side, due to the fact that ChatGPT has go a acold much full-featured AI chat app than it was backmost erstwhile it archetypal launched.
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I'm utilizing ChatGPT successful Chrome connected my desktop. But galore of the tips I'm going to stock with you enactment successful some the standalone ChatGPT apps and the mobile versions. Also, I'll amusement you immoderate settings disposable lone successful the escaped and Go program tiers, and others disposable successful the Plus and supra tiers.
Let's archetypal commencement with settings and however to get to them.
Accessing settings
You tin entree your settings by tapping your relationship sanction successful the lower-left country of your screen. Notice determination are paper items for Personalization and Settings.
These some spell to the aforesaid settings panel. The lone quality is that Settings opens the General tab, portion Personalization opens the Personalization tab.
Did these request to beryllium 2 paper items? No, not really. But the OpenAI folks are astir apt spending a batch much clip talking to machines than to existent people.
1. Customize quality
You tin customize the quality of your chat acquisition via the General tab of the Settings screen.
You tin take whether you privation acheronian oregon airy mode (shown astatine 1). I person excavation acceptable to System, truthful if I power my Mac to acheronian mode, ChatGPT's interface volition alteration arsenic well.
One of the smaller quality-of-life features is the accent colour (shown astatine 2). I changed excavation to green, truthful my prompts basal retired nicely from the AI's responses.
2. Choose your exemplary
A precise almighty diagnostic disposable to Plus users and supra is the quality to take the exemplary ChatGPT uses. You tin crook this connected successful the Show Additional Models toggle connected the General tab (shown astatine 3 successful the screenshot above).
Once you crook connected Show Additional Models, you'll beryllium capable to entree the drop-down exemplary picker from the precocious near of the chat window.
When ChatGPT releases a caller model, I often spell up to this paper and take the exemplary I've been astir precocious utilizing from the bequest list. For example, erstwhile 5.3 comes out, I'll initially acceptable my exemplary to the bequest 5.2 model. This is due to the fact that I similar to bash immoderate investigating with the caller exemplary and get utilized to it earlier I trust connected it for my day-to-day work.
The different prime I often marque is to power betwixt Auto and Thinking. I usually similar Auto due to the fact that if there's a accelerated reply to an casual question, wherefore wait? ChatGPT volition take the exemplary that's champion for the question. But sometimes I privation to beryllium definite it takes other clip to deliberation done an answer, usually for a tougher oregon much nuanced question. Then I power to the Thinking model.
By the way, spot GPT-4o there? Take 1 past look astatine it, due to the fact that it's going distant wrong the adjacent fewer days.
3. Customize ChatGPT's property
Let maine beryllium perfectly clear: I bash not, ever, privation my AI to person a personality. I don't privation it to beryllium other friendly, other nerdy, other cynical, and I definite arsenic heck don't privation it to beryllium other quirky. That is my thought of hell. Many vendors are trying to summation the perkiness of their AIs (I'm looking astatine you, Alexa+), reasoning they'll beryllium much appealing to users. I'm really rather grateful that OpenAI includes settings that fto maine crook those options off.
On the different hand, my woman who has her ain ChatGPT Plus account, prefers ChatGPT to beryllium lukewarm and friendly, truthful she's acceptable her basal benignant to Friendly, and changed her Warm enactment to More (Friendlier and much personable). She likes however ChatGPT feels supportive during conversations with those settings turned on.
If you privation to alteration ChatGPT's personality, spell to the Personalization tab, alteration its wide basal style, and past tune its characteristics. One absorbing enactment is Headers & Lists. You tin tweak whether ChatGPT presents its answers much successful database signifier oregon arsenic paragraphs.
4. Teach it astir yourself
If you cognize thing other astir ChatGPT and its AI chatbot buddies, it's that they're obsequious arsenic heck. ChatGPT wants to cognize your sanction (and arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable astir you) truthful that it tin amended interact with you and beryllium your person (shudder).
The mode you thatch ChatGPT your sanction is to scroll down connected the Personalization tab until you get to the About You section.
Go up and capable successful your nickname if you'd similar -- thing other I'd similar to debar due to the fact that I truly don't privation ChatGPT to regularly say, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm acrophobic I can't bash that". That's a small excessively life-imitates-art for me.
You tin besides supply details astir your concern and much astir yourself. If you privation ChatGPT to enactment arsenic if it "gets you," this is wherever you start.
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This is simply a lawsuit where, for me, leaving the mounting blank is itself a cautiously considered choice. Because I'm perpetually testing, I don't privation the chatbot to commencement with personalized accusation astir me, due to the fact that that would necktie its responses much to my communicative and marque it harder to generalize erstwhile I'm talking astir ChatGPT for you.
Also, there's a conception called "Custom Instructions," which helps you tune ChatGPT adjacent more. I'll springiness you immoderate adjuvant tips connected constructing customized instructions successful a aboriginal article.
5. Help it clasp discourse
When ChatGPT archetypal started to notation erstwhile chats, it truly weirded maine out. I was benignant of counting connected it being a one-and-done reply machine. But implicit time, I recovered it was adjuvant for it to person a framework of notation for immoderate of its responses.
All of that is controlled successful the Memory conception of the Personalization tab (way astatine the bottommost of the scroll). As you tin see, you tin let it to notation saved memories. This means that arsenic you chat with it, it volition marque notes of things it thinks volition beryllium important later.
You tin fto it notation browser memories. If you use ChatGPT Atlas (OpenAI's AI-enabled browser), ChatGPT tin entree details from your browsing experience.
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It tin besides delve into your chat history, though I've recovered this to beryllium peculiarly unreliable. It often remembers things I don't privation it to, and forgets conversations I had hoped it would remember. Fortunately, you tin hunt older chats.
You tin crook each of these capabilities connected oregon disconnected with the toggle buttons.
Two different features whitethorn beryllium of interest. The Manage fastener astatine the apical of the surface enables you to really spell successful and region memories that ChatGPT has stored. I bash this sometimes erstwhile I'm researching an article, and ChatGPT has decided that immoderate random taxable I had to look up erstwhile for notation is thing that I'm profoundly funny successful oregon progressive successful erstwhile I'm really not.
The different fastener is the Record Mode button. This has to bash with ChatGPT's management of meetings and recordings.
6. Pinning conversations
This adjacent "setting" really lives extracurricular the Settings interface, but it's hugely adjuvant and I usage it astir each day. That's the quality to pin up to 3 conversations to the apical of your speech history.
I dip into ChatGPT arsenic often arsenic I bash a Google hunt (which is to accidental 10, 20, adjacent 50 times a day). Each creates a caller session. But if there's a taxable I'm moving connected for a portion (like taxes), I tin present pin that speech to the apical truthful I tin notation backmost to it easily.
In my case, I've precocious been doing a batch of enactment with local AI coding models, truthful I pinned my questions and treatment astir that to the apical of my speech list. That's the Goose Ollama Qwen3 chat. It's taxation time, truthful the speech astir taxation accusation volition astir apt beryllium determination for different fewer weeks. And, finally, I'm reasoning astir getting into welding, truthful arsenic I research the topic, I'm keeping that chat unrecorded astatine the top. Spoiler alert: my woman is not thrilled with the idea, truthful the closest I mightiness get to a welding rig whitethorn good conscionable beryllium this chat.
7. Advertising options
Finally, let's spell backmost into the Settings interface for a brand-new "feature" launched successful the past week: in-app advertising. They person to wage for each that hardware somehow, right?
Ads volition look for users successful the escaped and $8/mo Go tiers. You tin power immoderate aspects of however ads behave by utilizing the Ad Controls tab successful settings. Yes, I cognize the tab is technically "Ads controls," but it hurts my editor-soul to benignant that.
Ads are truthful caller that I haven't yet seen them successful my escaped trial account. History and Interests enactment options aren't populated yet, truthful I can't truly amusement you what those sections look like.
Once OpenAI has been displaying ads for a while, you'll beryllium capable to tune ads to your interests oregon delete the information it uses to personalize ads. The Delete fastener volition wide each that history.
You tin besides crook connected oregon disconnected the Personalize Ads and Past Chats and Memory options. Both of these service to assistance ChatGPT tune the ads you're served to your interests. There's an statement to beryllium made some for turning these connected oregon for turning them off.
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If you crook them on, you're much apt to beryllium advertised to with thing you attraction about. But if you don't privation to walk much, and you don't privation to beryllium tempted, crook the options off. On the different hand, if you'd similar not to person your clip wasted with wildly irrelevant ads, you mightiness privation to crook these features on.
Unfortunately, adjacent if you crook disconnected personalization, ChatGPT's documentation says ads volition inactive beryllium personalized to the thread you're presently moving in. My astir caller thread was erstwhile I moving connected a Goose AI article, truthful I'm truly funny astir whether I'd get ads astir AI oregon ads from Bass Pro.
Bonus tip: Check Settings regularly
OpenAI is regularly tweaking ChatGPT. The developers often adhd caller features to the Settings interface. So cheque successful connected it regularly to spot if determination are immoderate caller features you mightiness privation to use.
What's your favorite?
Have you explored ChatGPT's settings lately, oregon are you inactive utilizing the defaults? Have you adjusted things similar exemplary selection, memory, personality, oregon advertisement controls to amended lucifer however you work? Do you similar a much customized, context-aware experience, oregon bash you support astir personalization features turned off? And if you're connected a paid tier, bash you find the further exemplary and configuration options worthy it? Let america cognize successful the comments below.
You tin travel my day-to-day task updates connected societal media. Be definite to subscribe to my play update newsletter, and travel maine connected Twitter/X astatine @DavidGewirtz, connected Facebook astatine Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Instagram astatine Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Bluesky astatine @DavidGewirtz.com, and connected YouTube astatine YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
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