OpenAI executive claims today's ChatGPT will seem "laughably bad" within the next 12 months, matching CEO Sam Altman's gripes

What you need to know

• A top OpenAI executive recently indicated ChatGPT will spot better performance and accuracy in a year, potentially referring to the long-awaited GPT-5.
• The executive added that the model will be able to handle more complex tasks and will serve as a “great teammate” that will help users handle “any given problem.”
• OpenAI will reportedly ship its GPT-5 model later this year during the fall. 

“A year ago tonight we were probably just sitting around the office putting the finishing touches on ChatGPT before the next morning’s launch,” indicated OpenAI CEO Sam Altman while celebrating the chatbot’s first birthday in November 2023. “What a year it’s been.”

ChatGPT is arguably the best AI-powered chatbot, according to a report by Appfigures. It reigns over Microsoft Copilot, even though both models are based on the same technology, with the latter providing free access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 model and DALL-E image generation technology.

The chatbot has achieved incredible feats, from developing software to solving complex math equations and puzzles. But this isn’t to say that it doesn’t ship with its fair share of challenges. For instance, the exorbitant $700,000/day cost for running the chatbot coupled with power and water concerns.

That withstanding, it seems things are about to get better on the ChatGPT front. According to a report by Business Insider, an OpenAI top executive predicts a future where generative AI-powered chatbots like its ChatGPT would unlock their maximum potential.

While at the 27th annual Milken Institute Global Conference, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap indicated:

“In the next couple of 12 months, I think the systems that we use today will be laughably bad. We think we’re going to move toward a world where they’re much more capable.”

Lightcap added that AI tools will be able to take on more complex tasks than ever before. The OpenAI executive also indicated AI tools act as a “great teammate” that will help users handle “any given problem.”

ChatGPT’s future looks crisp and bright

((Image credit: Daniel Rubino))

While there’s little to base this news on, there are speculations that OpenAI is getting ready to ship its GPT-5 model later in the fall, which’s expected to be “really good, like materially better.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted GPT-4 “kind of sucks” and is “mildly embarrassing at best.”

GPT-4 is the dumbest model any of you will ever have to use again by a lot. It’s important to ship early and often and we believe in iterative deployment.

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman

What’s the cost implication of these promises? OpenAI reportedly spent over $520 million on ChatGPT last year. But per Sam Altman’s comments, the cost implication doesn’t seem to be a major issue for the company. Instead, he’s more inclined towards improving the LLM’s performance and accuracy:

“I think giving people really capable tools and letting them figure out how they’re going to use this to build the future is a super good thing to do, and is super valuable, and I am super willing to bet on the ingenuity of you all and everybody else in the world to figure out what to do about this. There is probably some more business-minded person than me at OpenAI somewhere that is worried about how much we’re spending, but I kind of don’t.”

Sam Altman also indicated the future AI revolution won’t require a new piece of hardware, as it will be cloud-based. But if the paradigm shift requires more sophisticated hardware and software, users will be “happy to have a new device.” Finally, Altman indicated GPT-6 will be naturally better than GPT-5 as per the nature of AI and software development.