OpenAI launches new AI model GPT-4o, a conversational digital personal assistant

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT, are out with a new AI model called GPT-4o.

Supporters say the latest artificial intelligence language model will make ChatGPT smarter and easier to use.

GPT-4o will turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant. It can interpret and generate text, images and audio. It can also have conversations with you in real time.

Not everyone is on board with the changes though.

In the Mission District at OpenAI headquarters, dozens of demonstrators demanding to "Pause AI."

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"We are not anti-technology. We love that GPT can be useful," said Liron Shapira with the group Pause AI. "We need to hit the pause button. It's too soon for us to handle super human intelligence because we need more research into how to make it safe."

OpenAI, Google, Meta - they're all working to build increasingly powerful large language models that power chatbots.

On this Monday, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o and is making it free to all users.

GPT-4o provides GPT-4 level intelligence but it is much faster," said OpenAI CTO Mira Murati during a livestream.

The updated experience will allow users to interact with it on desktop and through improved voice conversations.

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GPT-4o will use text and vision. It can view screenshots, photos, documents or charts uploaded by users and have a conversation about them.

Tech expert SJSU professor Ahmed Banafa explains.

"It's basically listening and can see through the camera and can give answers," said Banafa.

OpenAI executives demonstrated a spoken conversation with ChatGPT to get real-time instructions for solving a math problem, to get coding advice, and to tell a bedtime story.

"At this stage, AI is acting like a friend, acting like an assistant," said Banafa.

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OpenAI presenters also showed the model detecting users' emotions.

OpenAI says GPT-4o will be free for all ChatGPT users. Paid users will continue to have up to five times the capacity limits of free users.

"It's a smart move because they can get the data. It's very good. This is one way to train the model more and more," said Banafa. "It's another step towards something we call the perfect AI. Which is basically the AI will have all the five sense of humans. We can see it advancing very fast, more than what we expect."

The OpenAI announcement comes a day before Google's big I/O developer conference.

The tech giant is expected to announce updates to its Gemini AI model.