What is ChatGPT, how does it work and how do you use it?

What ChatGPT is

It is a conversation program, a chatbot, developed by the American company OpenAI and launched on 30 November 2022. According to an estimate by the bank UBS it reached 100 million users in two months, a growth never seen before for a digital service; in August 2026 OpenAI said it had more than a billion users a week. The name comes from GPT, Generative Pre-trained Transformer, the family of models it is based on.

How it works

ChatGPT is based on a language model trained on huge amounts of text: given a question, it builds the answer by predicting one word after another. It was then refined with the judgement of people who rated its answers, to make it more useful and careful. Today it can also search the web and cite sources, read documents and photos, create images and talk by voice. For the general mechanism, see what is artificial intelligence and how does it work.

How to use ChatGPT

Open chatgpt.com or download the app for iPhone or Android, sign in and write a request. The more precise it is, the better: who you are, what you want, what material to work on, in what format. If the answer is not right, correct it by continuing the conversation. Examples and rules are in the guide how to use artificial intelligence.

How much it costs

The free version is enough for light daily use. ChatGPT Go costs 8 dollars a month, Plus 20 and the Pro plans 100 to 200 dollars a month, with higher limits and access to the most powerful models. Up-to-date prices, compared with Claude, Gemini and the others, are on the AI comparison page; if you are torn with Gemini, see ChatGPT or Gemini: which to choose.

What it does well and what it does not

Well: writing and correcting texts, summarising documents, translating, explaining topics, helping with code, suggesting ideas. Badly: numbers, dates, quotations and recent news without sources, where it can make things up (these are called hallucinations). For health, money and legal questions it helps you understand, but it does not replace a professional.

ChatGPT and privacy

Conversations are processed on OpenAI's servers and, unless you change the setting, may be used to improve the models; this can be switched off in the settings. In Italy the data protection authority temporarily blocked ChatGPT in spring 2023 and in December 2024 fined OpenAI 15 million euros. Avoid entering other people's personal data, confidential documents or passwords.

Frequently asked questions

Is ChatGPT free?

Yes, there is a free version with usage limits. Paid plans start at 8 dollars a month (Go); Plus costs 20 dollars.

Who created ChatGPT?

OpenAI, an American company based in San Francisco and led by Sam Altman. ChatGPT was launched on 30 November 2022.

Does ChatGPT always tell the truth?

No. It can make up information with confidence, especially facts, numbers and quotations. Important answers should be checked.

Sources

• OpenAI, “Introducing ChatGPT” (30 November 2022)
• Italian data protection authority (Garante), decision fining OpenAI (December 2024)

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