‘Enhanced Voice Mode’ Coming to ChatGPT Plus
This week , OpenAI announced that it has begun rolling out an enhanced voice mode for ChatGPT Plus users . While not all Plus subscribers will see the feature right away—OpenAI is reserving the seed round for a small number of testers—over time, the company will continue to roll out the update to more users, giving more paying customers (perhaps?) the opportunity to experience the future of artificial intelligence that the movies promised us .
Enhanced Voice Mode turns ChatGPT into She
ChatGPT has had a voice mode for some time now , allowing users to interact with ChatGPT as they normally would through text, but by speaking their queries out loud; ChatGPT will then “voice” its responses. However, the advanced mode is different: according to OpenAI, this grander version of the voice chatbot is much more natural and allows you to communicate in real time using ChatGPT. The company says you can interrupt the bot when you want to change the direction of the conversation, and it should understand the tone of your voice, not just the content of your questions and requests. If everything works as advertised, chatting with ChatGPT should be as close to a real conversation with the AI as possible.
The company first demonstrated the enhanced voice mode in May , showcasing the capabilities in a series of live demos. At the time, the company was promoting “Sky’s” voice, which was remarkably reminiscent of Scarlett Johansson, prompting comparisons to the 2013 film Her , in which a man falls in love with his AI assistant, perhaps too much. The company soon suspended use of the voice after criticism that it was too similar to Johansson’s. OpenAI denies using the actor’s real voice for its service, but the company clearly knew there were similarities, as evidenced by CEO Sam Altman posting just “her” on X shortly before the presentation:
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Judging by the demos, the bot tries to adapt to your tone of voice and allows you to move forward and backward during a conversation in real time. However, the demo definitely wasn’t perfect: the bot would abruptly stop talking when it thought it was being interrupted (even if it wasn’t), and the tone of its responses could be too friendly at times, bordering on flirtatious. We’ll have to see how well it actually works now that it’s available to real consumers.
How to Try ChatGPT Enhanced Voice Mode
To be able to try Enhanced Voice as soon as possible, you’ll need to be a ChatGPT Plus subscriber. Voice mode will be available to free users in the future, but this initial rollout is only for customers paying OpenAI $20 per month.
However, payment does not guarantee access to the Enhanced Voice Alpha version. OpenAI is rolling out this feature gradually at first, so if you get access to it now, you’ll be lucky. However, when you do this, you will notice a new “Try Enhanced Voice Mode” pop-up above the Voice Mode icon in the ChatGPT app. Tap it and you’ll see a message saying “We invite you to try Enhanced Voice Mode” explaining the feature. Click Continue and you will now be able to chat with ChatGPT in advanced mode.