You don’t need to log into ChatGPT anymore, but you’ll probably still want to

OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool no longer requires users to log in, but it probably won’t change much for long-time users.

The basic version of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT has been free to use with a login since its public launch in November 2022. However, now users won’t even need to log in to access the chat service. The rollout has begun in some regions since April 1, 2024, after the tool recently reached 100 million users across 185 countries.

Frequent ChatGPT users may still want to log in, however, seeing as some features will still be limited to those with accounts. You won’t be able to save chats or use custom instructions, with the tool not remembering your past chats without an account.

There will also be ‘additional content safeguards’ for those logged out of ChatGPT, although it’s unclear quite what this means. At the moment, ChatGPT restricts creating content that could be harmful, biased, or unsafe, including depictions of illegal behavior or content that could encourage it, such as violence, drug use, or child pornography.

You will be able to access the same model as logged-in users though, as well as have the option to turn off your data being used to train learning models. However, it’s likely that the latest models due to come out, such as the rumored ChatGPT 5, will be reserved for paying users.

How to opt out of training without a ChatGPT account

To improve ChatGPT as a tool, OpenAI does use people’s chats to train its learning models. To avoid this, you need to actively opt out, whether you’re logged in or not.

You can do so by clicking the question mark button at the bottom right, then navigating to ‘Settings’. You’ll then find a toggled option reading: ‘Improve the model for everyone’. Toggle this off, so it’s no longer blue and your chats and prompts will no longer be used to train the language model.

This process works for both logged-in and logged-out users of ChatGPT.

Featured image: Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash