How ChatGPT Works and What You Can Do With It
TL;DR:
- ChatGPT generates text responses by processing your prompts and drawing from its training data
- Different subscription tiers (free, Plus, Team, Enterprise) offer varying capabilities and response limits
- Works well for content creation, customer support, brainstorming, and research tasks
- Quality depends heavily on how you write your prompts – be specific and provide context
- Has limitations around accuracy, current events, and complex reasoning
ChatGPT is OpenAI's conversational AI that can help with writing, analysis, coding, and problem-solving. Here's what you need to know about how it works and where it fits into your workflow.
How ChatGPT Processes Your Requests
When you send ChatGPT a message, it breaks down your text into smaller pieces called tokens. It then uses patterns learned from training data to predict what words should come next in the response.
The process looks like this:
- Input analysis – ChatGPT examines your prompt for context, intent, and key information
- Pattern matching – It draws on training patterns to understand what type of response you want
- Response generation – The AI constructs an answer word by word, considering what makes sense given the conversation
- Output delivery – You receive the completed response
This isn't a database lookup. ChatGPT doesn't store facts like a search engine. Instead, it generates responses based on statistical patterns in language.
Subscription Plans and Their Differences
ChatGPT offers several tiers that affect what you can access:
Free tier gives you:
- Access to GPT-3.5
- Standard response speed
- Usage limits during peak times
ChatGPT Plus (£16/month) includes:
- GPT-4 access with higher reasoning capabilities
- Faster response times
- Priority access during high-demand periods
- Custom GPTs and plugin access
Team and Enterprise plans add:
- Higher usage limits
- Admin controls
- Data privacy features
- Early access to new features
The model version makes a real difference. GPT-4 handles complex requests better than GPT-3.5, particularly for analysis, creative tasks, and multi-step problems.
Getting Better Results
Your prompts determine response quality more than anything else. Here are the techniques that work:
Be specific about what you want. Instead of "write about marketing," try "write three email subject lines for a webinar about Facebook ads, aimed at small business owners."
Provide context. Tell ChatGPT your role, audience, or constraints. "I'm a freelance designer pitching to a tech startup" gives it direction.
Break complex requests into steps. Rather than asking for a complete marketing strategy, ask for audience research first, then messaging, then channel recommendations.
Use examples. Show ChatGPT the style or format you want. Paste in a good example and say "write something similar for my topic."
Iterate on responses. Ask follow-up questions to refine outputs. "Make this more conversational" or "add specific examples" often improves results.
Common Use Cases That Work Well
Content creation – Blog posts, social media content, email newsletters, and product descriptions. ChatGPT handles these efficiently once you provide the right brief.
Customer support – Draft responses to common queries, create FAQ content, or brainstorm solutions to customer problems.
Research and analysis – Summarise information, compare options, or break down complex topics. Just remember it can't browse the web or access current information.
Coding assistance – Debug code, explain functions, or write simple scripts. Particularly useful for common programming tasks.
Brainstorming – Generate ideas for campaigns, content topics, business names, or creative projects.
Understanding the Limitations
ChatGPT has clear boundaries you should know about:
Knowledge cutoff – It can't access information after its training data cutoff (varies by model but typically several months behind current date).
No real-time data – It can't browse websites, check current prices, or access live information unless you're using plugins.
Accuracy issues – It sometimes generates plausible-sounding but incorrect information. Always verify important facts.
Context limits – Long conversations eventually hit token limits, causing ChatGPT to "forget" earlier parts of your discussion.
Reasoning gaps – While impressive, it struggles with complex logic, mathematics, and multi-step reasoning that requires precision.
FAQs
Can ChatGPT replace customer support staff?
Not entirely. It works well for drafting responses and handling routine queries, but human oversight remains important for complex issues and quality control.
How many questions can I ask per day?
Free users face limits during busy periods. Plus subscribers get significantly higher limits, though exact numbers vary based on demand and model usage.
Does ChatGPT learn from our conversations?
OpenAI uses conversations to improve their models unless you opt out. Paid users can choose not to have their data used for training.
Can I use ChatGPT content commercially?
Yes, OpenAI's terms allow commercial use of outputs, but you're responsible for ensuring accuracy and compliance with relevant laws.
Jargon Buster
Token – How ChatGPT measures text length. Roughly 4 characters per token, including spaces and punctuation.
Context window – The amount of conversation history ChatGPT can remember and reference in responses.
Temperature – A setting that controls how creative or conservative responses are (not directly accessible to most users).
Prompt engineering – The practice of crafting inputs to get better outputs from AI models.
Wrap-up
ChatGPT works best when you understand its strengths and limitations. It excels at generating text, explaining concepts, and helping with creative tasks, but requires careful prompting and human oversight for important work.
The key is treating it as a powerful writing assistant rather than an infallible expert. Give it clear instructions, provide context, and verify outputs when accuracy matters.
Start with simple tasks to get comfortable with prompting techniques, then gradually tackle more complex projects as you learn what works.
Ready to level up your AI skills? Join Pixelhaze Academy for in-depth courses on using ChatGPT and other AI tools effectively in your business.