ChatGPT on steroids: your guide for plugins

ChatGPT is a remarkable resource that I'm convinced many of us use on a daily basis. Regardless of your role—be it an executive, productmanager, product owner, project manager, analyst, or creator—it's an exceptional instrument for boosting your productivity, saving time, and enhancing efficiency.

The highest praise I have for OpenAI is for their premium extension and the opportunity to try out experimental features. Among these, the plug-ins stand out as absolutely fantastic.

Plugins in ChatGPT

Plugins in #GPT function just as they do elsewhere—they are extensions that enhance the existing capabilities of the software. This concept is identical to the plug-ins you might use in web browsers, office applications, designer tools, and so on. Consider this: you can incorporate PDFs into your conversations, reference web pages, or even create concise summaries of YouTube videos with ease. And the best part? It's incredibly simple to do. Let me show you how.

To get started, all you require is a paid GPT subscription. There's no need for any specific skills such as coding, nor a deep understanding of APIs or technical intricacies.

Let's dive in.

1. Enabling plugins functionality in ChatGPT

Simply use the images as a guide; they should be sufficient for the process. However, here's a brief text instruction for additional support:

1. In the ChatGPT browser window, move to the lower-left corner and click on the (...) to bring up a menu.
2. Select "Settings & Beta"; a "Settings" window will pop up.
3. Navigate to the "Beta features" tab, where you'll find options to activate plugins and advanced data analytics.
4. Toggle the Plugins switch to the on position; it will turn green.
5. Click the "x" to close the window.

Well done, you've now activated Plugins in ChatGPT .

2. Accessing ChatGPT plugin store

To explore the exciting range of plugins, head over to the Plugin Store by following these steps:

1. Click on "New chat" to open a new blank chat window.
2. Select the "GPT-4" language model dropdown; this will bring up the advanced mode options.
3. Choose "Plugins [BETA]" to switch to plugins mode; you'll see "No plugins enabled" appear below the language model selector.
4. Click on "No plugins enabled"; you'll notice "Plugins store >" show up underneath.
5. Click on "Plugin store"; a new window will open, displaying a catalog of available plugins.

3. Adding plugin to ChatGPT

Select the plugins that suit your needs. I recommend beginning with some of the most fundamental yet highly practical options. In my modest opinion, "AI PDF" and "Link Reader" are great starting points. Simply click "Install" to add them to your ChatGPT.

Once installed, the plugins should be visible beneath the language model selector. You have the flexibility to enable or re-enable them for each chat session according to your preference.

4. Using your plugins in ChatGPT

I'll present two clear-cut examples of how to use plugins. Since I'm not a programmer, those who are more technically inclined might want to experiment on their own and share their experiences in the comments.

Ai PDF

To process your PDF, just paste a link to the PDF file into the chat box and press enter.

The PDF content will be parsed by ChatGPT via the plugin and integrated into the context, allowing you to query it with your questions as you please.

VoxScript

VoxScript is a popular choice; it takes a YouTube video as the input source and analyzes the transcript to incorporate it into the context.

The process is straightforward—simply copy and paste the YouTube video link into the chat box and press enter.

Conclusion

We've briefly explored how plugins can significantly enhance the capabilities of ChatGPT, truly a remarkable expansion to the ChatGPT PaaS offerings. I aimed to keep this concise to allow you more time for experimentation.

Please feel free to share your outcomes and experiences in the comments below.