Last fall, my artist mom and I were invited to give a presentation at the Cambridge Science Festival about the intersection of AI and art. It was an exciting opportunity. But I also hadn’t done an in-person hands-on workshop like this before. I needed someone – or something – to help me talk out my ideas.
That something turned out to be ChatGPT’s advanced voice feature. This feature came out in the summer of 2024, but often isn’t the first use case that comes to mind.
As a full-time creator of over 10 years, I’m constantly sussing out new tools to see which ones are actually helpful, versus which features are just more hot air. And with how fast ChatGPT has been rolling out new features and upgrades, OpenAI has kept me busy. It’s also made me realize a lot of people using ChatGPT aren’t aware of all the different things the chatbot can currently do.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
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The difference between ChatGPT’s standard and advanced voice modes
The main difference between ChatGPT’s standard voice and advanced voice is that standard voice uses text-to-speech engines, whereas advanced voice uses a unified model.
In standard mode, the AI creates its response in text first and then a separate voice tool reads the text aloud. While the voice may sound decent, it can feel unnatural and often delayed. A unified model like advanced voice doesn’t separate writing and speaking. According to OpenAI’s website, advanced voice mode’s multimodal model (GPT-4o) works more like a human and adjusts its tone in a smooth flow.
In the ChatGPT mobile app’s voice interface, standard mode is represented by a black circle in the center of the conversation screen; for advanced mode, it’s a blue orb. Advanced mode is a paid feature, but users on ChatGPT’s free plan can get limited usage of it each day.
The blue orb is listening.
What might you use a tool like ChatGPT advanced voice for? Here are two ways I’m incorporating it into my everyday life.
Let AI act as a sounding board
I’m excited about using advanced voice as a strategic thinking partner to help me work through important and challenging problems.
One limitation of ChatGPT is that its base training data only goes up to a certain month and year. While it draws from a wide range of books, articles and web content, it may lack up-to-date knowledge or insight on niche, highly specialized topics. This changes when certain features are enabled, and you can enable these features while also using advanced voice.
My favorite ChatGPT prompt features are:
- Search. Toggle this feature on to have ChatGPT browse the internet and access online information.
- Deep Research. Have ChatGPT search the web and return more detailed insights. (I find this helpful when exploring less mainstream topics.)
- Upload. Share files, project briefs or other documents from your device or cloud storage. (Click the “+” icon to access this.)
To access one of these features on a computer, click the appropriate feature to enable it, then click the voice button on the right.
On desktop, special features can be toggled on before you submit a prompt.
To enable ChatGPT features on mobile using advanced voice:
- Tap on the slider icon.
- Choose the feature you want to enable. (You’ll know it’s enabled because its icon will appear below the prompt bubble.)
- Tap the advanced voice button.
- Allow advanced voice to respond.
- Exit the voice window once the response is complete to see the response in writing.
Any web sources used to inform the response will appear in the control panel.
Prompt features can be toggled on in mobile prior to using advanced voice. If doing web search or deep research, ChatGPT will include some of its sources.
Back to the festival I mentioned at the beginning. Xiang Li is my mom and the artist behind a massive collection of Chinese empresses painted on silk using gemstone watercolors. When I used ChatGPT’s advanced voice and asked what it knew about Xiang Li Art, it quickly referenced information we had only updated recently.
From interactive AI-powered art exploration to live AI demos, panel discussion and youth engagement activities, we were able to implement several practical ideas during our live event in Cambridge, and they were very well-received.
You can be very specific with your questions, and can ask follow-ups to go even deeper. I often like to treat advanced voice like a friend or listening partner rather than a search engine as I work through ideas.
More nuanced translation
Thanks to advanced voice, when my partner (who primarily speaks English) communicates with my mom (who only speaks Mandarin Chinese), the translations feel more natural.
ChatGPT’s advanced voice can speak over 50 languages. This model feels much more natural, as it can think, talk, pause and react. This can be a slightly tricky experiment if you’re using advanced voice for this purpose for the first time. My prompt usually goes something like this:
“Hey ChatGPT, I have two speakers in the room: Adam and my mom Xiang. Adam speaks English, and Xiang speaks Mandarin Chinese. I want you to act as a translator between them. After Adam’s done talking, please translate it into Mandarin Chinese for Mom, and vice versa.”
The only trouble we experience sometimes is timing. ChatGPT may jump in a bit early while someone’s still talking. To improve this, we told ChatGPT to listen for the word “Go” before providing translation. I find this type of fine-tuning can be helpful because our speech patterns and intonation differ from person to person, making it challenging for ChatGPT to decipher how to react.
After using the feature regularly, I notice it’s picking up context in more complex situations. It can recall information in longer conversations, understand subtle nuances and respond to my emotions more accurately. I’m expecting advanced voice to become more intelligent and intuitive over time.
Start exploring ChatGPT advanced voice for yourself
Advanced voice can answer a broad range of questions, making it a versatile tool for creativity, content creation, problem-solving and even strategic partnership. Currently, advanced voice is available to all ChatGPT users; free users receive a daily limit on advanced voice usage, whereas the limit is much higher for Plus, Pro and Team users.
Check out my real-time advanced voice demo here on my YouTube channel. And if you have any questions or ideas for how to grow with advanced voice, connect with me on YouTube and LinkedIn to say hello.
Opinions expressed by CNET Perspectives contributors are their own.
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