OpenAI's new GPT-4.5 model is a better, more natural conversationalist<p>In what has already been a busy past few days for <a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropics-new-claude-model-can-think-both-fast-and-slow-203307140.html">new model releases[/url], OpenAI is capping off the week with a <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-4-5/">research preview of GPT-4.5[/url]. The company is touting the new system as its largest and best model for chat yet. In early testing, OpenAI says people found GPT-4.5 to be a more natural conversationalist, with the ability to convey warmth and display a kind of emotional intelligence.</p>
<p>In one example shared by OpenAI, a person tells ChatGPT they're going through a hard time after failing a test. Where the company's previous models, including <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/openai-claims-that-its-free-gpt-4o-model-can-talk-laugh-sing-and-see-like-a-human-184249780.html">GPT-4o[/url] and <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-o3-mini-is-here-and-available-to-all-users-190918706.html">o3-mini[/url], might commiserate with the individual before offering a long list of unsolicited advice, GPT-4.5 takes a different tact. "Want to talk about what happened, or do you just need a distraction? I'm here either way," the chatbot says when powered by GPT-4.5.</p>
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<p>The gains shown by GPT-4.5 are the result of advancements OpenAI made in unsupervised learning. With unsupervised learning, a machine learning algorithm is given an unlabeled data set and left to its own devices to find patterns and insights. GPT-4.5 doesn't "think" like the company's state-of-the-art reasoning models, but in training the new model OpenAI made architectural enhancements and gave it access to more data and compute power. "The result is a model that has broader knowledge and a deeper understanding of the world, leading to reduced hallucinations," the company says.</p>
<p>Speaking of reduced hallucinations, OpenAI measured how much better GPT-4.5 in that regard. When put through <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://openai.com/index/introducing-simpleqa/">SimpleQA[/url], an OpenAI-designed benchmark that tests large language models on their ability to answer "straightforward but challenging knowledge questions," GPT-4.5 beat out o3-mini, GPT-4o and even o1 with a hallucination rate of 37.1 percent. Obviously, the new model doesn't solve the problem of AI hallucinations altogether, but it is a step in the right direction.</p>
<p>Despite its relative strengths over GPT-4o and o3-mini, GPT-4.5 isn't a direct replacement for those models. Compared to OpenAI's reasoning systems, GPT-4.5 is "a more general-purpose, innately smarter model." Additionally, it's not natively multimodal like GPT-4o, meaning it doesn't work with features like <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/openai-rolls-out-advanced-voice-mode-and-no-it-wont-sound-like-scarjo-200426358.html">Voice Mode[/url], video or screensharing. It’s also "a very large and compute-intensive model."</p>
<p>It's best to think of GPT-4.5 as a stepping stone to systems OpenAI plans to offer in the future. In fact, Sam Altman said as much earlier this month when he <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-will-offer-free-chatgpt-users-unlimited-access-to-gpt-5-211935734.html">shared the company's roadmap[/url], noting GPT-4.5 would be "our last non-chain-of-thought model" — referring to the fact that the new system doesn't solve problems by tackling them step by step like OpenAI's reasoning models do. Its successor, GPT-5, will likely integrate many of OpenAI's latest technologies, including its <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-next-generation-o3-model-will-arrive-early-next-year-191707632.html">frontier o3 model[/url]. OpenAI reiterated that today, saying it plans to bring GPT-4.5's "unique strengths, including broader knowledge, stronger intuition, and greater 'EQ,' to all users in future models."</p>
<p>In the meantime, <a data-i13n="cpos:9;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-wants-200-a-month-for-its-most-advanced-features-191054506.html">ChatGPT Pro[/url] subscribers can begin using GPT-4.5 starting today, with Pro and Team users slated to gain access starting next week.</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-new-gpt-45-model-is-a-better-more-natural-conversationalist-200035185.html?src=rssSource:
OpenAI's new GPT-4.5 model is a better, more natural conversationalist
