More than once, ChatGPT has stated that it cannot provide any information about events after 2021, nor does it have the ability to access the Web to update itself. However, the WebChatGPT extension by Anzor Qunash allows us to optimize ChatGPT's responses with relevant results and links. It's an open-source project compatible with Chrome and Firefox.
The Bard chatbot shared incorrect information during its official presentation, and Google lost 100 billion dollars. Microsoft detected erratic and controversial responses in its Bing version with ChatGPT (from threats to declarations of love), and imposed a new series of restrictions that users have called lobotomy. The artificial intelligence market is in flames... but the risk of being reduced to ashes is very great.
In other words, there are plenty of reasons for the people at OpenAI to take it easy. ChatGPT uses a more limited model that has 2021 as its ceiling, and cannot browse to obtain information... or rather, not without external help. This is where WebChatGPT, an open-source development by Anzor Qunash comes in, essentially offering us ChatGPT with Internet access. How well does it work?
ChatGPT 'Connects' to the Web with WebChatGPT
Once the extension installation is complete, you need to go to the ChatGPT page and log in with your account. WebChatGPT does not turn ChatGPT into a kind of Perplexity.ai, but rather works only on the official platform, using appropriate credentials. On its first run, you might encounter one or two visual errors (for example, the WebChatGPT menu repeating several times), but a simple F5 should fix it.
When you activate the Web Access option, you can define the maximum number of links that WebChatGPT should use, the date, the region, and the type of prompt. Default uses the local language (or rather, the system language), while Default English always responds in English. The entire process is relatively simple: When you enter your query, WebChatGPT performs an online search, obtains the results, and instructs ChatGPT to present a response taking those results as a reference.
In general terms, WebChatGPT works quite well, and the inclusion of sources in ChatGPT's responses is definitely welcome. However, we pay the price of somewhat breaking the conversation dynamics with the chatbot, so I recommend keeping a good control of the Web Access switch.
Official site and downloads: Click here
