- Microsoft Copilot has received an upgrade and now allows users to make use of GPT-4 Turbo with its free tier.
- To use it, you will need to access Copilot from either your desktop browser or the Android and iOS mobile app.
- Then, simply set the conversation style in Copilot to either Creative or Precise for GPT-4 Turbo to kick in.
Last year, OpenAI introduced its more advanced GPT-4 Turbo model with an updated knowledge cut-off and cheaper to use than the standard GPT-4. Now, Microsoft Copilot offers users access to this AI model for free without having to pay a dime. Yes, you can use it right now via the Microsoft Copilot website or app for free.
Mikhail Parakhin, the lead of the Windows and Web Experiences team at Microsoft since Panos’ departure, took to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal this piece of information on March 12, 2024.
In the X post, Parakhin reveals that Copilot Pro users will have the ability to toggle back to only GPT-4. However, there’s a bit of a twist and GPT-4 Turbo isn’t exactly active by default at all times.
When questioned by an X user in the comments if all three conversation modes of Copilot have this feature, Mikhail said, “Yes, but in a different “amount”. Creative and Precise are (almost fully) GPT-4-Turbo, Balanced is in certain cases only (and for the inner monologue often).”
Previously, by default, Copilot used the GPT-4 model. Well, it still will, but only for the “Balanced” mode from the looks of it. So, if you mostly run Copilot in the Balanced mode, chances are that you won’t be using it right anymore.
Rumor has it that OpenAI is working on GPT-4.5 Turbo (these models don’t stop coming, don’t they?) and that this move can be specifically to make room for the more advanced model to be added to Copilot’s Pro tier.
You may be thinking, “Why do I even need to use GPT-4 Turbo in the first place?” Well, to answer that, unlike the standard GPT-4 model that comes with a knowledge cutoff date of September 2021, which is underwhelming, GPT-4 Turbo takes that all the way up to April 2023. So, the GPT-4 Turbo model will hallucinate a bit less for some facts up to April last year and answer your curious questions better.
However, that’s not the end of it, as you already have Bing’s smarts and search engine to make up for that. Another big thing that’s changed with GPT-4 Turbo is the significant increase in its context window. To be specific, it’s four times more than that of GPT-4. With this, you will be able to ask Copilot a lot of follow-up questions without it being oblivious after a certain point. That’s always a good thing. This also allows you to use larger prompts without worrying about the chatbot losing track of it midway.
Additionally, GPT-4 Turbo will also be more attentive to the subtle details of your prompts, thereby making sure it delivers exactly what you are asking for. This fixes issues like when GPT-4 was asked to respond in XML, and it wouldn’t be able to do so.
With that being said, what do you think about Copilot allowing users to use GPT-4 Turbo for free? Let us know in the comments down below!
