电脑软件里的新广告

Everyone really likes using a type of smart software.

You can ask it many questions.

For example, you can ask it: "What's the weather like today?"

"

It will tell you the weather is nice.

You can ask it: "How do you write this character?"

"

It will also teach you how to write.

It's like having a teacher living inside your computer.

This teacher knows everything and is very smart.

Everyone really likes this "computer teacher."

But recently, this software has had some new changes.

These changes are related to "money" and to "advertisements."

What are advertisements?

Let's first talk about what advertisements mean.

When you watch TV, you often see images trying to get you to buy things.

For example, someone is drinking milk and telling you this milk tastes great.

That's a milk advertisement.

Or someone is driving a car and telling you this car is very fast.

That's a car advertisement.

Stores and companies make advertisements because they want you to buy their products.

Now, when we use this smart software, we'll also see advertisements.

Why is that?

Because the company that made this software needs money.

Making a computer smart is very expensive.

The company has to spend a lot of money.

So they came up with a way to make money.

This method is to show you advertisements below the answers to your questions.

When you finish asking a question and the computer has answered you.

After you've read the answer, you look below.

At the very bottom, you'll see a link or a sentence.

That sentence is an advertisement.

It might tell you where to buy good food, or where to buy clothes.

But not everyone will see these advertisements.

It depends on whether you've paid the company.

This software has several different ways to use it.

The first way is free.

You use it for free.

If you don't pay, you'll see advertisements.

That's because you didn't pay, so the company needs to show ads to make money.

The second way is to pay a little bit of money.

About eight dollars a month.

This is called the cheap plan.

Many people think, since I've paid, I shouldn't have to see ads, right?

But with this software, that's not how it works.

Even though you've paid eight dollars, that amount is relatively small.

So you still have to see advertisements.

The company feels eight dollars isn't enough, so they'll still show you ads.

The third way is to pay a lot of money.

Twenty dollars a month, or even more.

This is called the expensive plan.

If you pay twenty dollars, you won't see any advertisements.

Because you've already paid a lot of money, and the company is happy.

So they won't show you advertisements.

That's the relationship between "money" and "advertisements."

People who pay more don't see advertisements.

People who pay less or don't pay at all do see advertisements.

So what if you don't want to see advertisements?

If you're using the free version, you can choose not to see them.

But there's a condition.

If you tell the computer: "I don't want to see advertisements."

"

The computer will say: "Okay, but you can only ask very few questions each day."

"

For example, before you could ask a hundred questions.

Now if you don't watch ads, you might only be able to ask ten questions.

This is a trade-off.

If you want to ask lots of questions, you have to watch advertisements.

If you don't want to watch advertisements, you can only ask very few questions.

If you're using the cheap plan, meaning you pay eight dollars a month.

Can you choose not to see advertisements?

The current rule is no, you cannot.

If you only paid eight dollars, you must see advertisements.

You can't say "no."

This is also something many people are discussing.

Everyone might wonder, will these advertisements affect the computer's answers?

The company says no, they won't.

Advertisements are advertisements, and answers are answers.

They are separate.

The computer will still carefully answer your questions.

The advertisements are just placed at the bottom for you to glance at.

There's another question that everyone cares about a lot, and it's about our personal information.

Will the computer tell stores what we've said?

For example, if I ask the computer: "My leg really hurts, what should I do?"

"

Will the store find out my leg hurts and then try to sell me medicine?

The company that makes the software says they won't do that.

They say they will protect your information.

The store only knows that someone viewed the ad, but doesn't know who you are.

The store also can't see what you said to the computer.

So everyone doesn't need to worry too much about their information being known by others.

Additionally, there are some people who will absolutely never see advertisements.

Those are children.

If you're under eighteen, you're a student.

The computer knows you're still a child.

To protect children, the computer won't show them advertisements.

There's another situation where you also won't see advertisements.

That's when you're asking about illness.

For example, you ask: "I'm not feeling well, should I go to the hospital?"

"

Or you're asking about feeling sad or down.

At these times, the computer also won't show you advertisements.

Because at these moments you need help, and you shouldn't have to see ads.

These are the recent news about this software.

The smart software we just talked about is called ChatGPT.

The company that makes this software is called OpenAI.

This news is about ChatGPT starting to test showing advertisements.

These advertisements are called "sponsored links" on the computer.

Right now, this is still being tested.

That means the company is trying it out to see if people like it.

So some people might have already seen them, while others might not have yet.

That's today's story about computer software and advertisements.

If you're using the free version of ChatGPT, you might start seeing these small ads at the bottom of your screen.