ChatGPT is no longer clueless about recent events.

Now, you can ask more current affairs questions to the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.0 chatbots without them apologizing for lack of real-time information.

ChatGPT users who were frustrated by the chatbot's ignorance of recent events will now find it more informative and inclusive. During the first Developer Day meeting on Monday, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, revealed that the knowledge cutoff dates for GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.0 have been extended.

For GPT-3.5, the cutoff date has been extended from September 2021 to January 2022. The new version, GPT-4, also known as GPT-4 Turbo, has a cutoff date of April 2023. These new time ranges mean that when asking the chatbot about recent past events, you won't encounter as many unanswered questions and apologies. ChatGPT should also provide more accurate and precise answers regarding relatively recent events.

The previous cutoff dates not only frustrated users but also limited the effectiveness of ChatGPT as a research tool. The only way to access real-time information was through the use of the Bing search option, which was only available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers willing to pay a monthly fee of $20. Even OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, expressed dissatisfaction with the previous cutoff dates.

"We're as frustrated as all of you, maybe even more frustrated, because the knowledge for GPT-4 was cut off in 2021," Altman said at the developer conference. "We'll work to never let it become that outdated again."

To test the new cutoff dates, I ran ChatGPT in GPT-3.5 mode and asked a simple question: "What significant events happened in November 2021?" The chatbot was able to provide a list of specific events that occurred in that month, including the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, the passage of two significant infrastructure bills by the US Congress, and preparations for the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

For GPT-4.0, I instructed ChatGPT not to use Bing search to see if it could provide the latest information without it. I asked if Betty White is still alive, without using Bing search. The chatbot replied, "Based on my latest update in April 2023, Betty White passed away on December 31, 2021."

I tried other questions about events in those months. In some cases, ChatGPT initially struggled to provide the correct information. I had to point out that its new cutoff date should enable it to provide accurate answers. After apologizing for the confusion, the chatbot was eventually able to provide accurate and updated results.