News Review - OpenAI’s GPT Store Has Left Some Developers in the Lurch

While the article accuses OpenAI of not rewarding most custom GPT creators as promised, I believe the statement "leaving developers in the lurch" is slightly exaggerated.

Creating a custom GPT has never been easier. As a novice developer, I was able to create a chatbot using plain English for my course project, which aims to provide cultural insights into any uploaded content within one minute. These kinds of custom GPTs constitute the largest proportion of the GPT Store. They function by simply adding pre-saved Custom Instructions to your intended input and uploading relevant materials in the Knowledge section. Such chatbots are not likely to bring in more traffic or generate enough revenue to compensate for the energy cost of training the base models, and they are also limited by the base models' capabilities. For instance, when I asked the Books GPT introduced in the article to recommend the latest books in the field of AI, it generated nothing but fictitious titles.

Moreover, OpenAI appears to maintain a generous public stance by allowing developers to seek outside sources to monetize from its platform. For example, Adzedek, a third-party ad tool that places affiliate ad links in each chatbot's responses, is widely adopted by custom GPT developers and generates profits from ad impressions and clicks. Additionally, promotional phrases like "Like our GPT? Try our full AI-powered search engine at [Official Link]" are not prohibited by OpenAI at present, making custom GPTs powerful tools for branding and customer acquisition.

However, I suggest that OpenAI consider optimizing the custom GPT developer tools to establish a robust, developer-friendly environment. For instance, in terms of analytics and feedback tools, beyond the total number of chats—which is the only metric currently provided by ChatGPT—other metrics like usage patterns and retention rates should be included to assist developers in making timely improvements to their GPTs. Creating a developer-friendly environment regardless of technical background can help realize the potential of the GPT Store to become the "AI App Store" and assist OpenAI in positioning itself as the most important platform in the AI era.

News Link: https://www.wired.com/story/openai-gpt-store/

(Image Source: Wired.com)