OpenAI Playground is a controlled environment (a digital sandbox) where you can access advanced large language models (LLMs) without needing coding skills or complex setups. You can use this sandbox to test out prompts/instructions and parameters for different LLMs to better understand their capabilities and limitations. OpenAI Playground is a good place to experiment with content generation, translation, summarization, coding, and question answering.
Here’s where to find OpenAI Playground and how to use it to support your ecommerce efforts.
What is OpenAI’s Playground?
OpenAI Playground is an AI-powered online platform by OpenAI, the company behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT. Playground is a controlled environment—a digital sandbox popular with developers and AI researchers. Users can experiment with ChatGPT models, including GPT-4o and GPT-4o-mini and previous iterations of the GPT large language model, test different prompts and settings configurations, and create custom AI assistants for specific tasks.
ChatGPT vs. OpenAI Playground
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot designed for natural language processing tasks. It simulates human-like conversations, allowing users with limited technical experience to easily generate text. You interact with the tool using natural language queries, and the ChatGPT provides a human-sounding response.
The tradeoff for such a straightforward experience, of course, is flexibility: ChatGPT achieves its user-friendly interface by applying guardrails and parameters that limit the model’s capabilities. OpenAI Playground offers more advanced features, letting you specify output formats, exploremultiple AI models, experiment with different prompt types, and customize tool parameters.
How to access OpenAI Playground
Playground is a web-based platform, meaning you can access it from a desktop computer or an internet-connected mobile device. To get started, go to the Playground login pageor find it in the “For Developers” category on the OpenAI website.
If you already have a ChatGPT login, you can use the same credentials to sign in to Playground. If not, click the sign-uplink to create an account and log in.
Once you’ve created an account, you’ll need to pay to use the Playground. (Your costs will vary depending on which GPT model you use and how many words you ask it to generate.) Click the setting icon in the top menu at the right-hand corner of the browser window, then select “Billing” from the vertical menu on the left-hand side of your screen. Click “Add Payment Details” and follow the platform’s prompts.
Features of OpenAI Playground
- Interactive chat
- Model
- System field
- Temperature
- Text-to-speech (TTS)
- User and assistant modes
- Saved assistants
OpenAI Playground is a sandbox—a virtual testing environment cut off from broader networks and systems. Companies use sandboxes to pilot new programs and features before releasing them to the public or integrating them into larger systems, so you can expect updates as OpenAI continues to test new technologies. Here’s an overview of platform basics as of 2024:
Interactive chat
Playground’s interactive chat feature generates natural language responses to your inputs. It’s similar to the standard ChatGPT interface, but you can choose which GPT model you use. Access it by clicking “Chat” at the top of the vertical menu on the left-hand side of your browser window.
Model
Select your GPT model using the dropdown menu above the chat window. OpenAI Playground offers six options at different price points, including the GPT-4o-mini, described as an “affordable and intelligent model for small, lightweight tasks.”
System field
Playground lets you create custom system messages, which are instructions that tell the tool how to respond to your prompts. For example, you might use the system field to instruct the AI to respond to your queries in a polite, professional tone. You can find the system field at the top of the chat window.
Temperature
Temperature refers to the degree of randomness in AI outputs. Lower numbers make answers more predictable, and higher numbers make them more creative. Adjust temperature within each AI assistant depending on your needs.
Text-to-speech (TTS)
Playground can also create audio based on textual inputs, offering six preset voice options and multiple file formats. Access TTS from the left-hand vertical menu.
User and assistant modes
The chat’s input field lets you toggle between user mode, which tells the AI that inputs are yours, and assistant mode, which tells it to regard your textual inputs as its own AI-generated responses. What does this mean? Since the AI tool’s past output affects its future responses, you can use assistant mode to train an AI assistant: Enter a prompt in user mode, then switch to assistant mode and enter the type of response you’d like the AI to provide in the future. You can use this feature to train assistants to respond in a manner that suits your project.
Saved assistants
Each OpenAI assistant you create is a purpose-built AI that retains conversation history and can access files you provided it. You can build an assistant to support a specific task—like reviewing résumés and or scraping customer feedback for specific phrases—and save your tool for future use.
Save your AI by clicking the “Save” button at the top right of the chat window. You can also create and save your tool in the assistants tab, where all your saved assistants are accessible.
Uses for OpenAI Playground
- Text generation
- Audio generation
- Code generation
- Research
- Creative brainstorming
- Repurposing existing content
Use OpenAI Playground to create content, conduct research, and generate ideas. ChatGPT can handle these tasks too—but Playground gives users more control over settings and output formats. You can also save presets to speed up recurring tasks. Here are seven relevant Playground business use cases:
Text generation
Use OpenAI Playground to generate various business resources, including web copy, marketing emails, social media posts, blog articles, and internal business communications. It’s particularly useful for tasks requiring extensive output or specific instructions, like writing user manuals or responding to customer emails in your team’s voice.
Any repetitive text-based task can be outsourced to OpenAI Playground. Instead of starting each job from scratch, configure an AI assistant that generates the content you need in your preferred output format. When it’s time to create a new product spec sheet or meeting notes summary, input the new information and have your assistant complete the task.
Audio generation
OpenAI Playground’s TTS feature can automatically add voiceover to marketing or training videos and quickly generate audio versions of written content. These can make it easier for users to engage with your content and make your brand more accessible.
Code generation
OpenAI Playground can write code, helping developers boost efficiency and supporting coding novices as they acquire new skills. As with written content, it’s particularly valuable when a coding task requires specific instructions or long responses.
Research
Use OpenAI Playground to conduct consumer or market research, harnessing the platform’s advanced customizations to provide project context, specify output forms, and apply research parameters. It can also speed up your research process by summarizing content and highlighting key concepts
Creative brainstorming
Like ChatGPT, Playground can generate a list of ideas in response to prompts like “Brainstorm blog content ideas for a cupcake subscription business” or “Help me come up with unconventional toy ideas.” Playground’s temperature feature lets you control the creativity of responses by adjusting the level of randomness used to process data and generate text.
Repurposing existing content
Playground’s advanced formatting controls make it an ideal tool for content repurposing. You can train assistants to understand your various content needs, save model presets, and quickly adapt a piece for a different outlet or purpose.
OpenAI Playground FAQ
Is OpenAI Playground free?
The OpenAI Playground is free, but you need an OpenAI API key to access it. Using the GPT models available to the public on Playground costs money, and prices vary depending on the model’s complexity and the length of text you want to generate.
What is the difference between ChatGPT and Playground?
Both ChatGPT and OpenAI Playground run on the GPT model, a deep learning model that generates text in response to process natural language inputs. The difference is how each tool uses that model: ChatGPT includes strict parameters to maximize usability, and OpenAI Playground provides the ability to customize settings in exchange for a steeper platform learning curve.
How do you access OpenAI Playground?
Access OpenAI Playground by typing http://platform.openai.com/playground into your browser’s address bar and logging in with your existing ChatGPT credentials. If you don’t have a ChatGPT account, click the sign-up link to create one.
