OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot tool that can answer questions in human-like language and use data from the web to discuss a variety of topics, has taken the world by storm. So much so that the New York City Department of Education has imposed a ChatGPT ban on its devices and network, citing “negative impact on student learning” and “concerns about the security and accuracy of content provided by the chatbot.”
If you haven’t tried the chatbot yet, it’s worth noting that it’s absolutely free to use. Nefarious actors have flooded both the App Store and Play Store with disconnected apps that use icons and names similar to ChatGPT.
One such application, titled “ChatGPT Chat GPT AI With GPT-3” (now deleted), managed to make the top free apps in the Productivity category on the App Store, as reported by gizmodo.
The app was ranked as the 5th most popular download before it was removed from the App Store. The app was free to download, although it did charge users $7.99 per week after offering three days of free use. Funny thing is, the app costs $49.99 per month, which is absurdly higher than what a user would have to pay if they signed up for four consecutive weeks ($31.96).
The iOS App Store is full of people wrapping ChatGPT in a paid wrapper with ambiguous language that makes you think you are paying for ChatGPT pic.twitter.com/3w0rK14E5I
— Austen Allred (@Austen) January 7, 2023
While live, the application appeared to have an interface that would route user queries to the actual ChatGPT and respond with responses generated by the chatbot. However, unlike the actual ChatGPT, the fake app reportedly responded with responses that were completely irrelevant to the request being sent, making it a completely unreliable paid tool.
The scammer app also went live on the Google Play Store, but it too was removed after surpassing 100,000 downloads.
Meanwhile on Google Play… Fake ChatGPT 1 star app with >100,000 downloads. pic.twitter.com/5fj5SEITwp
— nest (@nest) January 6, 2023
It’s worth noting that OpenAI is building a ChatGPT-based iOS app with an iMessage-like interface, according to venture capitalist and podcaster Jason Calacanis, who reportedly got access to the app’s beta version. Until the official app goes live, the only official way to use ChatGPT is to visit the official website hosted on OpenAI’s website.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Source: Gizmodo
