ChatGPT is OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for individuals and teams. Conversation is the common entry point, but its input and output are not limited to text: users can provide questions, files, images, or structured data and use the same product for explanation, drafting, organization, coding help, image generation, and voice interaction.
Rather than being only a question-and-answer interface, ChatGPT combines several task-specific work surfaces. Search is suited to current information with source links, Deep Research plans and conducts multi-source investigation, Canvas supports iterative editing of longer writing or code, and data analysis can inspect files and execute calculations. Users can stay in a quick conversation or move into a workflow designed for a longer task. Projects keep chats, files, and instructions together for ongoing work, while Memory can retain preferences across conversations when enabled. Custom GPTs package stable instructions, knowledge, and selected tools into reusable assistants. The product covers many kinds of work, but access to models, tools, usage limits, and team controls varies by plan and region, and consequential facts or calculations still require verification.