ChatGPT is OpenAI's conversational interface to its GPT family of models, launched in November 2022. The category covers two distinct uses: ChatGPT as a productivity tool (writing, research, coding, learning) and ChatGPT as a development platform (the API, function calling, custom GPTs, Assistants).
For most users in 2026 ChatGPT is no longer a single thing. The web app has voice mode, image generation via DALL-E, browsing, code interpreter, file analysis, and Custom GPTs. The API exposes the same models (gpt-4o, gpt-4-turbo, o1, o3) without the UI, plus structured outputs, vision input, audio input, and Assistants for stateful workflows. The skill set is split between using the product effectively and integrating it into your own applications.
What you'll work with in these 27 courses
- Prompt patterns: role priming, chain-of-thought, few-shot examples, structured output
- Custom GPTs and Actions for non-developer use cases
- OpenAI API: completions, chat, function calling, vision, JSON mode
- Assistants API: threads, runs, file search, code interpreter
- Cost and rate-limit management: batch API, caching, model selection
- Real-world workflows: research, code review, content production, data analysis
