Finishing | Zheng Liyuan, Producer | CSDN (ID: CSDNnews)
Not long ago, GPT-4’s Forefront Chat, which can be used for free, attracted a lot of attention, causing the website to crash for a while, and many people asked: “GPT-4 is so expensive, why can it be used for free?”
Regarding this issue, Forefront Chat did not make a relevant response, but the "GPT4free" project, which has recently been soaring in popularity on Github, seems to provide a possible idea: to reverse engineer various APIs that call the OpenAI API website, These reverse engineered APIs are then made available to the public.
To put it simply, GPT4free directly calls the APIs of these third-party websites through reverse engineering-it is indeed free for users to use, but these reverse-engineered websites still have to pay for it.
(GitHub address: https://github.com/xtekky/gpt4free)
"Cheating" the OpenAI API
According to foreign media TechCrunch, the project author of GPT4free, xtekky, is a computer science student: "Reverse engineering is a field I have always liked very much, and this is like a challenge for me."
Initially, xtekky created GPT4free only for "fun". Unexpectedly, the project exploded unexpectedly, so he opened the "pattern": "It was created for fun at first, but now it is for the use of GPT-4/3.5 offered an alternative.”
Sure enough, when you click on the project introduction of GPT4free, you will see "use ChatGPT, for free!!":
"Have you ever come across some amazing project but couldn't use it because you didn't have an API key for OpenAI?
We've got you covered! This repository provides reverse engineered third-party APIs from various websites. You can simply download this repository and use the available modules, which are designed just like OpenAI's official packages. Unleash the potential of ChatGPT for your projects now
! "
From this introduction, it can be seen that the so-called reverse engineering of GPT4free is not to bypass OpenAI’s paywall, but to “trick” the OpenAI API—making it think that it is receiving a website request from a paid OpenAI account .
So to some extent, these websites that were reverse engineered by xtekky are like a "taken advantage": GPT4free claims to be "free to use GPT4/3.5", which is loved by many developers, and the costs behind it are borne by these websites.
According to the GPT4free project, the current list of websites that xtekky has reverse engineered is as follows, including Microsoft Bing and Google Bard:
Not only that, based on these reverse engineering APIs, xtekky also created a website that can be experienced directly and can switch GPT4/3.5: https://chat.chatbot.sex/chat/.
Caused "immorality" controversy
The opportunity to use GPT4/3.5 for free is believed to be irresistible to most people. Therefore, GPT4free quickly spread in the developer circle, and it was listed on the GitHub trending list, and has gained 6.2k+ Stars.
However, in the eyes of many developers, xtekky's principle of making "GPT4/3.5 free" seems neither "moral" nor "legal":
▶ "Does using someone else's API key mean they will be charged? Isn't that similar to using someone else's credit card."
▶ "This is not good and will just cause all exploited third-party sites to shut down public access to their chat experience."
▶ "Next big AI project: Steal money, get it."
▶ "Seems like a great concept, but how is it legal?"
Faced with ethical questions and concerns, xtekky responded: "I know there are concerns about the legality of this project and its impact on small sites hosting APIs. I also take these concerns seriously and plan to address them."
After careful consideration, xtekky proposes the following workaround with promises:
(1) Remove the API from the small website. In order to reduce the impact on small sites, xtekky has removed their API from the repository, "If you are the owner of one of the sites and want your API removed, please send me a DM".
(2) Commitment to Ethical Use. "I want to emphasize that I am committed to promoting the ethical use of language models. I do not support anything illegal or unethical, and I expect the same from users."
The author considers the project "legitimate" because it is strictly for "educational purposes"?
As for the controversy over whether GPT4free is "legitimate", xtekky thinks there is no problem, because he believes that GPT4Free is strictly for "educational purposes": "This repository uses third-party APIs and artificial intelligence models, and has no relationship with the API provider or the original developer of the model. relationship, nor their endorsement. This project is for educational purposes only."
In addition, in order to further clarify the "compliance and legality" of GPT4free, xtekky added this part of the statement in the project introduction:
Disclaimer: APIs, services and trademarks mentioned in this repository belong to their respective owners. This project does not claim any rights to them.
Liability: The author of this resource library is not responsible for any consequences arising from the use or misuse of the content provided by this resource library or third-party API, as well as any damage or loss caused by user behavior.
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY: This resource library and its contents are provided strictly for educational purposes. By using the information and code provided, users acknowledge that their use of the API
and models is at their own risk and agree to abide by any applicable laws and regulations.
However, xtekky also added: "If relevant legal action still occurs, I will have to comply, but I will still try to continue the project through other means."
In this regard, some developers speculated: "These (reverse engineered) websites should be able to sue users and project authors for compensation, and Github may delete it at some point if the impact is large."
So, what do you think about this project?
Reference link:
https://github.com/xtekky/gpt4free#best-sites
https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/25/a-developer-exploited-an-api-flaw-to-provide-free-access-to-gpt-4/
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