Millions of users today have tested the Artificial Intelligence (AI) of ChatGPT, a platform developed by OpenAI that seems to have no limits to its potential, which has caused strong uncertainties among the most skeptical users, especially after the release of its most recent version GPT-4.
However, if you, dear reader, have given yourself the opportunity to try this system, you will have encountered a disconcerting moment and absolute uncertainty when setting up an account to comment on how to use the interface.
And it is that ChatGPT it does not provide immediate direct access to whoever is interested, but on the contrary requires creating an account and linking it to a mobile phone number.
This great little detail has generated relative concern between the two groups of people: both those who canceled the configuration process right there and those who still went ahead, but remained in serious doubt about the reasons behind demanding such private and personal data.
Clearly, it is somewhat unexpected that in order to test an AI system, the platform requires the private telephone number of each user. Today we try to explain the reason behind this questionable requirement.
Why ChatGPT requires your mobile phone number to use it
Broadly speaking, the platform OpenAI requires complying with an authentication process where an active email address is first requested, which is verified in the registration and in addition to the full name, date of birth and mobile phone number of the user.
This last piece of information would technically make ChatGPT comply with what is known as a two-factor authentication system, something that is very common these days where it is common for email addresses to be generated that are used by people with a distinct identity.
Everything indicates that OpenAI would be using the requirement of telephone numbers as a measure to limit the creation of massive accounts, since in the end it is possible to create more than one account using different email addresses but the same number.
reading the Terms and Conditions of the service the promise is that OpenAI would make proper use of all our authentication credentials and there is no indication that it could be giving our personal information another application.
In any case, if we do not want to give our telephone number, we can ask a trusted acquaintance to allow us to use their number as a second element of registration.
