What does "Improve the model for everyone" mean in ChatGPT?
Quick answer
"Improve the model for everyone" is a ChatGPT setting, under Settings then Data controls, that lets OpenAI use your conversations to train and improve its models. Switching it off keeps your future chats out of that training. On personal accounts it is often on until you turn it off, so check it before you paste work into a chat.
Last updated
Updated · By Robert Breen
Why it matters for a small business
The setting decides whether the words you type can become part of what the next version of the model learns from. For a personal question about dinner, that hardly matters. For a customer's email, a client's numbers or a draft contract, most businesses would rather those words not be used that way.
It is a quick fix, but a partial one. It does not remove anything from your account, and it does not change what you send to OpenAI to get an answer. Use it together with the habit of leaving out details the task doesn't need.
In a real lesson: Safe AI at Work: What Not to Paste, Training Settings and Checking Answers
The Safe AI at Work lesson makes this the first step. In a practice copy of ChatGPT, you click your name at the bottom left, choose Settings, click Data controls in the left menu, and click the switch next to Improve the model for everyone to turn it off. Then you click Back to app.
The lesson then shows the other half. A tenant's email includes a bank routing and account number, a name and an address, and you swap each for a placeholder before sending it. The setting protects what you type later; the placeholders protect what you type now.
Try this lesson free or read the step-by-step guide.
Common confusions
Turning it off vs deleting chats
Switching the setting off does not erase your history. Deleting chats and exporting your data are separate options in the same ChatGPT data controls menu.
Turning it off vs Temporary Chat
The setting applies to your account going forward. Temporary Chat is a one-off mode for a single conversation that skips history and memory.
Personal accounts vs business plans
OpenAI says it does not train on business data from plans such as ChatGPT Business and Enterprise by default. Confirm the terms for your exact plan instead of assuming.
Tips
- Check the setting on every account staff use for work, not just your own.
- Still remove names, account numbers and other PII the task doesn't need.
- Write the setting into your company's AI rules so new hires switch it off on day one.
Related terms
More AI assistants terms
Where you use it: free lessons
- Safe AI at Work: What Not to Paste, Training Settings and Checking Answers (ChatGPT, 7 min)
- Reply Faster to Clients Chasing Their Refund: ChatGPT for Tax and Bookkeeping Firms (ChatGPT, 10 min)
- Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms (ChatGPT, 10 min)
- Reply Faster to Claim-Status Emails: ChatGPT for Independent Insurance Agencies (ChatGPT, 10 min)
More free tutorials
Prompt templates that use it
Frequently asked questions
- Should I turn off "Improve the model for everyone"?
- If you use ChatGPT for anything that involves customers, clients or confidential plans, yes, or use a business plan that doesn't train on your data by default. Follow your company's policy first.
- Where is "Improve the model for everyone" in ChatGPT?
- Click your name, choose Settings, then Data controls. The switch sits at the top of that screen. The layout changes from time to time, so look for the setting by name.
- Does turning it off make ChatGPT worse for me?
- No. It controls whether your chats are used for training, not what the model can do for you. Your answers are written the same way.