I was trying to optimize my YouTube video title to fit within the 100-character limit, so I asked ChatGPT to count the characters for me. I specified clear guidelines—no en/em dashes, only hyphens, and the need to stay under a specific character count. However, every time I got a response, the count was wrong. Initially, it gave me a count, but after I corrected it, it provided a different number, then another, with conflicting counts like 31, 32, then 33 characters. Despite showing visual proof with screenshots and detailed breakdowns, ChatGPT couldn't recognize its mistakes until I pointed them out explicitly. This wasn't a complex task—just simple counting. Since I pay for the Plus plan, I expect more accuracy with basic tasks like this.
3 Answers
Honestly, you get what you pay for with ChatGPT. It’s not a tool designed for precise calculations, more like a conversational agent. Sometimes it misses the mark on straightforward tasks like counting characters.
ChatGPT operates based on tokens rather than individual characters. Essentially, each word is broken down into one or more tokens, and these tokens don’t translate perfectly to character counts, which can lead to inaccuracies in counting. That's probably why you got different answers! If you want accurate counts, maybe try using programming languages like Python for that specific purpose!
It’s definitely not a calculator! ChatGPT is more about understanding language than performing math. You might want to stick with dedicated tools for specific tasks like character counting.
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