File upload
Also called uploading files, attachments
Giving an AI a document, spreadsheet, photo or recording to work from, so it answers from your material rather than from memory.
Most wrong answers come from the model filling gaps from its training. Uploading the actual document closes the gap: the text is now in front of it, and it can quote, summarise, compare and calculate from what's really there.
It works for more than documents. You can upload a photo of a rash, a screenshot of an error, a spreadsheet of expenses or a voice memo, and multimodal models will read each in its own way.
2 cautions. Long files test the model's attention, so for anything important ask where in the file each claim comes from. And an upload is a copy of your file on someone else's server, kept with your chat, so think about what's in it before it leaves your device.
For example
You upload a 40-page lease and ask which clauses say who pays for repairs, with page numbers.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet file upload in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
Daily Bytes Plus is in the Android app.