OpenAI API and GPT-3, not clear how can I access or set up a learning/dev?

Question

I am reading tons of GPT-3 samples, and came cross many code samples. None of them mentions that how and where I can run and play with the code myself... and especially not mentioning I can not.

So I did my research, and concluded, I can not, but I may be wrong:

• There is no way to run the "thing" on-premises on a dev machine, it is a hosted service by definition (?)
• As of now (Oct. 11th 2020) the OpenAI API is in invite only beta (?)

Did I miss something?

Answer 1

As of now (Oct. 11th 2020) the OpenAI API is in invite only beta (?)

Yes, that is correct! Check out their API introduction and application form. On there you'll find the necessary information to apply (in case you want that).

There is no way to run the "thing" on-premises on a dev machine, it is a hosted service by definition

Well, you have access to their API. You either can use the inbuilt playground or access the API via a HTTP request (and therefore via most programming languages). But there isn't much coding to be done as you only have a few parameters to pass into the request - e.g. the amount of tokens, temperature, etc.

They even have a function which writes the code for you (though that's probably not necessary):

As you can see, you're able to write (and test) your scripts with the different settings and engines. Once you set it up properly, you may simply export the code. That obviously shouldn't be used in production as your software is (presumably) more in-depth then just one standardized call.

Answer 2

As of Nov 18 2021, the API is now available publicly with no waitlist. You just need to sign up for an account and get an API key (instant access). You need to pay per usage, but you get some free usage to start with.

Pricing for Da Vinci (the main/best GPT-3 model) is $0.006 per 1000 tokens (approx 750 words). So for about 1 cent, you can get it to read and/or write about 1500 words.

https://openai.com/blog/api-no-waitlist/