My account was banned because I had used a VPN once while using GPT 3. This is kind of a big deal for me, because I literally need ChatGPT for a course in my university. Support said they won’t do anything because I “broke the rules”.
It’s annoying that because I did something with no malicious intent, or even knowledge that I was doing something wrong, I get banned from using the most advanced publicly available AI product out there.
I feel that because of this mistake, I now have lost an integral tool in my toolbox, and I have a lover competetive advantage compared to my peers, who can use this tool to help them create better texts grammatically and help brainstorm ideas.
I think a permaban for using a VPN is an unjust punishment, especially when someone tries to appeal it and shows proof that they had no malicious intent. Especially when using a VPN is becoming more and more a normal part of internet “hygiene”. Punishing this with such an absolute punishment, especially considering how important of a tool this is.
I understand that, of course, ChatGPT is a product, not a right, and OpenAI has every right to limit the kind of users that it wants to accommodate. I just think that they should reconsider permabanning people for such a minor offence.