Prompt

LLMs commonly limit access to their web UIs and usually stratify the limit by access tier. In ChatGPT, paid users have a higher limit than free ones, but if they exceed a certain amount of usage their access is temporarily degraded by limiting access to less favorable models. What is this mechanism called: "rate limiting", "usage limits", or something else?

Output

The mechanism you are referring to in ChatGPT, where paid users may experience temporary degradation in access to more advanced models after exceeding a certain usage threshold, is typically referred to as "usage limits" or "quota limits."

While rate limiting is a related concept, it specifically refers to controlling the rate of requests over a period of time (e.g., limiting the number of API calls per minute)[2][3]. In contrast, usage limits or quotas are broader and can include restrictions based on total usage over a longer period (e.g., daily or monthly token limits) or based on different access tiers (free vs. paid users)[4][5].

In this case, when paid users exceed their quota, they may still have access but with reduced functionality, such as being limited to less advanced models like GPT-3.5 instead of GPT-4. This is distinct from rate limiting, which would block or slow down requests based on real-time traffic.