OpenAI wants you to use ChatGPT to prep your day every morning. ChatGPT Pulse is a new feature that will give Pro users a curated set of personalized updates at the start of the day, using past chats and connected apps like your calendar, according to an OpenAI press release on Thursday.
Think of it like how the president gets a daily briefing from staff. Except this edition is from a chatbot.
Pulse is a mobile-only feature rolling out now. It is currently limited to $200/month Pro subscribers, but OpenAI says it'll soon be available to $20/month Plus subscribers.
Each day, Pulse will give you a new topical visual card in the form of a large, visually appealing pop-up notification on your phone. Based on insights from conversations, feedback and connected apps, it'll include relevant details, such as upcoming meetings, or it can give you healthy meal ideas for dinner. For example, it can remind you to buy a birthday gift, draft a sample meeting agenda or provide restaurant recommendations.
Pulse can connect to Gmail and Google Calendar for up-to-date information. Integrations are off by default and must be turned on in the settings.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
OpenAI called it a major step in making AI more proactive and personalized, essentially acting as your assistant. The nonprofit envisions AI tech being so handy that it can do things without users even asking. "That's what the best human assistants do," Fidji Simo, CEO of applications at OpenAI, said in a post sent to CNET.
Simo noted that "wealthy people have always had access to assistants who understand their preferences, anticipate their needs, and can help with everything from managing appointments and booking trips to shopping for clothes." In contrast, the majority of US households spend "nearly 20 hours a week on domestic work, logistics, and errands."
According to Simo, AI has the potential to level the playing field, so to speak, offering support that only a select few have been able to afford and making it "available to everyone over time."
OpenAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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AI chatbots are already becoming more capable of independent action, with the goal of becoming truly agentic, or performing tasks autonomously on behalf of the user (like ordering a pizza). These developments are going forward, even as the many problems with AI chatbots are far from fixed.
Generative AI can "hallucinate" or get things wrong, with some research showing that training methods encourage the models to do what users are more likely to want, rather than what is accurate or right. Companies are still pushing ahead toward an agentic future, which could completely change how work is done.
Pulse is currently in preview, and OpenAI acknowledges that it won't always get things right. Sometimes suggestions will be out of date or miss the mark. For example, it might give tips on a project you've already completed. The hope, however, is that you provide feedback it can learn from, helping AI do better next time.