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ChatGPT’s Computer History tracks your clicks and keystrokes

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Why This Matters

OpenAI's new Computer History feature for ChatGPT on macOS enhances productivity by tracking user activity to provide tailored automation and task suggestions. This opt-in tool respects user privacy with options to exclude apps and delete data, aiming to improve AI assistance without capturing sensitive media. Its introduction signals a move toward more integrated, context-aware AI tools that adapt to individual workflows, impacting both developers and everyday users.

Key Takeaways

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ChatGPT’s desktop app on macOS has a new feature called Computer History that turns your actions into training data, learning how you work, suggesting automations, and even picking up tasks you left half done. It uses your activity to build a timeline that ChatGPT and Codex can reference when you make a request.

The feature is opt-in, rather than opt-out, and you can exclude certain apps and websites from Computer History, and you can delete entries if you want finer-grained control. Ari Weinstein, Product and Engineering manager at OpenAI, said on X that Computer History will automatically ignore content in incognito or private browser tabs.

In a quick demo video, Dominik Kundel, a member of the Developer Experiences team at OpenAI, shows the app looking up the last document he edited, checking if it was shared with people via Slack, and delivering a recap of how he spent his morning.

The feature is definitely reminiscent of Windows Recall, but where Microsoft’s controversial AI feature relied heavily on screenshots, OpenAI says Computer History doesn’t capture images, videos, or audio, instead relying on “events.”