OpenAI is looking for new ways to get you to open the ChatGPT app on your smartphone. The latest attempt is a new feature called ChatGPT Pulse, which is now rolling out to ChatGPT Pro users. The feature is currently only available as a preview, but OpenAI says it will essentially start the conversation for you to help you get the most out of your day.
This is, of course, just another part of OpenAI’s ongoing mission to make AI more asynchronous instead of it only being a reactive product. For instance, instead of waiting on you to reach out to the AI about your upcoming trip, the AI could instead reach out to you with recommendations for said trip. It certainly takes some of the weight off of improving your own ChatGPT prompts, as the AI can start the conversation.
Another possible concern is the ongoing rise of promptless attacks that utilize AI to gain access to calendars and other apps. We’ve seen someone hack a smart home using a promptless AI attack. Some are even using AI to break other AI.
Don’t worry, though — OpenAI isn’t about to just start messaging you every day without discretion. According to the blog post announcing the new feature, OpenAI says users will have full control of how and when ChatGPT sends prompts. You can choose the subjects that ChatGPT will research and pull from any connected calendars or apps, and it will only prompt you about those items.
How to use ChatGPT Pulse
Additionally, ChatGPT Pulse is only designed to send you one pulse a day — in the morning, according to the announcement. That puts the AI front and center as you start your day, which I suppose could push you to eventually rely on it more and more. Most of all, OpenAI claims that Pulse is designed to “work for you, not to keep you scrolling.” While the company clearly wants its AI to be part of your daily routine, it doesn’t want to overwhelm you with information you don’t need. That’s why you’re given so much control over what the AI curates and what it ignores.
One interesting example of how to use ChatGPT Pulse is asking the bot to curate items for a specific time period, like a roundup of local events for a certain day, or even updates for specific sports events. These are all items that you might be looking to be kept up to date on anyways. By default, all updates are removed at the end of the day unless you respond to the chatbot or save them as chats yourself.
This is an interesting idea that lines up perfectly with where OpenAI is trying to take AI. Of course, seeing exactly how well it works will be key, especially since AI tends to hallucinate and provide incorrect information often enough to cause problems.
