OpenAI has announced that it is adding support for plugins to ChatGPT. These plugins will allow ChatGPT to access up-to-date information, run computations and use third-party services. The first plugins have been created by companies such as Expedia, FiscalNote, Instacart, KAYAK, Klarna, Milo, OpenTable, Shopify, Slack, Speak, Wolfram and Zapier. OpenAI has also created two plugins of its own: a web browser and a code interpreter.
This upgrade will massively expand ChatGPT’s capabilities and give it access for the first time to live data from the web. Up until now ChatGPT has been limited by the fact that it can only pull information from its training data which ends in 2021.
The new plugins will not only allow ChatGPT to browse the web but also interact with specific websites. This could potentially turn the system into a wide-ranging interface for all sorts of services and sites. In one demo video someone uses ChatGPT to find a recipe and then order the necessary ingredients from Instacart. ChatGPT automatically loads the ingredient list into the shopping service and redirects the user to the site to complete their order.
OpenAI says it’s rolling out plugin access to “a small set of users.” Initially there are 11 plugins for external sites including Expedia, OpenTable, Kayak and Klarna Shopping. OpenAI is also providing some plugins of its own one for interpreting code and one called “Browsing” which lets ChatGPT get information from the internet.
There are some obvious safety and security concerns with letting ChatGPT take actions on behalf of a user rather than just giving them information. OpenAI says it’s taken threats posed by these plugins into consideration and has “implemented several safeguards” including limiting availability of the plugins to a very small number of people to start.
This announcement marks an exciting development in AI technology as we continue to see advancements in language models like ChatGPT.
