ChatGPT connects to web, creates plugins via Instacart, Expedia, Shopify, and others | WARC | The Feed

ChatGPT connects to web, creates plugins via Instacart, Expedia, Shopify, and others

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the most visible example of modern artificial intelligence systems was once reserved to a training data set running up to 2021, but is now updating the information it can draw on to third-party plugins.

What’s going on

TechCrunch reported on the developments, which will roll out to a limited number of developers and subscribers to the company’s ChatGPT Plus plan.  

It’s a risky bet to expand to the web, as even with static pre-2021 training data, ChatGPT continues to hallucinate. It will need to test carefully to avoid an unusably unstable program.

“We have a lot to learn, and with the help of everyone, we hope to build something that is both useful and safe”, the company says in a blog post

Early collaborators on the new plugins include:

• Expedia
• FiscalNote
• Instacart
• KAYAK
• Klarna
• Milo
• OpenTable
• Shopify
• Slack
• Speak
• Wolfram
• Zapier

Why it matters

There are several interesting ideas in the news, which will see the chatbot integrate data from third party apps like Instacart, Shopify, Kayak, Expedia, and others, but will also open itself to the web via a first-party web-browsing plugin.

First, this is a clear indication that OpenAI is targeting Google’s position in search, even if it comes with risks.

Second, it is moving quickly on integrations with big marketplaces and travel booking platforms, pointing to a layperson’s use case for the chatbot when shopping or searching.

What will be interesting is whether this is actually more useful than searching on Google, given the importance of actually seeing the product/destination/hotel room. Is this the next Alexa shopping?

Finally, it also hints at the more complicated question of how AI systems are paid for at scale beyond a hardcore group of subscribers.

Sourced from TechCrunch, OpenAI