Day 10 of the 12 days of OpenAI went a bit retro to make ChatGPT much more accessible than before. OpenAI has introduced new ways to interact with ChatGPT using a much older form of communication technology: a phone number. Specifically, you can send text messages with ChatGPT via WhatsApp and by calling a toll-free number. AI has arrived by landline. Naturally, the number to call or text is 1-800-CHATGPT.
You can start a conversation with ChatGPT on WhatsApp by sending a text message to 1-800-242-8478 in the app. You can send messages to ChatGPT like any other WhatsApp chatbot, but you’ll get responses that match those of ChatGPT’s free tier on the mobile app or website. Not all ChatGPT features are available on WhatsApp either. You can’t ask AI to search for things online or analyze images, at least for now.
If you prefer to have your AI respond via audio, you can pick up your phone and dial 1-800-CHATGPT (i.e. 1-800-242-8478), and a very friendly, very human female voice will respond to everyone. the same queries you could write to send to ChatGPT. The experience is very similar to ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode, where you ask questions and the AI responds in real time. It can help you translate a sentence, give recommendations, or chat about whatever’s on your mind.
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OpenAI has obvious accessibility benefits by making ChatGPT much more available globally, even with all the limits and caveats. It’s the same reason Google set up a phone number for Google Assistant that people could call to interact with the voice assistant. But it also points out how OpenAI and its rivals want to see AI integrated into more communication channels. That’s why both OpenAI and Apple were interested in adding ChatGPT capabilities to Siri, augmenting the iOS assistant with the AI model.
There are also limits for ChatGPT on WhatsApp and over the phone. You can only send messages to ChatGPT on WhatsApp a limited amount per day, although OpenAI doesn’t clarify what that limit actually is. You will receive a warning when you approach the limit, so that the limit does not surprise you. Likewise, ChatGPT phone conversations are not unlimited. Instead of a message limit, you get 15 minutes per month for verbal interactions with the AI. And the phone number only works in the US for now. An automated phone number was certainly a surprise for OpenAI’s latest ‘gift’, akin to finding an old wooden train under wrapping paper. I expect OpenAI will probably take a more future-oriented approach for the last two giveaways before the event ends.
