ChatGPT gets online at last

API access means it can also book tables and fill shopping carts

OpenAI is adding plug-in support for ChatGPT that gives it access to live data from the web - for the first time.

OpenAI originally trained ChatGPT on data going up to 2021, making it incapable of answering any questions about current affairs.

With the new plug-in model that is no longer that case, allowing the service to interact with the web by calling APIs to perform specific actions.

With one of the first plug-ins, developed by OpenAI itself, ChatGPT will finally be able to go online to retrieve anwers relying on live data (the example given is composing a poem about the 2023 Oscar winners).

Safety could be a concern - you don't want ChatGPT browsing the dark web - so the plug-in has some limits. It can only make GET requests, and retrieves content via the Bing search API. That means it relies on Microsoft's existing work on source reliability and problematic content.

Another OpenAI plug-in improves the system's ability to interpret code.

Retrieving information like company documents and sports scores is all well and good, but it's not all plug-ins can do. With dedicated links to specific websites - 11 for now - ChatGPT can also perform actions on users' behalf.

That potentially turns the chatbot into an interface for different services, a bit like a virtual assistant.

The plug-in rollout will come in stages, with only invited developers currently able to use the service. Eventually it will roll out to other plug-in developers, ChatGPT users and - after an alpha period - API users who would like to integrate plugins into their products.

The 11 websites with plug-ins today include Expedia, InstaCart and OpenTable. Users can now build travel itineraries and shopping carts, or find restaurants and make table reservations, in ChatGPT before being redirected to complete their transactions.

Allowing ChatGPT to interact with live websites is a big shakeup, and potentially an even larger search disrupter than the original service. OpenAI is not only examining plug-in safety internally, but inviting researchers to get involved as well via the Researcher Access Programme.

The company also notes that "language models with access to tools will likely have much greater economic impacts than those without," and "we expect the current wave of AI technologies to have a big effect on the pace of job transformation, displacement, and creation.

"We are eager to collaborate with external researchers and our customers to study these impacts."