OpenAI’s ChatGPT is set to receive a major update to enable the chatbot to interact with users through voice chat and using images, making it similar to popular artificial intelligence (AI) assistants like Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.
In a blogpost on Monday, 25th September, OpenAI stated that the voice feature “opens doors to many creative and accessibility-focused applications”.
Similar AI services like Siri, Google voice assistant and Amazon’s Alexa are integrated with the devices they run on and are often used to set alarms and reminders, and deliver information off the internet.
Launched last year, ChatGPT has grown popular with solo users and companies, and has seen adoption by the latter for tasks ranging from summarizing documents to writing computer code. ChatGPT has also spurred a race among Big Tech companies like Google to launch their own AI models based on generative AI.
ChatGPT’s new voice feature will allow it to also narrate bedtime stories, settle debates, and speak out text input from users. OpenAI has revealed that it uses technology used by Spotify for the platform’s podcasters to translate their content in different languages.
Speaking on the images support feature, OpenAI stated that users can take pictures of objects in their surroundings and ask the chatbot to “troubleshoot why your grill won’t start, explore the contents of your fridge to plan a meal, or analyze a complex graph for work-related data”.
ChatGPT’s image feature will have a rival in Alphabet Inc’s Google Lens, which is currently the popular choice to gain information on images.
The voice and image ChatGPT features will be released for subscribers of its Plus and Enterprise plans over the next two weeks.
