- ChatGPT’s new Tasks feature can schedule recurring reminders and alerts.
- ChatGPT can use tasks to proactively suggest alerts and notifications.
- Tasks is only available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers for now.
ChatGPT has started testing a new feature that will make the AI chatbot much more effective as a digital secretary. The Tasks tool, now in beta testing, extends ChatGPT responses with a schedule. That means you can set regular reminders, alerts, and other notifications.
You can even get a daily weather report at 7am to decide whether to bring an umbrella, a monthly reminder to renew your library books and all those birthdays for your colleagues that you keep forgetting.
This is a big step for ChatGPT as a proactive assistant. The AI will not only keep track of your list of reminders, but will even suggest some based on your conversations. For example, casually mentioning in a chat that you’re planning a trip could remind you to pack your passport, book a dog sitter, or double-check that your Airbnb has an ocean view. Of course, these suggestions only happen if you approve them.
No one wants their AI assistant to pull out the gun and plan a romantic dinner for you and your ex. All this scheduling power is managed through a dedicated Tasks section in the ChatGPT web interface for now.
Notifications for completed tasks appear across devices, whether you’re on your laptop or phone, and there’s a limit of 10 active tasks at a time. However, you can change or cancel tasks if necessary.
Task AI
For now, Tasks is exclusive to people who pay for ChatGPT Plus or ChatGPT Pro. Free-tier users will have to wait to see if this feature becomes available after the beta testing, as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has hinted at increasing prices for existing subscription tiers even before this new feature came out.
Still, it’s notable how this feature moves ChatGPT toward a more “agent” model, where it’s less reactive and better able to anticipate your needs. Of course, that depends on whether ChatGPT matches what OpenAI claims it can do without getting the job done.
Other AI assistants sometimes have checkered histories, misunderstood memories, or date confusion. And even if true, Taken’s draw is still unknown. Proactive is by definition pushy.
Not everyone is comfortable with an AI telling you things without you starting the conversation, even if it’s just to remind you to floss every night.