OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot offers a new generation of conversational AI functionality that promises to fundamentally change the technological landscape and the way people work. Here's how to access it directly from your Mac's menu bar.
ChatGPT is a next-generation language model that's designed to understand and generate human-like response to natural language input. Using a form of AI called deep learning, ChatGPT generates text that's similar to what a human might say.
ChatGPT is trained on a large corpus of text corralled from the internet, which allows it to answer a wide variety of questions and generate coherent responses to many different types of prompts.
That's why Microsoft has added its Bing GPT chatbot to the Taskbar with the latest Windows 11 update, and why Google plans to integrate its Bard experimental conversational AI service to Google Search.
Sadly, Apple doesn't have a chatbot service similar to ChatGPT, and there's no indication that the company will launch one soon, so macOS integration is likely some ways off. However, thanks to one developer, it is possible to interact with ChatGPT right from your Mac's menu bar.
Developed by Jordi Bruin, MacGPT is a free download that reproduces all of the options found on the ChatGPT website and makes them accessible inside a tidy little Mac app. From within the MacGPT interface you can start new conversations with the chatbot and resume old ones.
In the app's settings, there's an option to make the MacGPT window always on top, so it floats over other windows. You can also record a keyboard shortcut that launches the chat window.
The app even adds a convenient brain icon to your Mac's menu bar, so you can have another app in fullscreen mode and still be able to access ChatGPT, ensuring the rich information resource remains just a click away, whatever you're doing.
MacGPT and the ChatGPT website aren't the only ways to access conversational AI chatbots on your Apple devices. Microsoft recently rolled out new Bing, Skype, and Edge apps for the iPhone and the iPad, all of which feature the chat-based AI-powered search capabilities. However, as of writing, these apps are available only in a preview capacity for those who are on the Bing preview experience, and there is a waitlist.
Top Rated Comments
It’s a hell of a lot better at answering complicated questions than Siri is.
Most people confusing what it is, most people referencing Bings implementation which is very different.
I think it's fantastic - I wish Apple would scrap Siri and start again based on AI like this as it'd actually 1. understand what you're asking and 2. give you some useful information back.
So far this week i've used it to, translate to other languages far better than Google translate does (and the even better DeepL) - you don't even need to write out exactly what you want to say. Just tell it generally what you want it to tell someone in the language and it'll write with full concise references.
I've had it sort data from a PDF for me - it was formatted so I couldn't copy the numbers I needed in a list, so I just copied the raw messy unformatted data and told them to pick them out for me, it did.
I've had it re-write customer facing messages for me when i'm too tired to work them well in the first place.
I've had it write scripts and codes for me - i've had it translate code from one language to another.
I've had it write jazz chords for me with an emphasis on what style I want.
I've had it come up with an analogy for someone to explain the difference between a Mosfet and a Relay switch
I've had it answer riddles instantly
I've had it work out complex maths issues for me by just explaining them in english
For those who've said "I can't think of a single reason to use it" maybe it's you that's the problem rather than ChatGPT?
For now though it's best to ask it for facts unless you know the answers are in it's database, or for news - as it's not up to date. It is prone to just making **** up, so don't ask it for information on someone to take into an argument. That's definitely not it's strong point right now.
I'm so profoundly uninterested in this and most all things related to AI also