When OpenAI launched the 1-800-ChatGPT (1-800-242-8478) number in mid-December, announcing support for voice calls from any type of phone, I called it a gimmicky feature meant to help promote ChatGPT beyond traditional advertising channels. Imagine talking to the AI from a rotary phone; how crazy is that?
The WhatsApp support that comes with that number is not a gimmick, however. I said that while I wouldn’t use ChatGPT over WhatsApp, the functionality might be a great attack on Meta. Suddenly, ChatGPT is present inside a secure chat app that comes preloaded with Meta AI.
OpenAI’s surprising commitment to improving the WhatsApp experience further tells me this is more than a marketing trick. WhatsApp chats with ChatGPT have just gotten better, as they now support images and voice messages. I now think talking to ChatGPT via WhatsApp might be a great way to start interacting with AI if you’re not already.
A few days ago, I explained why you should get started with AI chatbots like ChatGPT rather than being afraid or lazy about it. Like it or not, AI is the future, and you’ll want to be proficient in talking to it.
There’s no better place to start, than a free ChatGPT account on the web or via the iPhone or Android app. Or is it? Well, I now think WhatsApp could be a great alternative to the ChatGPT app or the web interface for newcomers.
Think about it: most people use chat apps to talk to family, friends, and colleagues every day. WhatsApp is the world’s most popular chat app. It’s end-to-end encrypted, too, which is the main reason I use it.
Talking to AI like ChatGPT is just like talking to a human. Doing it in the WhatsApp UI rather than OpenAI’s app might be an easy way to get you started. You already know how WhatsApp works, so you only need to type questions to the AI.
Thanks to this week’s update, you can leave voice messages to ChatGPT via WhatsApp and upload images with your questions. All you have to do is save the 1-800-242-8478 number in your contacts app to get started.
The more comfortable you become with ChatGPT, the easier it will be to switch to the ChatGPT mobile app and use it on the web on your PC (or via a desktop app).
From the looks of it, OpenAI will not stop improving the WhatsApp experience either. In the future, you’ll be able to link your ChatGPT account to the WhatsApp account “for more usage.”
This is an interesting proposition, and I can already think of one reason to do it: If the ChatGPT apps are down, I might still use the AI via WhatsApp, provided that support for WhatsApp chat stays up while dedicated apps malfunction.
However, I am a longtime ChatGPT user, and I’d rather stick to the official apps rather than revert to WhatsApp for chats.
