ChatGPT has changed quite a bit since then Debut at the end of 2022. What started as a web app chatbot has evolved into an AI with whom you can have a real conversation. The bot can even see Now. But even if your choice is between this original web app or the app on your phone or computer, ChatGPT is now ready to chat via a more old-fashioned method: a phone call.
OpenAI the ChatGPT phone line announced ThursdayDecember 19th. (To be clear, it’s not April 1.) The number — which is literally 1-800-CHATGPT (1-800-242-8478) — is completely free to call, although OpenAI warns that carrier fees may apply . If you prefer to send an SMS, you can send the number a message on WhatsApp. (Regular SMS is not supported.) You don’t need a ChatGPT account to talk to the bot: just call or message the number and you’ll get a response.
Although this experience is free, there are some limitations. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT only allows you to make calls for 15 minutes Monthwith a daily limit for messages to WhatsApp. The company doesn’t specify what this limit actually is, but says it can change depending on demand. Additionally, some ChatGPT basic features such as ChatGPT search, image recognition, custom instructions, and storage are not available with this experience. The cutoff date for using ChatGPT with this number is October 2023, so don’t expect ChatGPT to know everything that happened after that.
You should know that OpenAI stores your phone calls and messages with 1-800-CHATGPT and associates these chats with the phone number you use to call or send messages to the bot.
What is it like to call ChatGPT?
To be honest, it’s pretty similar to chatting in enhanced voice mode, just with the inferior audio quality you’d expect from a traditional phone call.
Until I had a relatively creepy interaction with the bot. After chatting for a few minutes, I thought I’d see if ChatGPT hangs up when I ask. At first it was something like “help here” but the call wasn’t actually hung up. So I asked again. No answer. I asked a second time. No answer. I said, “Hello?” No answer. Keyword panic.
So I hung up and called back. After an initial greeting, I asked my question again. ChatGPT immediately said: “Sure, thanks for chatting!” and hung up. Imagine that. The next time I called back, I thought about testing the limits of my knowledge by asking, “Who is the president?” I got no answer. ChatGPT instead says “Goodbye!” Take care of yourself!” Then he dropped the call again.
While it’s irritating, I think the problem is that ChatGPT has difficulty understanding certain questions when asked this way over the phone. It answers some questions without any problems, while others appear to be wrong. I asked, “Who is the president?” On another call, the bot thought I was asking about user privacy. But when I say, “Who is the President of the United States?” it gets it.
Invoking ChatGPT definitely introduces some hurdles that don’t exist with the dedicated app, but otherwise it’s the usual ChatGPT experience. If you like that, great. If you don’t, you probably won’t use this. The advantage here is probably that you can call ChatGPT without an account. However, aside from a few rare cases, I don’t think this is a huge benefit for most people.
