OpenAI has launched a groundbreaking feature called "tasks" for ChatGPT, designed to automate routine activities and enhance user convenience.
Rolling out to ChatGPT Plus, Teams, and Pro users, this beta feature allows ChatGPT to perform scheduled tasks, such as delivering daily weather updates, reminding users about upcoming events, or even sending alerts when concert tickets go on sale.
What Are Tasks?
Tasks act as a combination of AI capabilities and automation tools, akin to Google Alerts and personal calendar reminders, but integrated into ChatGPT. It’s also OpenAI’s first venture into agentic AI—AI that can act on behalf of users.
With tasks, users can schedule ChatGPT to complete activities at specified times. Examples include:
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Sending a weekly news briefing.
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Delivering daily affirmations at 7 a.m.
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Providing a joke for kids before bedtime.
This marks a shift from step-by-step prompting to AI systems capable of taking proactive actions.
The Roadmap to Advanced AI
Agentic AI plays a key role in OpenAI’s vision for the future. At its 2024 Dev Day, CEO Sam Altman highlighted that 2025 would see AI agents becoming mainstream, capable of working seamlessly for users.
OpenAI’s Chief Product Officer, Kevin Weil, also hinted that ChatGPT initiating conversations with users would be a major theme in the coming year.
Tasks represent level three of OpenAI’s five-stage AI development plan. This level focuses on agents capable of taking independent actions. Level five, the ultimate goal, envisions AI systems capable of performing the work of entire organizations—a step towards superintelligence.
How Tasks Work
To use tasks, users can select the "Go with scheduled tasks" option from ChatGPT’s dropdown menu.
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Any message sent in this mode is automatically converted into a task.
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Tasks can be managed from the profile dropdown menu.
ChatGPT can even suggest tasks, which users can accept or reject. Notifications for tasks are sent via browser or macOS push notifications for desktop users, and through the ChatGPT mobile app on phones.
A Subtle Yet Powerful Shift
The ability to automate daily tasks like reminders and updates may appear simple, but it signals a significant step toward OpenAI’s mission of achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). While AGI—a system capable of human-level intelligence or beyond—is still a work in progress, tasks serve as an important milestone in that journey.
By integrating these proactive capabilities into ChatGPT, OpenAI is paving the way for AI systems that not only assist but anticipate and act, bringing users closer to a seamless AI-driven experience.
