ChatGPT’s new Pulse feature will help you manage your day with handy visual updates

ChatGPT launches new Pulse feature that delivers personal updates based on your chats
You can curate what Pulse researches by letting it know what’s useful
Delivers the results as topical visual cards that you can quickly scan or open for more detail

ChatGPT has released a brand new feature called Pulse, which delivers curated updates based on your chats, history, and calendar. Instead of reacting to you, which is the way ChatGPT usually works, Pulse proactively delivers you ‘pulses’ of information based on your recent chats, feedback, and connected apps, like your calendar.

Pulses are delivered as a series of visual cards that you can scan through quickly or open for more detail, giving you a great way to start your day with a handy set of focused, visual updates.

The feature is initially rolling out for ChatGPT Pro users on mobile, as a “preview release”, but will become more widely available in the near future. OpenAI says that its goal is to make the feature “available to everyone” eventually.

Customized Pulses

You can curate what ChatGPT researches by telling it what’s useful and what isn’t. In the example we’ve seen, Pulse had looked into a user’s calendar, realized they had a plane trip from Heathrow coming up, and sent them information about Heathrow airport, without them even asking for it. Pulse then asked follow-up questions about what sort of trip it was (family holiday, work, etc), so that it could provide more tailored information.

You will receive a Pulse once a day, every day. Overnight Pulse will gather data from your ChatGPT conversations, history, and direct feedback and use it to compile your Pulse, which it delivers in the morning. Pulse makes use of the Connections feature in ChatGPT, so it can connect to your Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Calendar. This means that it will be able to deliver birthday reminders in plenty of time for you to buy a gift or card, or send you a sample meeting agenda for your upcoming meetings.

OpenAI says that all topics shown in Pulse will pass through various safety checks to make sure that it avoids showing you harmful content or anything that violates its policies.

Simply tap “curate” and you can request what you want to see in future editions of your Pulse. So you could ask it for a Friday roundup of your week, tips for learning something, or even something specific, like “focus on the NFL Super Bowl news tomorrow”.

A simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down feedback system means that Pulse can learn about the sort of content you like over time.

A paradigm shift in AI

While Pulse has modest beginnings, it marks a fundamental shift in the way ChatGPT works. It turns ChatGPT from a passive chatbot into a proactive assistant that’s working on your behalf, even when you’re not interacting with it or instructing it to do so.

“Pulse will be able to connect with more of the apps you use, so updates capture a more complete picture of your context”, wrote Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, in a blog on Pulse. “We’re also exploring ways for Pulse to deliver relevant work at the right moments throughout the day, whether it’s a quick check before a meeting, a reminder to revisit a draft, or a resource that appears right when you need it”.