ChatGPT is the talk of the town, and OpenAI never stops debuting new features to keep it that way. It recently unveiled a new Tasks feature that allows ChatGPT users to create and schedule tasks. These tasks can be regular reminders such as “Give me a daily summary of Premier League events” or “Remind me about my friend’s birthday on [specific date].”
Currently in beta, this feature is gradually rolling out to Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers. As of today (Jan 22nd, 2025), the feature cannot be accessed by free users.
The new feature lets users tell ChatGPT what they need at specific times. Do you want a daily news breakdown? A reminder to pick up your package? A reminder to tune into your favorite show? ChatGPT can now provide these things.
The Tasks feature brings ChatGPT closer to a conventional digital assistant like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa.
But the great thing is, you don’t need to buy a special device for this digital assistant. The 'schedule tasks' feature is available on ChatGPT's web platform and its iOS and Android smartphone apps. It's also accessible on the macOS desktop app but not yet on the Windows app. OpenAI said the feature will debut on the Windows app later in this year’s first quarter.
Using the Schedules Tasks feature on ChatGPT
To find this feature, ChatGPT users need to first select "4o with scheduled tasks" from the model picker at the top of the page. Then, you can start typing the tasks you want ChatGPT to perform and when.
You can also visit the tasks you've created by clicking on your user profile to see the user context menu and selecting the Tasks option there. This is going to display a list of all the tasks you've created. If you haven't created any, you'll be met with the introduction screen below.
PSA: OpenAI didn’t say if - or when - this page will be available for mobile and desktop app users.
After you create some tasks, you'll see them listed on the Tasks page. Clicking on a task will direct you to the chat that you've created the task in. You can also use the context menu button at the right of a task to see the Pause and Delete options.
Clicking on the Edit button (pencil icon) will display the task edit popup, which as its name suggests, allows you to edit the task.
In the task edit popup, you can change the name, instruction, and schedule of the task. You can set the task to repeat daily, weeks, monthly, annually, or custom.
Make sure to click the Save button at the bottom right after making any changes to the task so that you don't lose them.
This feature requires enabling notifications on your web browser, smartphone, or PC. After all, ChatGPT can’t remind users of anything if it’s blocked from sending notifications. The Tasks feature isn’t limitless, either.
Users can run a maximum of 10 tasks simultaneously. OpenAI didn’t say if the feature will be available for free users but noted of a “plan to expand access when this goes GA [general availability].”
What does OpenAI 'expanding access' mean?
Expanding access can mean anything from increasing the maximum limit to the expected debut on the Windows app. We think this feature might remain premium to justify subscriptions for Plus, Pro, and Team users.
OpenAI is expanding rapidly yet losing significant money. In 2024, it projected $3.7 billion in revenue and a $5 billion loss. The company is particularly losing money on its $200-per-month Pro subscription after seeing higher-than-expected signups.
As a result, it might not be in the mood to give out more features for free, so the Tasks feature looks like a strategy to retain premium subscribers and convince free users to upgrade to a paid plan for better functionality.
What else can we expect from OpenAI?
OpenAI likely has more in store for premium users. Last November, Bloomberg reported that the company was launching a new artificial intelligence agent capable of using a computer to take action on a user's behalf, e.g., booking a travel itinerary. The report said this tool was expected to be launched this January.
Bloomberg also reported that OpenAI was preparing a general-purpose tool to execute tasks in a user's web browser. That tool appears to be the Tasks feature that it just unveiled.
Though a pioneer in the artificial intelligence craze, OpenAI faces tough competition from well-funded rival startups like Anthropic and Mistral AI. Tech giants like Google and Meta are also competing head-on with OpenAI. The race belongs to those who can provide the most valuable features that convince users to stick to their platforms.
The nascent AI industry has pushed towards “agents” as the defining feature to win customers. As the name suggests, agents are AI systems that can perform tasks with minimal supervision. The new Tasks feature is a highlight of this push towards agents.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman hinted at this push in a question-and-answer session hosted on Reddit last year. “We will have better and better models,” Altman said. “But I think the thing that will feel like the next giant breakthrough will be agents.”
What are AI agents?
AI agents are autonomous intelligent systems that can perform specific tasks without human intervention.
Developing new AI agents is expensive due to the high cost of purchasing and running graphics processing units (GPUs). These GPUs perform complex mathematical operations to generate answers to user queries and perform tasks. If agents are the next competitive frontier, OpenAI, and its rivals will spend heavily on building these agents even as they see minimal short-term returns.
Still, OpenAI isn’t short of cash. It has raised $18 billion in equity and debt funding, making it one of the highest-funded startups ever. Yet, it has to prove to investors that it has a viable business model that doesn’t involve perennial losses. Unsurprisingly, OpenAI didn’t go all in all the Tasks feature. It’s implementing a gradual, limited rollout rather than a splashy debut.
Raw economics drives the push toward agents. It’s a viable way for OpenAI and rivals to monetize their heavy AI infrastructure spending and recoup losses. People are more willing to pay for subscriptions when they’re assured of getting features that’ll make their daily lives easier. To this end, OpenAI’s decision to lock the Tasks feature behind a paywall isn’t surprising.
Expect more updates on the Tasks feature as time goes on. OpenAI is likely using the beta mode to gather customer feedback before fully rolling out this feature. We predict the company will increase the maximum number of tasks from 10 to a much higher level. It might even remove limits altogether for Pro subscribers.
You can start experimenting with the new Tasks feature from your ChatGPT dashboard. It’s still in beta, so don’t expect it to be overly reliable. While you can use it for mundane reminders, we don’t advise relying on it to remind you about that crucial job interview or client meeting.
What makes ChatGPT Tasks such a big deal?
Since its 2022 release, many have adopted ChatGPT as a life management tool. It’s a sophisticated digital assistant that provides detailed answers to complex queries, so this adoption is expected.
ChatGPT’s memory functionality has attracted millions of users. It can remember past queries and provide new answers based on those queries. The Tasks feature harnesses this memory functionality to give users valuable reminders.
With the new feature, ChatGPT now resembles a digital assistant more than before. Users can offload mundane reminders to the app while they focus on remembering more complex stuff. Beware that the feature is currently in beta, so we don’t advise relying on it 100%.
The Tasks feature is another step towards making ChatGPT a chatbot for people’s everyday needs. It’s an exciting development that hints at what’s to come from OpenAI. The idea of AI handling mundane aspects of everyday life is one many people look forward to.
Tips to make the best use of the Tasks feature
Give specific instructions
You should be specific when asking ChatGPT to schedule tasks. During our test, we observed that broad instructions did not produce the best results.
For example, don’t just ask ChatGPT for a daily sports news summary. Instead, ask it to focus on a specific timeframe (e.g., news stories within the last 24 or 48 hours).
If you tell ChatGPT to provide a daily news summary, it might include irrelevant old news. However, the timeframe narrows the instruction and helps ChatGPT generate more accurate responses.
Specify how you want your report
If you ask ChatGPT to generate a report at a set time, specify the format of the intended report. For example, if you request a daily sports news summary, specify whether it should be in a bullet list or tabular format. This helps ChatGPT provide presentable information instead of raw, scattered text that can be challenging to sift through.
Set limits for your answers
ChatGPT works wonders when you instruct it to optimize computing resources. Limiting its output to a specific number of lines, sentences, or paragraphs helps it generate detailed responses.
Suppose you want a list of jokes to say at the weekly family dinner. You can ask ChatGPT to send these jokes on a specific day and make them brief (less than 20 words per joke). This limit makes ChatGPT achieve more with less by providing brief funny jokes, instead of long ones that people might struggle to process.
Provide examples
ChatGPT works better when you provide examples to follow. In the above example of asking ChatGPT to generate jokes for a family dinner, you can give examples of the kind of jokes you want it to generate. With these examples, ChatGPT will understand your needs better and provide a good response.
ChatGPT 4o and o1 models
Last year, ChatGPT’s defining moment was the release of its 4o and o1 models, which significantly improved on previous versions.
ChatGPT 4o was unveiled in May 2024. It generates high-quality, real-time text, audio, and visuals and answers queries faster and more accurately than preceding models. This model is available for free but has limited usage. A paid subscription unlocks extra usage and more features.
The Tasks feature is paired with the 4o model, which is why accessing it requires choosing "4o with scheduled tasks" from the top menu. This model is sophisticated enough to answer complex queries and perform scheduled tasks.
In December 2024, OpenAI unveiled o1, its most powerful model yet. In its benchmark, OpenAI said o1 solved 83% of problems in the International Mathematics Olympiad qualifying exam, compared to the 4o model's 13% score. It also brought advanced image processing capabilities, letting users upload pictures for ChatGPT to identify and analyze.
ChatGPT o1 isn’t available for free users. Plus subscribers get limited access, and only Pro subscribers paying $200 monthly enjoy unlimited access. Pro subscribers can access an advanced version of o1 called the o1 pro mode, which allows users to request more computing resources to answer challenging queries.
ChatGPT’s recent advancements demonstrate OpenAI’s commitment to offering users new features as it competes for market share with rival startups and tech industry incumbents. The company is rapidly innovating, which is necessary in a nascent, fast-changing industry with uncertain prospects.
With OpenAI releasing Tasks, rivals like Anthropic and Google are expected to release similar features for their AI tools, Claude and Bard. Competition breeds innovation in the AI industry, and there’s no harm in companies imitating one another. What matters is who can develop the most sophisticated and user-friendly models that solve users' everyday problems.
Apple Intelligence and OpenAI’s ChatGPT: A formidable partnership
In June 2024, iPhone maker Apple unveiled a crucial partnership with OpenAI. This partnership integrated ChatGPT and Siri, Apple's famous virtual assistant. It enables users to access ChatGPT’s features right from the Siri app.
Apple has an AI model called Apple Intelligence, which is free for all Apple device users. Like ChatGPT, this model can generate text and images and is integrated into various Apple apps, including Siri.
Apple Intelligence has system-wide integration with ChatGPT, which makes the Tasks feature more exciting.
Picture combining Siri’s personal feel with ChatGPT’s Tasks feature. You can ask queries beforehand and get detailed answers. For example, Siri can give you a daily rundown of local news events at 6 p.m. or remind you about your flight itinerary with its soothing digital voice.
We’re excited to hear more about what’s to come from OpenAI. The generative AI craze broke out with ChatGPT’s late 2022 release and hasn’t stopped giving. Barely two years later, ChatGPT has significantly improved, and numerous rivals have popped up. The innovations in the AI space are one to watch, and we consider the Tasks feature a glimpse of what’s to come.
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