As AI chatbots do, ChatGPT is evolving. OpenAI announced in an X post on Tuesday that its chatbot would be gaining "a beta version of tasks—a new way to ask ChatGPT to do things for you at a future time."
Put plainly, this transforms ChatGPT into more of a virtual assistant rather than the chatbot you'd go to for meal plans, in-depth search answers, or general advice. With this new feature, users can turn to ChatGPT to schedule tasks and receive automatic reminders in the future.
What's unique about ChatGPT Tasks feature
The example OpenAI uses in its post on X is a prompt for ChatGPT to remind the user to work out every morning at 9:30 a.m. and pump them up with a motivational speech. You can also use Tasks to get regular reminders to renew your library books, call your mom on her birthday, or vacuum your home every Thursday.
Other AI agents are capable of this complex task-creation feature, but there's one thing that sets ChatGPT's Tasks feature apart from the rest.
The biggest difference between ChatGPT's Tasks feature and other AI agents capable of scheduling recurring tasks and reminders is cost.
AI scheduling assistants like Reclaim, Motion, Katch, and more all typically require a regular subscription fee or greatly limit services offered for free. While ChatGPT's Tasks feature is currently reserved in early beta for those paying for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, or Team, Open AI says, "We plan to expand access when this goes GA," so it sounds like it'll be available as a free feature to all ChatGPT users.
Today we’re rolling out a beta version of tasks—a new way to ask ChatGPT to do things for you at a future time.Whether it's one-time reminders or recurring actions, tell ChatGPT what you need and when, and it will automatically take care of it. pic.twitter.com/7lgvsPehHvJanuary 14, 2025
With this new feature, ChatGPT is transforming into a more proactive assistant, which some may love and others may hate. The AI will potentially suggest tasks or reminders based on your conversations if you allow it, like reminding you to book hotel rooms or pack your passport if it spots a mention of an upcoming trip in a chat.
Being able to quickly say, "Hey Google, remind me to return my library books tomorrow" without needing to open the app and manually set a reminder has been one of my favorite features of Google Assistant. So personally, I'm excited for this new era of proactive ChatGPT.
How to use ChatGPT to create tasks
As previously mentioned, Tasks is currently an exclusive early beta feature for paying ChatGPT Plus, Pro, or Team members. If you have an active ChatGPT subscription, OpenAI created this helpful step-by-step guide with photos to assist in enabling and scheduling your first few tasks.
You can easily edit the name, instructions, and schedule for created tasks and reminders after you make them, so don't worry about getting everything right with the first task you create.
