OpenAI Adds 'Intelligent UI' to ChatGPT, Mixing Text, Visuals and Interactive Elements

The typing interface is unchanged, TechRadar said. The difference appears in the answers: instead of only producing blocks of text, ChatGPT can now generate interactive calculators, quizzes, diagrams, maps and product comparisons. TechRadar described the experience as similar to ChatGPT building a simple app on the fly, but said users do not need to know anything about app development or even ask for an app. A normal question can return an interactive calculator, a quiz or a product comparison instead of a wall of text.

TechRadar tested the feature with five prompts. In the first, it asked, “I’m 55 and save £500 a month. How much can I save for retirement?” ChatGPT produced a retirement calculator with sliders for retirement age and monthly savings, plus variables such as assumed annual growth. The report said this made it easy to experiment with figures interactively.

In the second test, TechRadar asked, “Show me how the gears on a seven-speed bike work.” ChatGPT returned an illustration of the bike’s drivetrain with a slider to change gear. TechRadar said the model was simplified rather than an accurate rendering, but the rear sprocket changed size as a different gear was selected. The answer also included details such as the number of teeth on a gear and the gear ratio.

For the third test, TechRadar asked, “Help me learn hiragana.” ChatGPT introduced the first five Japanese vowel sounds, a i u e o, showed the hiragana character for each and offered pronunciation tips before starting an interactive quiz. TechRadar said the quiz began with the first five characters and then offered to teach the next five when the user was ready. It described the feature as a potentially useful study aid.

In the fourth test, TechRadar requested a three-day Tokyo itinerary with a budget of £3,000, an interest in ancient temples and a start in late November. The first answer included more images than usual and an interactive map, but TechRadar said it was not truly interactive. Only after ChatGPT asked whether the budget included flights, and TechRadar replied that it did not and asked to adjust the budget, did ChatGPT produce an itinerary with a budget slider and a button to see the updated itinerary based on the new budget. TechRadar said this showed users can ask for interactive elements even if ChatGPT does not provide them the first time.

In the fifth test, TechRadar asked ChatGPT to compare three recent laptops, including a Chromebook, and to let the user adjust the importance of battery life, weight and price to see whether the recommendation changed. TechRadar called it a useful implementation of the new interactive abilities and a better way to compare laptops than methods it had tried before.