OpenAI GPTs: Affordances Along the Path to Ubiquity

Another atypical newsletter this time, although standard Thoughts + Things recommendations should return soon! I hope you enjoy this nonetheless. Editor’s note: Well, timing can be funny. I wrote most of this essay last week prior to the events of the last few days. Most notably, Sam Altman’s ousting as CEO of OpenAI by the board and the subsequent mayhem. We’re not sure what is to come, especially as the vast majority of OpenAI employees are now threatening to quit and theoretically follow Sam and Greg Brockman to Microsoft. This essay is not about any of that. Rather, I thought some people might find my thoughts on OpenAI’s launch of GPTs at their developer day interesting. Time will tell how relevant any of this is given the rocky state of OpenAI, but I hope some of these ideas will inspire or challenge how you think about LLMs, their interfaces, design affordances, and the importance of specific tools. To the OpenAI team, I find your work inspiring and hope the progress announced r

Another atypical newsletter this time, although standard Thoughts + Things recommendations should return soon! I hope you enjoy this nonetheless. Editor’s note: Well, timing can be funny. I wrote most of this essay last week prior to the events of the last few days. Most notably, Sam Altman’s ousting as CEO of OpenAI by the board and the subsequent mayhem. We’re not sure what is to come, especially as the vast majority of OpenAI employees are now threatening to quit and theoretically follow Sam and Greg Brockman to Microsoft. This essay is not about any of that. Rather, I thought some people m