Connecting with Other Services via ChatGPT Plugins
Building an AI Ecosystem... Challenging Apple and Google's Monopoly
U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAI has now launched the 'ChatGPT Plugin.' By connecting other services such as shopping and restaurant reservations to ChatGPT, users can access them with simple commands. As OpenAI embarks on building an ecosystem powered by ChatGPT, it is being compared to Apple's App Store launch. Experts predict that the platform competition will shift from operating systems (OS) centered around Apple and Google to AI-centered platforms.
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Plugin
OpenAI announced on its official blog that it is accepting a waiting list for the ChatGPT plugin. The plugin connects ChatGPT to specific internet-based services, much like plugging a code into an outlet. If the application programming interface (API) released by OpenAI is a tool that brings external services into ChatGPT, the plugin acts as an outlet where external services gather through OpenAI.
Initially, OpenAI will provide plugins to 11 companies, including Expedia for flight and hotel reservations, Instacart for grocery delivery, and OpenTable for restaurant reservations. For example, if you want to find a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco, currently you would search on OpenTable, check the location, prices, and reviews, and then make a reservation. With the ChatGPT plugin, you simply input a command as if using ChatGPT: "Book a vegetarian restaurant within a 10-minute walk from Google's San Francisco headquarters, with main menu prices under $50, and rated in the top 10%," and the reservation is completed.
Depending on the plugin method, services can also be interconnected. In this case, you can receive food recommendations, ask for recipes, and order the necessary ingredients along with a suitable wine. Tasks that previously required searching multiple sites can now be done within a single ChatGPT window. OpenAI plans to apply plugins to a limited number of companies initially and expand the scope in the future.
OpenAI explained, "Language models fundamentally provide useful instructions through text, but following them requires other processes," adding, "Plugins can serve as the eyes and ears of the language model for such processes."
"Platform Competition Will Shift to AI-Centered"
Experts analyze that OpenAI is moving toward building an ecosystem. Jim Fan, an AI scientist at NVIDIA, evaluated, "If ChatGPT was the iPhone launch of the AI industry, the plugin is the App Store launch." Apple and Google created mobile app ecosystems through the App Store and Play Store, rapidly growing the smartphone market. Similarly, the ChatGPT plugin is expected to play the role of an App Store.
An IT industry insider emphasized, "The more plugins are applied, the more users will increase, and it will develop into a platform ecosystem," adding, "The platform competition structure is shifting from OS or search function-centered to AI-centered."
There are also forecasts that as more services adopt plugins, a versatile general-purpose AI like a human will be realized. Seungwoo Han, Tech Lead at Lytton Technologies, which operates a writing generation AI platform, interpreted, "Just as OpenAI applied plugins to commonly used everyday services, it seems they are looking at a general-purpose area."
Domestic IT companies are actively moving. This is due to a sense of crisis that they may fall behind if they do not ride the wave of change. One lead said, "We held a meeting with all employees regarding the plugin policy," adding, "We are considering whether we can provide more users with Lytton's service experience through plugins."
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