In a move that goes beyond the merely functional, OpenAI has begun to deploy a new modality within ChatGPT in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Taiwan: group chats.
The tool, still in the pilot phase, allows for the first time that several users interact together with the AI in the same conversation. The implementation reaches all versions of the service, including Free, Go, Plus and Pro.
It is a step from individual assistance towards the shared construction of knowledge
The fact of including more participants in a communication channel is interpreted as an attempt to shift the axis from individual assistance to the shared construction of knowledge among family members, colleagues or friends. In this way, ChatGPT positions itself as a personalized interlocutor who now also acts as a connector or mediator, capable of providing context, synthesis and creativity to a group dynamic.
The group experience is activated by tapping the people icon in the top right corner of any conversation to add participants. Doing so creates a copy of the original chat that becomes a common space, keeping the private thread intact. Users can invite up to 20 people using a unique link, and each new member must create a brief profile with name, username and photo to join the group.
Plan a trip with friends, do a collaborative brainstorming or coordinate an academic project with several teachers; They are group actions that can now have an expanded relational space in which ChatGPT helps make decisions.
ChatGPT’s behavior in this new environment has been adjusted. And, as explained by OpenAI in a statement, artificial intelligence evaluates the context to decide when to intervene and when to remain silent, learning to participate without interrupting. Additionally, you can react with emojis, generate custom images based on group members’ profile photos, or limit your tone based on specific instructions.
Regarding privacy, ChatGPT does not use your personalized memory in these spaces nor are group conversations stored or fed to AI learning, which guarantees the division between one type of chats and another. For underage users, the system automatically activates additional sensitivity filters, and parents can disable the function using parental controls.
From OpenAI they recognize that this is only the first phase of a broader vision: turning ChatGPT into a platform where sharing, building and coordinating ideas is as natural as talking. As feedback is collected from the pilot, the feature will expand to new territories and capabilities.
