The AI landscape experienced a seismic shift with a groundbreaking disruption—there’s no reverting to the past.
Following OpenAI’s introduction of ChatGPT, a competitive frenzy ignited, pushing tech giants to accelerate their development of advanced AI technologies. Before long, the market overflowed with generative AI solutions capable of performing far beyond basic tasks.
OpenAI started doing one better, when it announced a way to customize the AI.
With Custom Instructions for example, or the fine-tuning ability for GPT-4o.
In the seventh day of its '12 Days of OpenAI,' ChatGPT is finally adopting a feature from Claude that has been sorely missing.
Introducing Projects—an easy way to organize chats that share topics or context in 4o.
Now available for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users globally.
We’ll bring it to Enterprise and Edu users in January, and to Free users soon. pic.twitter.com/Bmv7kB0GKY— OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 13, 2024
OpenAI calls it the 'Projects' feature.
It's essentially a dedicated space for storing files and customized instructions, allowing continuous work to be organized separately.
In ChatGPT, multiple chat windows are opened based on different user queries. However, since conversations are arranged chronologically, finding older discussions can be challenging, as they are pushed toward the bottom of the list over time.
By clicking on the 'Project' tab in ChatGPT's left sidebar, users can create and save projects named according to users' conversation or task topics. This allows for better organization when working on individual tasks, such as coding or managing multiple tasks simultaneously, with each task stored separately.
Here, ChatGPT can automatically save project progress, enabling continuous updates or modifications based on prior conversations.
A project keeps your chats, files, and custom instructions together in one place, making it easy to return to ongoing work. pic.twitter.com/V1z4zpHAPc
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 13, 2024
When users want to start a Project, they must first name it, and if they wish, assign it a color to make it easier to find.
Then, users can group related chats and upload any relevant files.
They can also set specific instructions for ChatGPT to follow while working within that particular Project space.
What this means, if users are collaborating on a screenplay or building a website, they don’t have to keep reminding ChatGPT about the details every time they start a new chat.
Users can add existing chats to a Project, start new ones, and even pull in data from their files mid-conversation.
It's worth mentioning that Projects support Canvas, as well as SearchGPT.
You can create projects at https://t.co/nYW5KO1aIg and on the ChatGPT desktop app for Windows.
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 13, 2024
OpenAI highlighted that the new feature simplifies locating past conversations, enabling more systematic management of long-term tasks.
OpenAI said that ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Teams subscribers can access this feature, with availability for enterprise ChatGPT Enterprise and educational Edu users scheduled for January 2025.
While OpenAI has advanced with features like Memory feature, for example, the ability to organize chats and files into cohesive, themed bundles is as transformative as moving from sticky notes to well-structured binders.
Before this, OpenAI has been rolling out innovative tools, including ChatGPT Pro, the video creation AI Sora, and the writing and collaboration platform Canvas.
It's worth mentioning that Projects support Canvas, as well as SearchGPT.