Leading artificial intelligence company OpenAI has launched a new way for developers to sell and distribute their own customized versions of AI software through an online store, with industry participants and watchdogs saying it could change the way companies and consumers use the technology.
The GPT Store will feature personalized artificial intelligence applications and allow users to discover and build versions tailored to specific topics or needs.
The store will offer customized versions of ChatGPT, created by developers who pay subscription fees to OpenAI.
The GPT Store offers custom implementations of artificial intelligence. (James Dunne/CBC)
Think of an AI bot that only exists to help with dinner recipes or math homework.
Or a program that uses artificial intelligence solely to generate "yo mama" jokes.
Jokes aside, those involved say making custom AI apps available in an app store could be revolutionary for the industry, similar to how Apple and Google changed the way people interacted with mobile apps when they launched their respective app phone stores launched.
"Being able to interact with an AI tool in natural language is a transformative moment in technology, and this will bring two sides of the market together," said Sonia Sennik, executive director of the University of Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab. "I think we'll see more and more innovative tools built by people like you and me who can now talk to these models and work with them."
Prof. Sonia Sennik calls the app store for custom AI programs "transformational." (Scarlet O'Neill/submitted by Sonia Sennik)
Sennik called the new store a "roadway for accessibility" and said having custom artificial intelligence chatbots available in a mass market will help create a snowball effect, with more activity coming as users and developers are both attracted to this app store.
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Opens accessibility, but who is responsible?"It's going to give people who are not coders the ability to start producing in the digital world without having to go out and hire a software engineer," said Gillian Hadfield, a law professor at the University of Toronto, who focuses on the security and governance of artificial intelligence. "Wow."
However, Hadfield said problems loom for mass-market artificial intelligence because laws and regulations are unclear about who is to blame if something goes wrong.
For example, what if an artificial intelligence app was designed to book travel for a user - and got it wrong?
At least one Canadian lawyer is wondering who is responsible for the possible errors of a custom GPT app. (Michael Dwyer/The Associated Press)
"So who is responsible? Is the contract valid? Can you get the money back if you bought the wrong plane ticket? I think there are a lot of questions about what happens to the way our entire market economy works when you have these types of agents ." out there doing things in the world, and if you've made it very open to produce them," Hadfield said.
Canadians are already on boardThe GPT Store already has several users, including Vancouver-based tech company Commit, which has developed a custom app to locate, research and apply for job openings on behalf of tech workers.
Greg Gunn, of Vancouver-based Commit, was immediately on the custom AI app store with a tool that allowed tech workers to automatically apply for jobs. (Submitted by Greg Gunn)
Commit co-founder Greg Gunn calls the launch of the app store a "great development" and looks forward to possible financial windfalls.
"OpenAI has pledged to share revenue with the most popular GPTs on their platform. This means developers like us don't have to worry about charging credit cards, charging users, or issuing refunds," says Gunn, who pointed out that on the day the store launched, they had the highest number of active users on the Commit platform.
OpenAI initially postponed the storeThe store is OpenAI's attempt to build on the consumer success of ChatGPT, which introduced the world to generative AI last year and attracted users with its ability to write human language.
The GPT Store will initially be rolled out to users who have a paid ChatGPT subscription, OpenAI said. In the coming months, the company plans to add a way for GPT makers to monetize their personalized AIs.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, took over as head of the technology company at the end of 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)
The Microsoft-backed startup announced the upcoming GPT Store in November at its first developer conference.
It was originally supposed to go live later that month. But in December, OpenAI postponed the launch of the GPT Store, citing an internal memo that it was continuing to "make improvements" to GPTs based on customer feedback.
The delay came against the backdrop of the surprise firing of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by the company's board, and his subsequent reinstatement as employees threatened to leave.
