OpenAI initially introduced third-party software application plugins to its popular ChatGPT service ChatGPT in March, which allowed users to extend its capabilities to perform tasks such as reading complete PDFs. This week the company revealed that it would be taking one of its in-house plugins called code interpreter and making it available to all ChatGPT Plus customers.
Coding Interpreter “lets ChatGPT run code, optionally with access to files you’ve uploaded,” an OpenAI spokesperson wrote on the company’s regularly kept ChatGPT announcement notes blog. “You can ask ChatGPT to analyze data, create charts, edit files, perform math, etc.”
With a variety of tools as well as massive memory, AI can run a variety of devices, and AI can write programs in Python and alter files that can reach 500MB in size.
Code Interpreter lets ChatGPT Plus users generate charts and diagrams, visualizations of data and images, and analyze music playlists. It can also make interactive HTML files, Clean datasets, and make color palettes out of ideas. The interpreter provides various options that make it a potent tool to analyze, visualize data and manipulate.
There’s no reason to be surprised that the first responses from ChatGPT users and tech influencers have been overwhelmingly positive.
New powers, unlocked
Linas Beliunas, Europe country manager and Lithuania Flutterwave’s General Manager, wrote a blog post on LinkedIn: “OpenAI is unlocking the most effective feature they have ever had since GPT-4 and is available to all. Anyone can become a data analyst right now.”
Beliunas graciously included an image slide show on his blog that showcases ten new data analysis and visualization tasks that he could accomplish using ChatGPT with Code Interpreter, which included the creation of an Interactive HTML “heatmap” of UFO sightings all over the U.S. using only an “unpolished dataset.”
Ethan Mollick, an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a prominent AI influencer, said in the Substack publication “One Useful Thing,” that ChatGPT with the Code Interpreter can be described as “the single most useful, interesting mode of AI I have used.”
Mollick stated Mollick wrote that Code Interpreter “makes the AI much more versatile,” and provides well-structured data to support assertions that a person might want to prove: “For example, I asked it to prove to a doubter that the Earth is round with code, and it provided multiple arguments, integrating the text with code and images.”
Countering user grumblings
Another illustration Mollick demonstrated was downloading a list of public superheroes and their abilities and then asking ChatGPT using the Code Interpreter to look them up.
“When asked about the results of the network analysis, it came to interesting conclusions: The set of powers that heroes commonly had were visual in nature (because they were from comic books), fit certain archetypes and were best suited to building continuing adventures,” Mollick of his work.
The new applications will aid OpenAI to combat the growing criticisms of some users, especially those who are part of ChatGPT and AI Reddit. ChatGPT, as well as the AI Reddit subreddits, have noticed that ChatGPT has become more limited and less effective as time passes and cannot block certain topics of conversation and lines of inquiry.
Safety first (and always)
The safety aspect remains the main focus of the Code Interpreter’s design. The main goal is to make sure that the AI-generated software does not result in any unexpected consequences within the actual world. As users discover new ways to use AI, OpenAI plans to keep improving security protocols based on information obtained from this early version.
The most interesting use for Code Interpreter is in data science, described as operating on its “advanced level.” It can perform complex quantitative analysis, combine with clean data and think about data in a human-like way. The AI can create visualizations and dashboards that users can further alter and improve by interacting with the machine. Its capability to produce downloadable outputs adds a new layer of convenience to the Code Interpreter.
Mollick claimed that the tool makes the strongest argument in favor of AI as a beneficial partner for sophisticated knowledge-based work. While human oversight is still essential but the new technology helps reduce repetitive tasks and allows for deeper, more meaningful work.
“Code Interpreter represents the clearest positive vision so far of what AIs can mean for work: Disruption, yes, but disruption that leads to better, more meaningful work,” Mollick said. Mollick.
Code Interpreter is setting a new benchmark shortly for AI and Data Science. With this program, OpenAI is pushing the limits for ChatGPT and large-language models (LLMs).
