OpenAI is adding something new to ChatGPT that could make it feel more like a personal assistant. The new feature, called Tasks – currently in beta – lets users set reminders and schedule tasks for the future. Starting today, it is available to those who are subscribed to Plus, Team, or Pro plans.

The idea is very simple – instead of just answering your questions or helping you in the moment, ChatGPT can now take care of things you want to do later. For example, you can ask it to send you a daily weather update at 7 a.m., remind you about an important deadline, or share a silly joke before bed to lighten the mood. You can set one-time tasks or repeat them if you need it regularly.

To use it, you must select the 4o option with scheduled actions in the ChatGPT menu. From there, simply type in what you want and when you need it to be done. ChatGPT can also suggest tasks based on what you’re chatting about, although you’ll have to confirm them first. While useful, some people may find these suggestions a bit unnecessary or even annoying if they don’t like too much AI interference.

You can keep track of everything two ways – directly in your chat threads or via a new Tasks section, which you’ll find in the Profile menu if you’re using ChatGPT on the web. It’s easy to change or cancel tasks if your plans change. When a task is completed, you’ll be notified on web, desktop or mobile. There’s a limit of 10 active tasks at one time, so it doesn’t get too messy.

This update seems like a bit of a change for ChatGPT. Till now, it has been used only for conversations and answering questions on the spot. But with Task, it’s stepping into the role of a assistant that you can rely on for future things.

Of course, there are still some questions about how reliable it will be. Will it always deliver reminders or updates on time? And what if it messes up something time-sensitive? Since the feature is still in beta, OpenAI is likely to use this period to iron out any issues before a wider release.

Looking to the future, it looks like OpenAI has even bigger plans. Reports suggest that they are working on something called Operator, which could let ChatGPT take control of your computer itself. Another tool, codenamed Caterpillar, can allow ChatGPT to look up specific information for you, resolve issues, or manage documents.

However, for now, the task is here to give paying users a try. This is a useful new feature, but since it’s still being tested, it’s probably best not to rely on it for anything important right now. At present, OpenAI has not said whether this feature will be available for free users or not. For now, it is part of the paid plans, which cost $20 (roughly Rs. 1,730) to $200 (roughly Rs. 17,300) per month.