Understanding ChatGPT Work
This article provides a user-focused breakdown of OpenAI's 'ChatGPT Work' product, distinguishing between the cloud-based and local desktop versions. The author evaluates the practical utility of the tool compared to standard ChatGPT, noting its specific model selection features.
Why it matters
As AI tools become more specialized for professional workflows, understanding the distinction between general-purpose chatbots and task-oriented AI is crucial for enterprise productivity.
OpenAI announced ChatGPT Work on July 9th, and have been furiously iterating on it ever since. It is an extraordinarily confusing and very powerful product. Here’s what I’ve figured out about it so far.
The more interesting version of ChatGPT Work is the one that runs in the cloud. This can be accessed via chatgpt.com or through the ChatGPT mobile apps. Let’s call it Work Cloud .
If you install the ChatGPT desktop app—the app that used to be called Codex—you gain access to a thing called ChatGPT Work that can access files and run programs directly on your computer. Let’s call that one Work Local . This one feels more like regular Codex re-skinned to be less intimidating to non-software-developers.
For the rest of this article I’m going to talk exclusively about Work Cloud.
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