OpenAI Computer History: ChatGPT Tracks Mac Activity

OpenAI is rolling out a new feature called Computer History for its ChatGPT desktop app on macOS. This feature allows the AI assistant to track app and browsing activities. It aims to give ChatGPT contextual awareness, helping it remember and reference user activities across various apps and websites. The feature is opt-in, meaning it is off by default until a user manually enables it. Computer History is currently available to Pro, Business, and Enterprise users globally, with some exceptions for users in the European Economic Area, the UK, and Switzerland, who will receive it later. This new system replaces an earlier experimental feature that used screen recording. Computer History does not record screens or audio. Instead, it uses macOS accessibility tools to monitor system-level interactions like app switching and mouse clicks. Activity logs are cached locally for up to 48 hours before being sent to OpenAI's servers, converted into high-level text memories, and then the original activity data is deleted from OpenAI's servers. OpenAI states this interaction data is not used to train its models. This matters because it changes how ChatGPT interacts with your computer activities, potentially offering more personalized experiences.