One of the nicest things about custom GPTs was wonderfully ordinary: you could make something useful on ChatGPT, send a friend a link, and let them try what you made. No launch strategy, no company workspace, just a “hey, dude, I made this”.
I miss that simplicity in the present move towards plugins.
For the Average Joe, a custom GPT was a version of ChatGPT made for a particular purpose, like a writing tool, or maybe a fictional character with some questionable conversational habits. Tourette Syndrome perhaps. Fuck! 😅
You supplied instructions, added some reference material, and then gave it a nice and/or arcane name. For the average user plugins package reusable instructions and capabilities that ChatGPT can use across other tasks, sometimes connecting to other services. That broader approach may be an improvement for some, but not for me.
There is nothing useful for me in this transition.
Under the older custom-GPT system, a Plus or Business subscriber could create an assistant, select “Anyone with the link,” and send it to anybody without bothering to list it publicly in the GPT Store. Technicaly speaking, this was kinda unlisted sharing rather than access restricted to named friends: anybody could forward the link. Or post it on Redditt, God forbid! It was simple, practical and useful though.
Since the present custom-GPT system will be retired on 11 December this year I rushed to migrate the few I wrote for myself and friends. Nothing fancy, small utilities for everyday online life.
To my disappointment, it is not possible anymore to share them in their new avatar of “plugins”. At least not on my cheap tier of “Pro”. Neither on the little bit more expensive of “Business”. These changes leave an awkward question: does paying more actually restore the convenience users once enjoyed on Plus?
The straightforward link sharing being withdrawn from the more affordable plans, mark a clear and regrettable shift in OpenAI’s policy. A useful freedom disappears, with no clear assurance that upgrading would bring it back.
I wanted to share a small creation with a friend, as usual, but OpenAI overlords decided that this is no more acceptable.
People build these little tools for friends, families, or even customers. Some are useful, others are just jokes or experiments. You shouldn’t be compelled to become a public publisher simply to let someone else enjoy your ideas.
Cloud models and the services around them are totally under their owners’ control. We may pay the subscription, and then spend hours polishing a tool, but we remain subject to someone else’s priorities.
Paradoxically, changes like this may give the local-model movement a boost. Running AI on your own computer involves efforts and compromises, but greater control has big value.
The strongest argument for running local AI begins with something as small as a link you can no longer share.