There’s a new ChatGPT app for the Apple Watch called Petey, and if Siri had feelings, she’d definitely be worried. You can speak to Petey using voice-to-text and hear it read back responses in a cute little robot voice, then share its AI answers over text or email.
Siri is notoriously limited, even compared to other digital assistants. It’s great if you want to check the weather or send a garbled text, but Apple’s AI often can’t handle even remotely complex questions. Petey, according to demos posted by the Dutch developer Hidde van der Ploeg, seems to do a lot better at answering more involved requests. On Petey’s page in the app store, it features step-by-step instructions for how to build a birdhouse as an example (finally, I’ve been dying to know). The app is, for now, only available on iOS.
Available now as Petey – AI Assistant
Apparently GPT is trademarked by OpenAI and I really want to ship updates fast.
So here it is 1.1.1 is available now with text to speech #ChatGPT #AI #AppleWatchhttps://t.co/7uzX51tLCK pic.twitter.com/wqpawyd3r6
— Hidde van der Ploeg (@hiddevdploeg) March 13, 2023
You can launch Petey from the Apple Watch’s home screen or through its own complication (that’s the fancy watch-guy term for a feature on the face of a watch that does anything other than tell the time). Petey will also answer questions typed using the Apple Watch’s tiny keyboard if you prefer to get frustrated, of if you have accurate little baby fingers. It seems like voice-to-text is definitely the way to go.
Petey, originally called WatchGPT before the devloper realised “GPT” is copywritten by ChatGPT’s maker OpenAI, costs $US4.99 ($7). ChatGPT is free, and some iPhone users got duped into paying $US7.99 ($11) a week for a ChatGPT app when it’s easily available through a web browser. However, Petey’s one time fee is more reasonable, as Apple made its smart watch’s web browser hidden and hard to access.
Apple has been pretty weird about approving AI apps over the last few months. The company blocked a ChatGPT email app in early March, claiming it lacked appropriate content filters for young users, apparently because you could ask ChatGPT to write something porny. The developer was told to add content filters or make the app age-restricted to users 17 or older. At the time, Apple wouldn’t answer Gizmodo’s questions about whether or not it had secret new policies about chatbots.
Want to know more about AI, chatbots, and the future of machine learning? Check out our full coverage of artificial intelligence, or browse our guides to The Best Free AI Art Generators and Everything We Know About OpenAI’s ChatGPT.