OpenAI warns users of setting you should never turn on in new iMessage plugin
OpenAI has just launched a potentially game-changing new plugin for iMessage, yet with this arrival comes a fresh warning from the AI juggernaut, urging users to disable persistent approval as issues could arise.
When Apple finally revealed its revamped and AI-powered version of Siri, many pointed out that it would have an advantage over the competition due to native access to key services on iPhone and MacBook.
While you can technically use it for many of the same things you'd turn to ChatGPT for, only Siri can directly pull from and input into apps like iMessage, your Calendar, Contacts, and more — making the process a whole lot more seamless.
That is, however, until now, as OpenAI has just launched a new plug-in for its coding and software engineering agent Codex, letting you pull and input directly into iMessage while on macOS.
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It's not without its faults, however, as a key piece of advice arrives directly from OpenAI itself, warning users to be wary about persistent approval when using the plugin.
Why should you turn off this ChatGPT iMessage setting?
As warned by OpenAI directly, giving this plugin direct and unrestricted access to your iMessage chats can lead to potentially untrusted or misleading instructions being picked up by the AI agent, as you're advised to keep it so that the model asks before every use.
"By default, ChatGPT sends messages only after you approve the message and its recipients," OpenAI explains in an overview of the new feature.
"Choose 'Allow once' to approve only that send. If you select 'Always allow sending to this chat', ChatGPT can send future messages to that Messages chat without another send approval.
"Keep per-send approval for chats that may contain untrusted or misleading instructions," the advice continues. "Persistent approval removes your final chance to review a message before ChatGPT sends it as you. Use it only when you accept that risk."
It doesn't take much to understand the potential problems that might emerge from giving ChatGPT full unrestricted access to your iMessage chats, and it makes sense to just double check both the recipient and the content of the message are correct before letting the model do its job.
How to restore per-send approval
Right now this plugin is only available to those who use the desktop ChatGPT app on MacBook, so to restore per-sent approval and disable persistent approval settings you might have accidentally enabled, please follow the steps listed below.
- Open the ChatGPT desktop app on Mac and select the 'Settings' option at the top
- Choose the 'Computer use' option, and then click on 'Manage' next to 'Messages'
- From then, select the trash can icon under any chats underneath the 'Always allowed to send' section
- Confirm this by pressing the 'Remove' option
From now on, ChatGPT will once again always ask before sending messages using the new plugin — and it's definitely worth enabling as just a few seconds of approval could save you a major headache down the line.