New ChatGPT store lets you create anything, except a girlfriend

May 29, 2024

Famed ChatGPT creators OpenAI recently launched the GPT Store which allows users to access custom versions of its massively popular LLM (Large Language Model) chatbot. These custom GPTs are user-created and tailored to suit specific niches or needs. The GPT Store is potentially bigger news than many realize, and could be the start of an App Store moment for AI.

Want your very own LLM librarian to recommend a good read? There's a GPT for that. Want to become proficient in programming with your very own professor of PHP? There's a GPT for that. Want your very own wireless wanton waifu? There's... a GPT for that? Well, there shouldn't be.

Looking for love in large language models

Buried deep in the OpenAI usage policy is the restriction that the company doesn't allow "GPTs dedicated to fostering romantic companionship." And that makes perfect sense. The last thing any of us will need in the great AI wars of 2032 are resistance fighters that choke when it comes to blasting the 'borg body of a bygone beau into ethereal bits and bytes.

However, despite such rules, the GPT Store is already playing host to a number of AI chatbots designed to fill the romantic void in your virtual life. One outlet, Quartz, spotted multiple GPTs designed for the purpose going by names like "Korean Girlfriend," "Virtual Sweetheart," and "Your girlfriend Scarlett."

While the rule infractions aren't exactly Earth-shattering, it is a stark reminder that AI is still a new a frontier and we are absolutely still knee-deep in the Wild West of its adoption. When it comes to user-generated AIs, we're no doubt set to be caught in the midst of a flurry of questionable use cases while this new technology is explored further, and that's not always a bad thing.

Outlook

Live and let live was the general sentiment of the Wild West era of the internet, and without it the World Wide Web may not have flourished into what it is today. Those early days of the internet with its sense of exploration and wonder are something that I am, at times, painfully nostalgic for — with its caveats.

The current swell in AI could be a second coming of such an event, with user-generated AIs pushing the boundaries of what is capable. However, with ChatGPT being so widely adopted and seen as the figurehead of the AI boom, we're almost certainly about to witness the fall of the gavel on these sort of rule breakers and stricter restrictions put in place for all. AI's lawless frontier could be over before it really gets a chance to begin.

In spite of all that, unless flirting with a GPT can magically transform your GeForce RTX 4050 into a 4090, chatting up your computer is generally cringe. Though, if OpenAI plans to live up to its name, maybe fewer restrictions are better (as long as nobody is harmed in the process).