ChatGPT can now draft emails and documents by voice on your phone

OpenAI has connected ChatGPT Voice to its Work tools on mobile. Plus and Pro users get a Work tab they can talk to, and free users get plugins and connected apps.

OpenAI announced on 23 September that ChatGPT Voice on mobile can now do work tasks as well as answer questions. You can ask it out loud to draft an email or summarise your Slack messages, and it gets on with the job.

Plus and Pro subscribers get a new Work tab in the ChatGPT mobile app. From there they can create documents, draft emails, summarise Slack, build a simple website or a presentation, and use the cloud browser. Free and Go users get access to plugins and connected apps. Voice plugins now include email, calendar and Slack. Voice conversations also show richer text on screen, you can switch between typing and talking, and you can start on your phone and pick the conversation up on your desktop. OpenAI has not given a full rollout timetable.

For a midsize business, the useful part is the time between meetings. A manager driving between sites or waiting at a client's office can talk through a follow-up email or a first draft of a proposal and finish it at their desk later. The same goes for catching up on a busy Slack channel.

Connecting your inbox, calendar and chat tools gives ChatGPT access to work information, so check this before your team turns it on. If people use personal Plus accounts for work, decide whether that is allowed and which accounts can be connected. Anything drafted by voice should still be read before it is sent, because a spoken request is easier to get wrong than a typed one.

Voice is a good fit for first drafts and summaries. Keep the final send for when someone has read it.