Hello, friends!
Every group of friends has that one person who settles the barbecue bill with a spreadsheet. You ask how much each of you owes and, instead of a three-minute voice message, you get the finished table, with everyone’s name and the amount next to it (and a discount for whoever didn’t drink, lol).
Well, ChatGPT has become that friend. Since October 7, OpenAI has been rolling out ChatGPT Intelligent UI, which arrives together with GPT-6. Now it can build a chart, a map or a calculator right there, in the middle of the conversation.
Hang on, let me explain.
1. What ChatGPT Intelligent UI is
Until now, ChatGPT was basically a written conversation. You asked and got a wall of text, sometimes with a table. With Intelligent UI, the model itself picks the format of the answer. If the question calls for a comparison, it can put the options side by side. If it calls for math, it can hand you a calculator with fields you change yourself. If text does the job, you still get text.
The examples OpenAI showed in the official announcement are very everyday: a bill splitter, a retirement savings calculator, a road trip plan with the stops on a map and even a little retro game. There’s a study side too, with interactive diagrams to explain hard topics.
The answer now comes with buttons.
You don’t need to type any special command for this to happen. According to OpenAI’s help page, the model decides on its own when a visual helps.
And a lot of people are getting the change at once: OpenAI says more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week. Aarush Selvan, a product manager at the company, told TechCrunch that ChatGPT has predominantly been a text-based interface, and that the most helpful answers aren’t always just text.
2. Who gets GPT-6 and when
The rollout is global, gradual and limited to the Chat tab. On October 7 it started with the paid plans (Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise), which use GPT-6 Sol. On October 8 it was the turn of the Free and Go plans, with GPT-6 Luna. That’s what the ChatGPT release notes say.
While I was writing this, the help page still said Free and Go used GPT-5.6 Luna by default. So if the new stuff hasn’t shown up on your free account yet, it may just be the gradual rollout that hasn’t reached you.
There are three more conditions for it to work. On your phone, the app has to be up to date. The older ChatGPT apps for Windows and macOS don’t show Intelligent UI, and OpenAI recommends the browser. And if you pay for Pro and pick the “Pro” reasoning level, you go without it, because that mode runs a different model, GPT-6 Astra.
The feature has no separate quota: your plan’s normal limits apply.
OpenAI also says that, on questions that need a web search, GPT-6 Instant starts answering 44% sooner on average than GPT-5.6 Instant. That’s the company’s own measurement, so take it with that in mind.
3. How to use interactive answers in practice
Since the model decides on its own, the simplest way is to ask, in plain language, things that lend themselves to a visual. A few requests for you to try:
- “Build a calculator to split R$480 among 8 people, where 3 didn’t drink and the drinks cost R$120.”
- “Compare buying and renting an apartment side by side, using only the numbers I’m about to give you.”
- “Plan a 3-day road trip from Belo Horizonte to Porto Seguro and show the stops on a map.”
- “Explain compound interest with a chart where I can change the rate and the term.”
If you only get text, ask again and say you want the interactive version. And if it still doesn’t come, most likely GPT-6 hasn’t reached your account yet.
Canaltech (in Portuguese) listed other uses OpenAI demonstrated, like an airplane seat comparison tool and a financial planning simulator.
4. Check the math before you trust it
I liked the change. For a lot of things, a chart I can play with teaches more than five paragraphs.
But a nice-looking calculator earns a kind of trust that text doesn’t. And the model can still get the formula wrong or start from a wrong number, the same way it did in text. Now the mistake comes neatly laid out.
Check the math!
Back to the spreadsheet friend: even he gets the formula wrong now and then, and we only find out because someone in the group redoes the sum. Do the same. Ask ChatGPT to show the formula and the numbers it used. Test it with a case where you already know the result (in the barbecue above, it’s R$69 for those who drank and R$45 for those who didn’t). And if it’s a real money decision, redo it in your own spreadsheet.
It’s the same checking habit I suggested when I wrote about ChatGPT ads.
5. How to tone down the visuals if you prefer text
Not everyone is going to like it. If you use ChatGPT to copy and paste text, a pile of cards and buttons can get in the way more than it helps.
You can turn it down. In ChatGPT on the web, open Settings and switch off “Layout and visuals.” OpenAI warns that some visuals may still appear and that this option doesn’t switch on a text-only mode.
The other route is to ask in the message itself: “answer in text only, no visual elements.” If you always want that, put the request in your custom instructions. No guarantee, but it helps.
6. Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT Intelligent UI a paid feature?
No. It also reaches the Free and Go plans, with GPT-6 Luna. The paid plans use GPT-6 Sol. The feature has no separate quota, your plan’s limits apply.
Do I need to turn anything on to use it?
You don’t. The model chooses on its own when to use text, a visual or an interactive tool. Just make sure your phone app is up to date, or use the browser.
Can I turn Intelligent UI off?
Not completely. You can reduce it by switching off “Layout and visuals” in Settings on the web version, and OpenAI warns that some visuals may still appear.
Can I trust the calculators ChatGPT builds?
Trust them after you check them. Ask for the formula, test it with a case where you know the result, and redo the important math somewhere else.
ChatGPT has become the spreadsheet friend. Enjoy it, and redo the sum.
Cheers,
Fellipe Soares
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