Speaker: Ken Kousen @kenkousen

For more see the table of contents

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Notes

• Goal: Customize ChatGPT without coding
• Useful for virtual assistants, automate repetitive tasks and shape AI behavior (within limits)
• GPT Builder: create profile picture, specify leading questions, upload files (useful for own info or diff since gpt last trained), enable code interpreter, publish via a link or public “GPT Store”
• The GPT Store is just a public link and search. There’s no money

chatgpt.com

• Explore GPTs in left nav
• Can search for or browse. Lots of available ones.
• 4-5 million custom GPTs. Bar to creating is very low
• Ken made Pragmatic Assistant with rules from PDF and editor rules. Ran chapters through guide. [Janeice made a code version of this for our book; no AI though, long predated ChatGPT]
• Like a skin on ChatGPT

Demo

• CustomGPT with text from Venkat’s Agile book
• Lets choose how communicate – formal, casual, pirate speak, shakespeare, etc [I’ve used chatpgt for western stuff for coderanch a few times]
• Configure tab – description, instructions for GPT to use (like trying to sell the book), 4 generated conversation starters so users see some prompts.
• Click on upload files to give training data (in this case Venkat’s book). Takes care of all the RAG steps. Limit on number and size of attachments. Was able to upload 8 books.
• Give it capabilities like web browsing to use certain sites, DALLE-E, code interpreter
• Instructions is misleading as have way more room than actually do.
• Can keep private, sharing via the link or via the GPT Store
• Gets Ken’s name wrong. Loses the “s”

Trying it out

• Outputs in Markdown
• Did try to sell book per instructions

Stats

• 10 files per GPT
• Text, spreadsheets, presentations, images,. etc
• 2 millin tokens per file
• 20MB for images

“Security”

• GPT may share file contents.
• Files can be downloaded when Code Interpreter is enabled
• [I experimented with Venbot: had it tell me the books available, the table of contents of one, the sections in ch 1 and the full text of two sections. Then I ran out of free tokens for a few hours. When I asked for all of ch 1 it gave me a little and prompted to read the book]
• Only reference to copyright is in the docs of using free materials

Venbot

• https://chatgpt.com/g/g-LsSBgJX2D-venbot-5000
• Demo was fun
• Cool that it figured out the weather from the location

Actions

• GPTs allow you to define Actions – external API. Published via OpenAPI spec (what we used to call Swagger)
• Doesn’t work that well. Easier to write code.
• ActionsGPT can help generate
• Many limitations: no customer headers, must be same domain (except google, microsoft and adobe oauth domains), 100K request/response, 45 second timeout, text only

Code version

• The website was NoCode
• Showed using langchain4j
• Can write own logic and will identify. Langchain will call

Problem

• Custom GPT has name on it
• When wrong, looks like you did it

Competitors

• Claude AI – can only share with teammates (via team subscription), limited number of resources. Two books fit. Can’t access internet.
• NotebookLM from Google – can generate stuff like a read only FAQ based on Gemini, Can generate a study guide (short/long essay questions with answers). Also has audio overview. Meant to be a study tool from docs, websites, and youtube (transcripts)

My take

It was cool seeing a demo. Also, the interaction with Dave Thomas for Pragmatic prompts was fun. I played some with Venbot and some other GPTs while Ken was talking which was also fun. Especially getting it give me parts of the book.