ChatGPT's Charts and Buttons Are Useful, as Long as I Can Ask for Plain Text

My verdict: a real improvement for some answers, and an annoyance for the rest unless you can switch it off.

OpenAI began rolling out GPT-6 in ChatGPT on October 7, along with a feature called Intelligent UI. Instead of only text, the chatbot can answer with charts, buttons, forms and small interactive tools. OpenAI’s own examples include a trip plan on a map and a bill splitter. Paid plans came first, and the Free and Go tiers follow on October 8. OpenAI says more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week, so this changes the screen for a very large number of ordinary users.

It is an interesting way to answer, but there are times when I simply want a plain text reply, and a chart in that moment is a nuisance. In my view these answers should be limited to certain contexts or appear when asked for. I could not confirm whether OpenAI gives users a setting to turn Intelligent UI off, so check yours.

I still think it is a real improvement. Some content is far easier to understand in this format, and a presentation of numbers is the obvious case. A chart you can adjust beats a paragraph that describes one.

So the verdict depends on control. If it appears only when it helps, it earns its place. If it shows up on every question, it is decoration. Try it on a few of your usual questions and see which one you get. The sources are linked below.