OpenAI's new GPT-4o model offers promise of improved smartphone assistants

In the year and a half since the launch of ChatGPT, one nagging question has only got more pressing: if AI can do this, why is my phone's assistant still so bad? On Monday, the gulf grew larger still, as OpenAI announced a new model called GPT-4o – the'o' stands for Omni – which gives the chatbot new abilities to understand and create audio, video, and still images. The system is uncanny to behold. It can engage in prolonged conversations about the world seen through a camera lens, carry out live translation between two different languages, and even laugh at appropriate points. The shine will inevitably wear off after users find the shortcomings in the system, but its creators are more confident than ever.