Everyday AI Podcast: EP 424

"ChatGPT’s New Projects Mode – How to Use It and 3 Useful Hacks"

Host: Jordan Wilson
Date: December 17, 2024

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Jordan Wilson dives deep into the newly released Projects Mode in ChatGPT, exploring its purpose, organization features, practical use cases, and three powerful hacks to maximize its potential. Drawing on years of AI training experience, Jordan contrasts Projects with other organizational features (like custom GPTs and Claude's Projects by Anthropic), and walks listeners through live demonstrations and Q&A for real-world application.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Quick AI News Updates [02:00–09:40]

• Salesforce’s Agent Force 2.0 Announced:
  • New version focusing on generative AI for business, expected to reshape digital labor.
  • “Mark Benioff refers to this advancement as part of an agent revolution, emphasizing its potential to reshape digital labor for enterprise workers.” [02:51]
• ChatGPT Broadens Search Capabilities:
  • Now available to all logged-in users, not just paid subscribers.
  • Advanced voice mode gets Internet access; mobile integration with Apple Maps and improved local search features [04:35].
• Google Releases Video AI Model Veo2 and Image Model Imagine 3:
  • Veo2 generates 4K video and boasts longer context.
  • Imagine 3 image generation claimed to rival Midjourney. [06:22]

2. Projects Mode: What Is It and Why It Matters [09:40–17:10]

• Definition & Core Functionality:

  • Projects are essentially “organizational folders” grouping chats, files, and custom instructions.
  • “It is just built for managing multiple tasks or multiple chats more efficiently.” [14:50]

• Why It’s a Big Deal:

  • “This is a kind of ease of use thing that is really going to drive adoption forward.” [16:07]
  • Long-requested feature by power users—finally answers the question: “How do I organize my chats?” [15:52]
  • Solves clutter, especially for those generating many chats daily.

3. How to Access and Use Projects [17:10–27:50]

• Availability:
  • Projects is live for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Teams; coming to Enterprise and Edu in early 2025.
• UI Walkthrough:
  • Sidebar: Custom GPTs at the top, Projects in the middle, regular chats at the bottom.
  • Projects allow up to 20 files per project, with no known limit to number of projects or chats.
  • “You have your GPTs on the top. Now you have your projects in the middle. At the bottom, you have all of your chats that are not in projects.” [26:55]
• File Handling:
  • Upload files as shared knowledge, not just linked to one chat.
  • Good at “needle in the haystack” tests—Jordan successfully pulled buried info from long PDFs.

4. Projects vs. Other Organizational Features [27:51–36:15]

A. Projects vs Custom GPTs

• Similarities:
  • Both allow custom instructions and files.
• Differences:
  • Projects: Focus on organization, workflow, and structure.
  • GPTs: Allow advanced customization (APIs, third-party plugins).
  • “With GPTs...there’s a GPT store, millions of GPTs—99% garbage, 1% great.” [32:24]

B. Projects vs Claude Projects (Anthropic)

• Similarities:
  • Both offer project-level files and instructions, organize chats.
• Differences:
  • Claude: 200,000-token context window; only new chats can be added to a project.
  • ChatGPT: Can add old chats to Projects, facilitating retroactive organization.
  • “Within Claude, you can only start new chats inside those projects. In chat GPT, you can do it both ways...” [35:00]
• ChatGPT also supports Canvas mode (inline editing/code execution).

5. Live Demo: Creating and Using Projects [36:15–44:00]

• Creating a Project:
  • Name, color, emoji for organization.
• Adding Files and Instructions:
  • Uploading a transcript; adding custom behavior (“always respond in very short bullet points, be funny and direct, don’t waste words”).
• Practical Example:
  • Question: “What are five tips to use ChatGPT for business?” gets more concise, specific answers using project files as a context base. [42:07]
  • “You’ll see there’s an icon here, and the icon says searching project files...So now I know that chatgpt...is going to just use the files that I uploaded.” [42:33]

6. Three Essential Projects Hacks [44:01–50:55]

Hack #1: Use 01 Model (Not Just GPT-4o)

• OpenAI’s docs claim only 4o is available; actually, you can use O1, the most powerful reasoning model.
  • “That’s hack number one…you can use 01” [44:30]

Hack #2: Use Files with 01 by Chat-Level Upload

• If you want 01 to reference files, attach them to the chat, not the project.
  • “If you upload files to the project, 01 isn’t available. If you upload to the chat, you can still use 01.” [45:17]

Hack #3: “Model Cloaking” for GPT Chats in Projects

• Workaround for moving GPT chats into Projects:
  • Start a chat in GPT-4o, use the @ mention GPT, finish interaction, then move that chat into the Project.
  • “If you need to use a GPT and you also want it to live under a project—guess what, here you go, here’s how to do it...I just call it Model Cloaking.” [47:35]
• BONUS: Context Sharing Hack
  • Project files are the only shared context. If an individual chat is important to reuse, save it as a PDF/Doc and upload as a project file for shared reference.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On User Experience:
  • “User interface, user experience...sometimes that can be a pretty big hurdle for people. That can actually slow adoption down.” [15:23]
• On Why This Feature Matters:
  • “Projects might seem topical, but I actually think...it is a kind of ease of use thing that is really going to drive adoption forward.” [16:07]
• On Custom Instructions:
  • “The ability finally to essentially have custom instructions that aren’t applied unilaterally to all your chats is huge.” [21:25]
• On File Management:
  • “The only limit that I’m seeing right now is the number of files in a project...right now that is set at 20.” [26:30]
• On Project File Context:
  • “Just because they’re all under the same folder or project doesn’t mean they share information. They only share the information that is uploaded as a file.” [56:04]
• Listener Shoutout:
  • “Samuel on YouTube says, I hope the term model cloaking takes off because of Jordan, not because of Terminator reason.” [57:42]

Q&A & Live Notes [50:55–End]

• Custom GPT vs Assistant GPT: Customs are for front-end use, Assistants are API/back-end tools. [51:23]
• Hallucinations: Always be cautious, better prompt engineering reduces risk. [52:00]
• Audiobooks/Long Media: ChatGPT can summarize, objectify, or extract content—can use Projects, too. [52:27]
• Memory Management: Power users should avoid memory feature in favor of Projects and custom instructions. [53:10]
• Project Sharing: As of now, cannot share projects like individual chats unless using Teams. [55:07]
• Chat Context: Only files and instructions are shared between project chats; for context reuse, create a living “chat context” document and keep it updated. [56:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• AI News: 02:00–09:40
• Feature Introduction/Overview: 09:40–17:10
• Access/UI Details: 17:10–27:50
• Feature Comparisons: 27:51–36:15
• Live Demo & Best Practices: 36:15–44:00
• Three Projects Hacks: 44:01–50:55
• Listener Q&A: 50:55–End

Conclusion & Tone

Jordan’s tone throughout is practical, energetic, and community-oriented, focused on translating technical features into actionable strategies for everyday users and professionals. He emphasizes real-world use, shares honest opinions (especially about OpenAI’s documentation quirks), and fields audience questions with transparency.

For more AI insights and practical guides, catch up with the full episode or sign up for the Everyday AI newsletter at youreverydayai.com!