ChatGPT’s ‘branching Chats’ Could Be the Most Useful Update to Date
We haven’t had to wait long for new ChatGPT features in the last few years, and the latest update from OpenAI is the ability to branch a conversation. This means you can take a conversation with a language bot in a different direction, and then return to where you started to continue the main topic of conversation.
According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the feature was introduced by popular demand , and it’s not hard to imagine how it could be useful. For example, the ability to create threads in Slack or Discord — you can follow developments and related ideas without cluttering up the main discussion.
How to Fork Conversations in ChatGPT
At the time of writing , the ChatGPT web app only allows you to create threads (though you can read and add to them from any device). While both free and paid users can use them, you must be logged in to access this feature.
In any ChatGPT conversation, click the three dots at the end of a reply, then select “Send to new chat.” A copy of the current conversation will open in a new browser tab, and in the navigation bar on the left, you’ll see an additional chat with the word “Reply” appended to its title.
You can then have both conversations at the same time by switching between browser tabs (or clicking between chats on the left). Both chats will be the same until you start the conversation in the thread; from there, you can steer the conversations in any direction.
OpenAI doesn’t do this very elegantly, and open chats can quickly become cluttered if you branch a lot. To tidy things up, you can rename chats or delete them if you’re sure you don’t need them. To find these options, click the three dots next to a chat in the navigation bar or in the upper-right corner of an open chat.
You can also use ChatGPT Projects to organize your chats into different folders that are kept separate from each other. All of your branched conversations will remain in a single project, although you can create new projects and move chats between them as needed.
How Branched Chats Can Be Useful
Threaded discussions can be useful in many ways, and you may find that as you interact with ChatGPT, you come up with new ideas for new topics. There is no right or wrong way to use them, and if a topic doesn’t work, you can simply delete it and go back to the previous one.
Let’s say you’re writing an email to your boss politely informing him that you can no longer work for him. You can use multiple threads to test out your wording, using different tones and approaches, without repeating the same text in a single chat.
If you’re studying your favorite literary masterpieces, you can branch off and talk about one specific book or chat in different chat rooms, but the main topic of your conversation will still be focused on overarching themes and ideas.
There are also obvious use cases for programmers. Branched discussions allow you to test separate debugging strategies or design ideas in different browser tabs at the same time, and you can always return to the beginning of the branches.
You can even use branches to provide ChatGPT with the same basic blocks of information, and then have it answer the same questions but in a different tone, using different response lengths, or any other variations.