Technologies

Snapchat Launches Its Own ChatGPT Powered AI Chatbot

Snapchat Plus subscribers can access the feature starting this week.

Snapchat on Monday said it is launching its own generative artificial intelligence chatbot powered by the latest version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, called My AI. Snapchat calls My AI an experimental feature, and it’ll start rolling out to Snapchat Plus subscribers this week.

Snapchat wrote in a blog post that My AI can help plan a hiking trip over the weekend, it can suggest a recipe to try for dinner and more. It can also write a short haiku if you’re feeling poetic.

«My AI was trained to have a unique tone and personality that plays into Snapchat’s core values around friendship, learning, and fun,» a Snapchat spokesperson said in an email to CNET. «It has been trained to adhere to our trust and safety guidelines.»

While Snapchat wrote that My AI was designed to avoid biased, incorrect or harmful information, the company also noted My AI «can be tricked into saying just about anything.» When an AI creates incorrect information that sounds plausible, that information is called a hallucination.

Snapchat will store and potentially review conversations users have with My AI to help improve the feature. Users can also send feedback directly to Snapchat by long pressing on a My AI response and sharing it with Snapchat.

It’s unclear if or when My AI will be available to Snapcaht users who don’t subscribe to Snapchat Plus.

Snapchat is the latest tech company to integrate AI into its platform. On Feb. 6, Google unveiled its own ChatGPT rival, called Bard. «Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models,» Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai tweeted at the time.

Then on Feb. 7, Microsoft unveiled a new version of its Bing search that incorporates ChatGPT. Microsoft then said longer chats can cause bizarre responses, and the company would try to fix some errors in the tool. Not long after this announcement, Microsoft limited its Bing AI chat to a handful of responses so the conversations wouldn’t get too strange.

For more, check out what you need to know about generative AI like ChatGPT, why people are interested in ChatGPT and why one of the founding fathers of the internet has called technology like ChatGPT «snake oil.»

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.