ChatGPT wants Full Disk Access to your Mac and Messages

Its latest tool means you can use the tool to read, write and send texts via Messages. The app can also search through messages and get message summaries and other information directly from Messages.

So, if you’ve ever wanted an AI system to go through all your messages to pluck out insights, you’re in luck (though you’ll probably want to check in with corporate legal before doing so). The system does require user consent before working, and OpenAI.

What Happened

The way the system works isn’t quite as clear as I’d like it to be, given the personal data being parsed, along with recent history on how ChatGPT protects such data on Macs. Perhaps of more concern is that the plugin also.

• It also puts yet another slant on the ongoing litigation between both companies.

• But I do predict a showdown on iOS, particularly if Apple is unable to build support for the “trusted intermediary” approach it originally proposed to the EU, if only because of the wider extent.

• I don’t think Apple will challenge OpenAI’s approach for now, as the company doesn’t appear to have actively subverted Mac security protection.

Key Details

It’s all well and good to require consent to make the AI magic happen, but it would be far better, and more legitimate, for such consent to be informed.

• But what I don’t see yet is any clear transparency around how the system delivers all its promised convenience without undermining user privacy.

• Some apologists tend to dismiss concerns around privacy, while others warn that AI automation is becoming an always-on surveillance system that itself becomes a target for exploitation and attack.

• The degree to which OpenAI is digging into the macOS to make these features work is already driving some backlash.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Computerworld as more details emerge