Have you ever stepped away from your computer to return to a thread in a Slack channel? Soon you can be busy with the click of a button. On Thursday, Slack’s parent company, Salesforce, announced Slack GPT—generated AI that runs natively in everyone’s favorite work app.
First, we need to clarify something. Back in March (which feels like years ago in the time of AI), Slack announced a ChatGPT bot that could be added to the platform as an integration, like Giphy or Google Calendar. With ChatGPT for Slack, you can talk to the bot as you would a member of your team and ask it to do things like summarize a thread or draft a message. But Slack GPT differs in that it is built into the core functionality of the application.
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Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have been touted as the ultimate productivity tool. In a matter of seconds, Language Large Models (LLMs) can generate code, abstract long documents, and craft human-like copy all from simple prompts. Companies like Slack are seizing the opportunity to develop products around revolutionary technology. Business tools like Zoom and Grammarly have also jumped on the AI bandwagon.
Slack GPT will contain features that integrate with the application’s native interface, as well as no-code tools for customizing workflows. Next to the button that shows unread messages, you can click “Summary” to get an overview of what you’ve missed. If you’re into messaging, Slack GPT can generate a summary based on your audio text and drop it into your chat. You can also use Slack GPT to compose messages and adjust tone, which also works in Canvas, Slack’s digital whiteboard for planning and collaboration.
Slack’s AI tools are designed to be highly customizable. Companies can use ChatGPT, Anthropic’s AI-powered chatbot, or use their own LLM or proprietary software to avoid any leakage of sensitive data (cough, cough, Samsung). If users end up using ChatGPT or Claude, their data wont to train the model.
But you also don’t have to be a developer to set up custom Slack GPT workflows, for example notifying users when a new lead appears, drafting an email, or sharing it to Canvas. The Workflow Builder has very easy to use buttons for creating a sequence like this.
ChatGPT and Claude for Slack are both available to install now, and the Workflow Builder launches this summer.
Unfortunately, Slack users will have to wait a little longer to get the original features, which have a later release date of sometime this year. I guess we’ll have to use our human brains until then.