How ChatGPT Code Interpreter Can Help You Save Time in Your Design Process
Leveraging Generative AI Power with ChatGPT Code Interpreter
OpenAI launched a new tool last month called Code Interpreter. It is like a chatGPT plugin that adds a layer to ChatGPT’s functionality, allowing you to easily upload images, CSVs, PDFs, and other files to work with the information inside them. Let's take a look at it.
What is ChatGPT Code Interpreter?
The ChatGPT Code Interpreter is a feature that allows users to upload different files and perform tasks such as data analytics, image conversions, and code editing through ChatGPT.
The plugin can handle file uploads and downloads in different formats, including CSV and JSON, and supports Python code. It can also learn from its code output, enabling it to correct its own mistakes.
Although it has limitations, such as a maximum file upload size of 250 MB, the code interpreter has much potential for different usage.
This feature shows us some of the remarkable things AI can do. Although I use ChatGPT extensively, I think the Chatgpt interface could be better. The fact that I must write a prompt for every simple task is uncomfortable. Instead of chatting, using inputs for some tasks can make the work easier.
Still, more importantly, this plugin shows what capabilities companies can add to their products once they add some artificial intelligence power.
How to activate the Code Interpreter
The Code Interpreter is a premium (Chatgpt Plus) feature, so you must be paid to use it. Once you are a paid user, you can activate the Code Interpreter by following these steps:
- Go to the Settings tab in ChatGPT.
- Click on the Beta features tab.
- Toggle the Code Interpreter switch to On.
How does ChatGPT Code Interpreter work?
The Code Interpreter works by integrating a Python interpreter into ChatGPT.
It translates user requests into Python, performs code execution, and returns the output in a conversational format.
When you execute a task on the Code Interpreter, you can open a box showing all the steps ChatGPT takes, so you can better understand the process.
However, it does not have access to the internet.
How can ChatGPT Code Interpreter help you?
You can convert between file formats
Many tools can convert between file formats, such as PNG to JPG, PDF to DOC, etc.
The great thing is that you don’t need to search for a tool to make file conversion. You can upload the file and ask to convert it.
If you’re not using any tool to do it and suddenly need to convert a file, then it’s convenient because you don’t need to search for another tool.
Analyze colors from a photo
One of the most interesting aspects of using ChatGPT’s Code Interpreter with images is its ability to analyze visual data. For instance, you can upload a photo and ask the AI to generate its three main colors. The AI will then return the colors in the values you need, RGB, HEX, etc.
As the process evolves, ChatGPT explains it. This transparency helps clarify what could otherwise seem like a black box. For example, ChatGPT informed me that the image was too large, so it reduced the image size before analyzing it.
Be aware that it can take time for the process to complete, loading the image, analyzing it, and getting the results.
This can be an excellent option if you want to find inspiration from an image to create a color palette for an app or get ideas for colors you can use in a marketing campaign.
Resizing images
Another useful feature of the Code Interpreter is its ability to resize images.
To resize an image, write a clear prompt, including specific dimensions. If you don’t specify a size, it might reduce the image to a random size or ask you to provide it before executing the task.
Once the task is completed, the AI provides a download link for the resized image. While this feature might seem basic, and designers might prefer using other specialized products for this task, it still showcases the capabilities of AI. What happens is that ChatGPT wrote a small app to perform the task, and that is not a small thing.
Image Size Reduction
Designers often have to reduce the weight of our images for better loading times without compromising too much on quality. Instead of using external tools or software, you can ask the ChatGPT Code Interpreter to do this task.
You can upload your image and ask:
Can you reduce the size of this image by 50%?ChatGPT would then return a smaller version of the image, saving you valuable time and clicks.
Analyzing data from a file
If you have a file (CSV, XLS) and you want to perform data analysis with it, you can create a data visualization directly after uploading it to a code interpreter. For example, I uploaded a file with some views data and asked ChatGPT this prompt:
These are the statistics of my article about ChatGPT. Can you provide me with some insights about it?Then, ChatGPT responded:
The data you provided includes the number of views your article about ChatGPT has received from different countries. Here are the first few rows:This shows the user that the app knows what it’s doing. After that, it showed me some information like Total Views, Country with Maximum Views, Country with Minimum Views, Average Views.
Then it displayed a bar chart with all the information. In addition, I asked ChatGPT to provide me with another type of chart, and it generated a pie chart with the data.
While it’s true that analyzing data is more the responsibility of the data analyst or data scientist and designers don’t typically organize and analyze data, if you need to analyze data like the number of views, time on page, or net promoter score, it can be a great option to accelerate your work.
I believe different data analytics tools will soon add these options to their products. For example, instead of downloading and analyzing the data, you can ask a simple question and get clear insights. This means the process will be much faster for obtaining insights from data.
Here is a screenshot of all the process:
Apply a filter to an image
It is possible to upload an image and ask it to add some filter to it. First, you can ask ChatGPT what filter it can add to it.
I asked it and got these options: Grayscale, Sepia, Negative, Brightness adjustment, Contrast adjustment, Blur, Edge detection Saturation adjustment.
Then I asked to add Saturation adjustment and Negative; you can see the images below.
Translate a sheet File
If you’re working on an app that supports multiple languages and needs to provide the developers with a file containing all the translations, you can do this easily. Simply create an Excel file in one language and then ask ChatGPT to translate it into any language you want.
Convert a video to GIF
If you need to convert a video file to a GIF file, you can do it easily with the Code Interpreter. The great thing is that ChatGPT also asks about the parameters you want for the GIF file.
After requesting the app to convert the video to a GIF, ChatGPT may ask some questions. These questions may vary, but here are some examples.
1. Do you want the GIF to cover the entire length of the video? If not, please specify the start and end times.
2. What should be the frame rate (FPS) of the GIF? The typical frame rate for GIFs is between 10 and 15 FPS.
3. Do you need any specific resolution for the GIF? Please note that higher resolution will result in a larger file size.The approach to asking before executing is great because it provides guidelines for converting the file. This added more value beyond just converting it.
To summarize
In this article, I wanted to show you how you can use the new ChatGPT tool, the code Interpreter.
Initially, we looked at what the tool was and what it did. I then presented real-world uses, such as converting a video into a GIF, translating a sheet file, analyzing data from a file, converting file formats, and more.
I also pointed out that while many tasks facilitated by this tool might not have seemed like major innovations, for example, converting file formats, the key is that the tool enables the accomplishment of numerous tasks without the need to develop a specific app for each.
And remember, if you are a ChatGPT Plus user, you could also use different ChatGPT plugins to perform different tasks. All you need to do is to visit the plugin store and add them.
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