Skip to main content Tom's Guide Tom's Guide Search Tom's Guide View Profile Newsletters Best Picks Entertainment Nintendo Switch 2 MacBook Air M4 Amazon Spring Sale Best Mattress Wordle Today I let ChatGPT Task schedule a ‘me time’ hour — and it booked me for a dentist appointment Amanda Caswell 3 April 2025 Not here for a root canal When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Ever since ChatGPT Tasks launched, I've enjoyed trying it innovative ways. From scheduling a new body weight exercise in the mornings to expanding my vocabulary with a word-of-the-day, it’s been a great tool for personal growth. However, I have run into a few issues that have been, well, kind of disastrous. To be fair, I understand that OpenAI is still beta testing. Since rolling out in January of this year, the version is allowing users to schedule future actions, set reminders, and automate recurring tasks. The beta is available to Plus and Pro subscribers, so if you’re a free tier user, take it from me, you’re probably better off without it until some of the tweaks are worked out. Here are a few problems I’ve experienced with ChatGPT Tasks and how to avoid them. Inaccurate time tracking (Image credit: Future) I’ll start off with the biggest concern I’ve seen. ChatGPT might misunderstand relative time requests (like "in 5 minutes"), so it’s important to use precise times. In other words, ChatGPT sometimes fails to keep accurate real-world time, which could lead to missed deadlines, unreliable scheduling, or in my case, a coffee break at 3am. Yes, that’s right. When I’m working, I often get “in the zone” and forget to eat, drink or take a break. It’s a terrible habit so I decided to lean on AI for a little help. Unfortunately, Tasks pushed my break by 12 hours and sent me an email at 3 am telling me it was time for a cup of coffee and to stretch my legs. Delayed task execution (Image credit: Future) I scheduled a “self-care” Task to help me avoid burn out. The “self-care” could be anything from journaling to taking a walk, just a way to take care of myself at some point in the day. Unfortunately, a week or so ago ChatGPT overwrote my self-care time for a dental appointment. Apparently, a reminder within existing conversations can lead to unexpected behavior like this — tasks overwriting one another or altering completely. This actually happened twice. Another time it added “organize the kitchen junk drawer” under my Tasks to “do more cardio.” If anyone else has experienced this, I recommend creating a new, dedicated chat thread specifically for setting up your Tasks. This approach can help prevent interference with ongoing conversations or landing you in the dentist’s chair for a root canal. Recurring task staleness (Image credit: Future) Another issue I’ve come across is seeing the same Task reoccur again…and again. I asked Tasks to send me a joke at the end of the day. It’s been almost a month and I’ve only gotten about five new jokes. If you have recurring tasks set, ChatGPT may provide outdated information. To avoid this, I updated the Task and regularly review to help manage it. Keeping an eye on less-important tasks like increasing the amount of jokes I know has made me more aware of the bigger Tasks that I’ve set. Final thoughts As I mentioned, ChatGPT Tasks is still in beta, so I was bound to experience problems like these. Since ChatGPT doesn't have an internal real-time clock, sometimes the chatbot might provide nonsensical timeframes for task completion. Sign up to get the BEST of Tom's Guide direct to your inbox. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. For the same reason, the system may misinterpret scheduling instructions, leading to tasks being set at unintended times. If you’ve experienced similar issues, it’s a good idea to periodically check your list of active tasks to ensure they are set up correctly and functioning as intended. This will help you to catch and correct any discrepancies early on. By implementing these strategies, you can help minimize disruptions and make more effective use of the ChatGPT Tasks feature. More from Tom's Guide What happens when you feed Gemini 2.5 ChatGPT’s best prompts? I found out I told ChatGPT something that I still regret — here's 7 things you should never share I tested DeepSeek vs Gemini 2.5 with 9 prompts — here's the winner Back to Laptops Intel Core i3 Intel Core i5 Intel Core i7 Storage Size Screen Size Screen Type Storage Type Refurbished Showing 10 of 102 deals Apple 13" MacBook Air M4 (2025) $949Preorder Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i ChromeBook Plus (14-inch 128GB) Apple 13" MacBook Air M4 (2025) Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 9) $979.99View Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i ChromeBook Plus (14-inch 128GB) Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) $2,199.99View Dell XPS 13 (13.4-inch) $999.99View Dell XPS 13 (2016) Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 9) $858.11View Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) (14-inch 1TB) $1,427.94View Amanda Caswell Social Links Navigation You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. 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