AI at Work: October 2026

GPT-6 changes what an answer looks like, locked chats arrive in ChatGPT, Google sets the dates for retiring Gems, and Copilot Notebooks take a web link.

A filter on the month's product news for people who use these tools at work. Every item links to the vendor's own announcement.

Changes that matter at work

GPT-6 changes what an answer looks like. From 7 October, ChatGPT chooses a format to suit the question, so a reply may be plain text, a side-by-side comparison, a diagram, or a small working tool such as a calculator. It can also start answering before it has finished thinking and add to the reply as it goes. It reached Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise first, then Free and Go. The Pro reasoning option is the exception and still answers in plain text. (OpenAI release notes)
Locked chats in ChatGPT. Since 20 October you can hide chosen conversations from your history, pinned chats and search behind a four-digit PIN or your device unlock. Useful on a shared screen, but read the next paragraph carefully: this is not encryption, and it does not change your retention or model-improvement settings. (OpenAI release notes)
Google has set the dates for retiring Gems. Gems move into the Settings panel of the Gemini app on 17 November 2026, where you can still create, edit and use them. From 1 March 2027 at the earliest on business and enterprise accounts, and 1 June 2027 at the earliest on education accounts, Gems stop working and anything left is migrated to a draft skill. If your team depends on a Gem, save a text copy of its instructions somewhere you control, now. (Google Workspace Updates)
Copilot Notebooks take a web link. A Notebook can now use a web page as one of its grounded references, and the lighter Notebooks design reached the Copilot app on iOS on 27 October. Microsoft added a Learning agent in the same release. (Microsoft 365 Copilot release notes)

One feature worth trying

Audio uploads in ChatGPT. Since 6 October, paid plans and workspaces can attach a recording and get a transcript, a summary or a set of notes out of it. Try it on a recording you are allowed to keep, and check the transcript against what you remember before you send anything on: it is a draft, and it will contain mistakes. Before you record a meeting at all, get the agreement of the people in it and check your own organisation policy. (File uploads FAQ)

One you can ignore for now

The model names. October brought GPT-6.1 Terra, a new voice model, Gemini 4 Argon and Claude Haiku 5.5. For drafting, summarising and the everyday jobs in this course, the default in your tool is fine. Choose by the job, fast or careful, rather than by the newest name on the list.

One privacy point

iCloud Mail and Calendar can now be connected to ChatGPT. From 27 October this is available on every plan, on the web, in the desktop app and on iOS. Connecting a personal Apple account hands ChatGPT your mail and your diary, which is a much wider door than pasting one email in. If you connect it, review what it can reach, and keep work material on the account your employer approved. (Connected apps in ChatGPT)

One workflow to test

Take a meeting you already record. Get the transcript out of your approved tool, ask it for the actions and owners, then check that list against your own notes and count what it missed or invented. Include the checking time when you decide whether to keep doing it; the time-saved calculator does the arithmetic.

Academy lessons updated this month

Each of those was re-checked against the vendor documentation linked above; the corrections are listed in the course update log.

All course updates