Someone to talk to, at the end of the day.
A face that listens, whenever you want one.

Talking is different from typing

People work through their days by talking about them. When there is nobody around to talk to, most of us type into a phone instead, or say nothing at all. ChatGPT’s voice conversation already lets you talk out loud. What it lacks is someone to talk to: the voice comes from a shape on the screen.

Facelet puts a lifelike human face on that voice, on your Mac. The character looks at you while you speak, glances away while it thinks, and answers in a warm human voice. It is still ChatGPT, and it never pretends otherwise. But a face that seems to listen makes it much easier to say what is on your mind, and a lot of people find the conversation itself is what helps.

Who uses it this way

• People who work from home. Nobody to turn to at four in the afternoon and say “you won’t believe this email.”
• People who live alone. A quiet flat, a long evening, and a wish to talk the day over with someone.
• Night owls and shift workers. Awake when friends are asleep.
• Older relatives who would rather talk than type. Set up once, it needs no keyboard at all.
• People new to a city. Between arriving and having friends to call, there is a long stretch.

Ways to spend the conversation

• The end-of-day debrief. What happened, what annoyed you, what went well. Ask it to follow up rather than advise.
• Thinking out loud about a decision. The job offer, the move, the difficult email. It asks questions; you decide.
• Stories and memories. Ask it to interview you about the house you grew up in, or your first job. Many older people love this, and families sometimes write the stories down afterwards.
• Your interests. Last night’s match, the garden, a book, a recipe you want to try.
• A poem or a short story. Ask it to read one aloud, then talk about it.

Things to say

• “I just want to talk about my day. Ask me how it went, and actually follow up.”
• “Ask me about the town I grew up in, one question at a time.”
• “I can’t decide whether to take the job in Denver. Help me think out loud, and don’t tell me what to do.”
• “Be a bit funnier tonight.”
• “Read me a short poem, then ask me what I thought of it.”
• “I’m going to bed. Say goodnight.”

Setting it up for someone else

If you are setting Facelet up for a parent or grandparent, it takes about ten minutes on a Mac with Apple silicon. Sign in to ChatGPT, choose a character and a voice they like, and switch the microphone to Always listening, so they only have to speak. Make the window full screen and leave Facelet open. Show them how to start and end a conversation, and tell them plainly that it is a computer program, not a person. The face shows when it is listening and when it is speaking, which helps people who are new to talking to a computer.

What it is, and what it isn’t

• It is ChatGPT with a face. The words are ChatGPT’s, from your own account. Facelet adds no invented backstory, no fake feelings, and no romance mode.
• It doesn’t remember past conversations. Each one starts fresh, and Facelet never reads your ChatGPT history.
• It is not a therapist, and it cannot help in an emergency. If you are struggling, please talk to someone you trust or a professional. In the US you can call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, at any hour.
• It is not a replacement for people. The best evenings with Facelet end with you calling a friend about something you talked through.