ChatGPT can be a great productivity tool and has dozens of entirely legitimate and ethical uses, but that doesn't mean everyone feels comfortable typing to AI chatbots in public.

For those who might blush if someone saw ChatGPT open in a tab that a developer built the new Google Chrome extension GPTDisguise.

GPTDisguise transforms the appearance of the ChatGPT website into what looks like a Google Doc. So, if using AI in public still makes you feel like you are doing something mildly shameful, this is your camouflage.

The creator explained on Reddit that they had “found myself a little socially anxious to use ChatGPT in public” and built the extension to make it feel less conspicuous.

It is a small idea, but one that says a lot about where AI sits culturally right now. Plenty of people use ChatGPT daily. Plenty of those same people still seem to want plausible deniability while doing it.

Of course, the extension doesn't actually turn ChatGPT into a Google Doc. It just gives the site the visual language of one. Toolbars, margins, document styling, and the other detritus of an online document all appear on top of the chatbot interface.

Lest there be concern about how it might be misused for cheating, the creator hastened to assure users that it's entirely cosmetic and doesn't produce any actual Google Docs.

To set up GPTDisguise, you just need to install the extension in Chrome. Then, when you open ChatGPT in your browser, you can activate the camouflage. Once it is on, the familiar chatbot window is hidden, even though ChatGPT continues to function the same.

Disguised AI

There is something undeniably funny about needing a disguise for one of the most popular consumer technologies on the internet. But the appeal is understandable when AI is in an awkward social phase, and using it can invite negative assumptions.

It's like using a dating website 25 years ago.

If you are typing into Google Docs, you look industrious. If you are typing into ChatGPT, you may look like you are outsourcing your brain, even if you're just sprucing up formal emails or summarizing a long report.

For the average person, GPTDisguise is about making the interface look familiar and boring, not actually engaging in deception. Still, an AI-related extension aimed solely at solving a social, not a technical, dilemma is notable.

AI is mainstream enough to be useful, but not always popular enough to use openly. That is a weird middle stage for a technology to occupy, though it probably won't last forever.

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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.