I’m an avid league bowler, and I’ve been using ChatGPT as a bowling assistant to help me analyze my equipment, lane conditions, shot results, and league performance.
As I’ve started combining information from the different bowling applications I use, I’ve realized there’s an interesting opportunity for ChatGPT to become the intelligence layer that connects them.
The applications I’m currently using each handle a different part of the bowling experience:
- Tenpin Toolkit — bowling ball specifications, my personal arsenal, layouts, surfaces, and oil-pattern information.
- LaneTalk — actual frame-by-frame scoring and shot data, including leaves, strikes, and ball changes.
- League Secretary — league schedules, matchups, averages, standings, and results.
Each application is useful on its own, but the information is largely separated.
What I would like to see is a way for ChatGPT to connect to these types of specialized applications and use their data together.
The potential becomes much more interesting when the information can be analyzed together.
For example, instead of asking for generic bowling advice, I could ask ChatGPT questions such as:
- “Why did my ball reaction fall off in Game 3?”
- “Compare tonight’s performance with my previous games on similar lane conditions.”
- “Which ball in my arsenal should I move to based on the reaction I’m seeing?”
- “Build me a six-ball lineup for tonight based on the oil pattern and my current equipment.”
- “Analyze my leaves and misses and tell me whether I’m making the wrong physical or equipment adjustment.”
- “How many points does my team need over the next few weeks to improve our playoff seeding?”
The important distinction is that ChatGPT would have access to the specific bowler, specific equipment, specific shots, specific lane conditions, and specific league situation, rather than relying on generic information.
That would turn ChatGPT from simply an AI that can answer bowling questions into an actual data-driven bowling assistant.
I realize this would require cooperation from the developers of the individual applications and appropriate permissions from the user. I’m not suggesting that ChatGPT should simply have access to private data.
What I’m envisioning is a user-authorized integration or connector, where the user could choose which applications to connect and what information to make available to ChatGPT.
This could potentially be accomplished through APIs, application connectors, or another standardized method of allowing specialized applications to provide structured data to ChatGPT.
From the user’s perspective, the experience would be simple: connect the applications, authorize access, and then let ChatGPT use the information from those applications when answering questions or analyzing performance.
I think bowling is a good example of how this type of integration could demonstrate the potential of ChatGPT as a platform.
There are many other specialized fields where users already have valuable data spread across multiple applications. If those applications could securely provide that information to ChatGPT through authorized integrations, ChatGPT could become the layer that understands and connects the information rather than simply displaying it.
I’m calling my particular idea “BowlGPT,” but the underlying concept is much broader than bowling.
I would love to see OpenAI explore this type of integration through the ChatGPT Apps ecosystem. If there is a team, program, or development path where this type of use case can be submitted for consideration, I would be very interested in learning more.
I’m not a software developer, so I don’t have the technical solution figured out. I’m simply a user who has discovered a real-world problem where I think ChatGPT could provide something genuinely useful by connecting information that already exists in specialized applications.
Thanks for taking the time to consider the idea.