Why does the AI know how much my dogs weigh, but has no idea what the actual time is? That seems like a glaringly obvious miss.
Hey @Sarge, AI models don’t automatically know the current time coz they aren’t continuously connected to real-world information. For live data like the current time, they need the surrounding app, a system prompt or a tool to provide that info.
The difference is that facts like a Cane Corso weighing around 103 lbs can be learned from training data, whereas the current time is constantly changing and needs a live source to be accurate.
Avinash
Yeah I understand all that. My point is that something as ridiculously powerful as an AI bot ought to know what time it is.
I’m not asking for the nuts and bolts of how it works. I’m asking you to flip the switch that let’s it know what time it is.
I’d advise checking with your mobile device and telling the AI the time.
There are roads you can drive in on the US and pass right through a time zone and back again - while your phone switches its time based on the location. That seems quite improbable for an AI model to keep up with the truth of your location, or when you chat again with the AI having provided its answer hours or months later for further confusion.
It already has a date injected that is incorrect for a large percentage of the day for a large percentage of time zones.
“Quite improbable” that it can’t be allowed to access one of the most basic functions of the device??? Please.
I agree and I wish it too!
@Dev
The issue is not whether the AI model can magically “know” the time by itself. The issue is whether the ChatGPT app can pass the device’s current local time to the model.
Phones and computers already know the local time, time zone, daylight-saving changes, and location changes. The app could simply inject something like:
“Current local time: 9:42 PM
Time zone: America/Toronto
Source: user device”
This should be an optional privacy setting: “Allow ChatGPT to use my local time.”
Users who do not want it can leave it disabled. Users who value continuity and contextual awareness can enable it.
For a conversational AI, knowing whether it is morning, afternoon, or the middle of the night is basic context—not an impossible technical challenge.
Regards.
Sir, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. 
I forgot to mention that the app should also provide the current local date and, ideally, tag messages with reliable timestamps so the model can understand how much time has passed between exchanges.
This would also be useful for users. When I search through an older conversation, dates and timestamps give me reference points that help me locate when something was discussed.
@Sarge I don’t have a newsletter. I used to have a website, but it’s mostly ruins now. I’m just an unofficial, self-taught engineer with too many ideas and a lot of hands-on field experience
Regards.
Lol yeah the newsletter joke was my way of saying I like how you think.