Summary:
When a conversation is continued by a different user via the “Continue this conversation” feature, ChatGPT should inject a system message indicating that a handover has occurred.
Problem:
Currently, when a user shares a chat and the recipient opens it using “Continue this conversation,” there is no indication that:
- The conversation was started by someone else
- The assistant’s replies were shaped by a different user’s interaction history
This creates confusion in multi-user contexts (e.g., personal handovers, collaborative work, household use) and forces users to manually state the transition. It also undermines transparency, as the assistant lacks situational awareness unless the recipient explicitly explains the context.
Proposed Solution:
Inject a lightweight, non-personalized system message upon handover:
[System]: This conversation is now being continued by another user.
This message should appear once at the point of transfer and help:
- Maintain clarity for the assistant
- Inform the recipient about the thread’s origin
- Avoid privacy issues (no names or IDs included)
Benefits:
- Improves assistant alignment in continued threads
- Encourages good UX for collaborative use
- Reduces risk of misunderstandings or context mismatch
- Respects privacy while adding useful metadata
Optional: Allow sender to suppress this notice when sharing (e.g., via toggle: “Share anonymously”).