Ukrainian entrepreneur develops Chrome plugin using ChatGPT. Already making money

Ihor Stefurak, a Ukrainian entrepreneur, told AIN.Capital how he created a Chrome plugin with the help of ChatGPT. The chatbot itself was the project’s developer and technical co-founder: It optimized the code and gave some advice. As a result, Mr. Stefurak created a Chrome extension called /ai after only 10 hours and got $1,000 in preorders after its launch. Here are some project details from an AIN.Capital editor.

What does the service do?

It’s a Chrome extension that lets you use ChatGPT in any textbox on any website with the help of a command /ai. The idea is to give users access to the chatbot whenever needed without opening a new ChatGPT tab and copy-pasting its responses.

It can be a request like “/ai write a list of the most popular series in 2022” within the WordPress editor or “/ai write js code for loop” in any code editor. The plugin will connect ChatGPT via API and put the answer in the same window.

The plugin passed Google’s verification process on March 23, 2022, and the entrepreneur started selling it. But even before the website was launched, he was accepting preorders for early access, and, according to him, users had ordered the plugin for $1,000.

How did a human and ChatGPT write it?

Ihor says he had the idea for the plugin, but he couldn’t have written it himself — he was only a junior programmer and had never programmed a Chrome extension before. Ihor had read that ChatGPT was good with JavaScript, so he decided to try it out.

First, Ihor asked the chatbot to write a code for a Chrome extension that would monitor pressing the Enter button on the keyboard when a mouse cursor is in a text field and replace the text with emojis. The chatbot answered with three files: manifest (needed for supporting the plugin by Google Chrome) and two files with a code. It also wrote a manual on how to launch it in the browser.

“I tested it, and the code worked. I was impressed. So, I spent the next ten hours chatting with the AI on my computer. When I got ideas about the plugin development, I asked it to change the code. At the eve, I got the first version of the product that could send commands to the AI via API and put its responses in the text field,” he explained.

The entrepreneur noted that the chatbot was not just a developer but also the CTO of his project: He chatted with the bot and asked it to edit the code according to his vision of the product’s functions and optimize some parts.

Pros and cons of working with ChatGPT

Ihor thinks that the speed of ChatGPT is its great advantage: The chatbot can “split out” a working code right after the request message is sent. Its universality is a plus, too: For example, the bot can write a code, a privacy policy for a website, questions for the Google survey to be published in Web Store, and propose various product descriptions for Product Hunt, etc. All a human must do is check and edit.

Working with ChatGPT, he also saw its minuses. For example, the chatbot knows badly a new version of the manifest for Chrome extensions that was published recently and differed from the previous versions. So Ihor always had to remind ChatGPT that the code must be written for this new version. It occurred also the chatbot was a bit stupid:

“Several times, I got caught in a vicious circle. I send the AI a message with an issue, and it rewrites the code. Then I launch the code and get another bug. I copy the mistake info and send it to the bot. It rewrites the code and makes the previous issue. So is the loop. Until I manage somehow to rewrite my request to make the AI work out of the cycle,” Ihor said.

Overall, the entrepreneur is satisfied with the result:

“With my understanding of how the code works, I rate the result as a 3+. But in the process, I learn, see how it generates features, ask it to explain things I don’t understand, and invent ways to convey the context of the task with less text.”