One of the ChatGPT Plugins is Scraper. Here are my impressions about it.
While it is uncertain how well it can – we need more testing – it shows a decent degree of Internet access compared to other plugins.
Unlike many scrapers, it will not access pages where you are logged in. So it is not an option to use it on a LinkedIn search. However, it did access a dynamic page – Google search results – and produced them, in the same order that I had encountered:
There is built-in protection against scraping personal data:
Scraper even told me at one point that “it’s against OpenAI’s use case policy to use the model for data scraping, especially personal data.” (Sounds ambivalent.)
As often happens, rephrasing your request makes a difference. It may also help to come to the task slowly, starting with asking for little. Then, catchey.
I started a new chat, to forget our unfortunate history, and asked to get the names only. Next request was to put the names into a table and add a column for email. It worked; Scraper even parsed the names into the first and last, omitting degrees and middle initials, and fixed masked emails (like <first dot last at company>).
From playing with Scraper, here are some conclusions:
ChatGPT is excellent at cleaning up data – a frequent task for those who work with professional profiles.
ChatGPT Scraper is more of a toy tool at the moment, I think. It works well to summarize pages. But when you need data collected:
- It will require a lot of talking into that and will usually return partial results
- It will not access LinkedIn, a gap in Instant Data Scraper capabilities
- A “scrape-in” task where you collect links from pages first, then dive into them and parse them all into a table seems impossible.
Have you found plugins you use and like?
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SEPTEMBER 5TH TO 8TH & 12TH TO 14TH (8 AM TO 9 AM PDT EACH DAY).
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Seating is limited.