Back to the future: Communicate by fax with ChatGPT
31.1.2025
Translation: machine translated
A Braunschweig-based company offers not entirely serious ChatGPT enquiries by fax. This means that it is not necessary to send the enquiry to the AI online.
In times when even e-mail is becoming less important, an older technology continues to hold its own: the fax. The company Simple Fax in Braunschweig (Lower Saxony) takes this type of communication to the next level: you can communicate by fax with ChatGPT. Simply send a fax with your request to the company's number and receive a reply from the artificial intelligence ChatGPT - also by fax, of course. The service is aptly named FaxKI.
You might think that the fax is a relic from the last millennium. It seems too old-fashioned to scan a document and convert it into sounds that are sent through the telephone line and printed out again at the other end. However, there are still supposed to be functioning fax machines, especially in public authorities and companies - at least in Germany. And even older people who moved with the times 40 years ago and bought a fax machine may still appreciate the fax.
Maybe FaxKI is also interesting for you if the online world overwhelms you or your internet bandwidth is too narrow for browsing. No problem, you can still use one of the most hyped technologies of the moment and have ChatGPT fax you answers to all the crazy questions that come to mind. At least, as long as your questions are valid. ChatGPT won't tell you how to discreetly corner your neighbour or how to build a car bomb.
Need a translation? Want to know what ChatGPT thinks about the meaning of life? Want to find out how to start your PC so you no longer have to rely on faxes? For each fax request, this will only cost you the usual fees for fax transmission - if you use Simple Fax, you will be charged at least seven euro cents, depending on the country, which will be deducted from your prepaid account.
According to Simple Fax, Fax AI is "your reliable assistant in various areas". And of course, it's a marketing gimmick. It serves to generate attention for the company's actual offering, namely sending faxes, text messages and letters directly via the browser. You can also register a fax number for yourself and receive faxes yourself. The Standard first reported on FaxKI.
And no, I don't want to bash fax to the ground with this article. One can certainly give the fax credit for being more difficult to ignore than e-mail enquiries. After all, it is physically delivered directly to the few recipients within seconds of being sent. Like a VIP message, past all the unread mails in the inbox. That's also worth a lot.
Header image: Shutterstock/New Africa
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
