The arrival of A.I. "Agents"
The point at which A.I. will be able to go away and actually do things for you is here
Today Open A.I. has released "Operator," which is an AI agent that acts like your personal assistant on the web. Operator can browse websites, fill out forms, and even make reservations for you – all without lifting a finger.
Until a couple of years ago, all we had was Google, which helped us find things on the Internet, but then we still had to interpret the results, and then figure out what to do with the information.
Then along came Chat GPT, which instead of being a search engine, was something that you could ask a question, and get a single answer, provided from some human type reasoning. Where google could only provide links to existing information elsewhere, Chat GPT can re-present existing information in the voice of Shakespeare, or do your homework for you. But Chat GPT was still essentially a better answer. You then needed to take that better answer and go and do something with it.
A.I. Agents are the next evolution. As many of us now use Chat GPT every day, in a years time many of us will likely be using a personal A.I. agent that can not only answer questions, but actually go away and complete tasks.
If you image the task of purchasing concert tickets:
In the Google world, you search for the tickets, but then you still have to read the concert website, you fill out your details, you find seats, you pay for them yourself etc.
In the Chat GPT world, you could tell Chat GPT your preferences and get it to come up with ideas about what concerts and where might suit you, but you still had to book them yourself.
In the world of A.I Agents, you’ll simply say that you want to go to a concert, what times work for you, what seats you prefer, and the agent will go out onto the Internet, find the appropriate tickets, use your credit card to pay, and then remind you when the concert date is coming close. This world has now arrived.
Operator uses OpenAI's GPT-4 technology, combined with some clever learning techniques, to "see" and interact with web pages just like a human user. It can type, click, scroll, and even figure out what to do next, all on its own
Operator is (they say) designed to be safe and secure. It'll ask for your okay before doing anything important, like sending an email or logging into your accounts.
Right now, Operator is in its early stages, so it might not be perfect. But OpenAI is working hard to make it even smarter and more capable. They're even teaming up with companies like DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber to bring Operator into the real world.
There’s no doubt with how fast A.I. is moving, capable A.I. Agents that work well are either here already with Operator, or no more than 6 months away.
We all need to be preparing for a world where we have the equivalent of a very capable personal assistant in our pocket for $1-200 a month. “Intelligence as a service”.
If you’ve been wanting a P.A. but can’t afford one, you’ll be able to have a virtual A.I one very soon that will cost hardly anything.
Rather than just asking Google or Chat GPT questions, you’re now going to be able to assign tasks and goals that you want achieved, and have the A.I work on them for you
For more information, see the Operator release notes on the Open AI webpage
Furthermore, it’s not just Open A.I. that is working on, and launching Agents.
Perplexity’s recently launched A.I. Assistant inside their Android App can perform tasks and call other apps as well.
More information on Perplexity’s A.I. Agent features can be found here