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OpenAI's Operator agent helped me move, but I had to help it, too | TechCrunch

Feb 04, 2025 - techcrunch.com
OpenAI's new AI agent, Operator, is designed to automate online tasks, offering a glimpse into the tech industry's vision of autonomous AI systems. While Operator can perform basic tasks like navigating websites and filling out forms, it still requires significant human intervention. The AI often pauses for user input, permissions, and assistance when it gets stuck, making it more akin to cruise control than full autopilot. OpenAI intentionally limits Operator's decision-making power to prevent errors, but this reduces its practicality as a truly independent system.

During testing, Operator faced challenges such as being blocked by certain websites and making errors like suggesting distant parking garages due to incorrect addresses. Despite collaborations with companies like Instacart and Uber, Operator's tendency to hallucinate and make mistakes undermines trust and limits its usefulness. Until AI models become more reliable, users will continue to assist these agents, which diminishes the intended convenience of autonomous systems.

Key takeaways:

  • OpenAI's Operator is a new AI agent designed to automate online tasks, but it still requires significant human intervention.
  • Operator can perform basic tasks like navigating websites and filling out forms, but struggles with autonomy and often needs user input.
  • Some websites block Operator, while others like Instacart and eBay collaborate with OpenAI to facilitate AI-driven interactions.
  • Trust issues arise due to Operator's occasional hallucinations, highlighting the need for more reliable AI models for autonomous agents.
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