Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic are all making AI systems that will run your PC for you, doing online tasks like filling out forms, research, and even a spot of shopping

pcgamer.com:

If you've been hoping that AI is just going to a tech bubble that'll burst very soon, like 3D TVs (remember them?), you'll have to keep wishing as major players in the industry are charging ahead with new AI agents. Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic are all busy creating so-called computer-using agents (CUAs) that will take over your web browser and carry out various tasks at your behest.

Anyone who has used ChatGPT a lot will know that you get it to give you information on a research topic, summarise a document, fill in a form, and suggest items worth purchasing. However, you need to give the AI system all of the necessary documents and links to do this. The obvious next step in artificial intelligence is just to tell it what you want and it will scurry off and do everything for you.

That's what Google is working on right now, according to a report by The Information (via Reuters). The new AI system, apparently codenamed Project Jarvis, will work in conjunction with Google's next-generation Gemini LLM (large language model) and is likely to be directly integrated into the Chrome web browser.

The reason for that is the system will literally take over the browser and do everything you've asked of it via that interface. Such AI tools are called computing-using agents (CUAs) and they're the current darling of the major players in the AI industry.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported on OpenAI's project 'Strawberry' with the supposed aim of «enabling the company’s AI to not just generate answers to queries but to plan ahead enough to navigate the internet autonomously and reliably to perform what OpenAI terms deep research.»

Last week, Anthropic announced that its latest LLM, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, can also be used to work a computer via its API: "[D]evelopers can direct Claude to use computers the way people do—by looking at a screen, moving a cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text." The company has a short promotional video demonstrating a potential use of the system.

Now,