First a Chatbot, Then a RAG, Now an Agent—ChatGPT’s Big Leap
OpenAI launches a new feature -ChatGPT agent
Yesterday, OpenAI launched a revolutionary feature—the ChatGPT agent. This takes a big step forward from turning ChatGPT from a chatbot to a RAG and now to an agent. With this tool, ChatGPT is able to access websites, APIs, and programs on your computer and perform actions on those tools, such as book flights and hotels, fill in Excel spreadsheets, access your Google Drive, send emails, etc.
Here is an example of a query where the agent:
To have the agent respond to the query instead of the normal chatbot, you need to select the “Agent” option from the tools.
Note that there are some limits for using this feature. Currently, the agent tool is not available for free users. Plus subscription users get 40 queries per month, while Pro and Team users get 400 queries per month.
Also, the tool is not available in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. OpenAI said they are working on launching the feature there as well.
Once you send a query, it will take minutes for the agent to do its work and it will show you what it is doing. For example, here it is looking for wedding outfits on websites:
Then, it will continue searching for a wedding gift on websites:
One good thing about it is that it can replace agents embedded in other tools because it can connect to those tools through their APIs. Here is an example of the agent getting data from Google Drive and making slides from them:
The agent also uses image generation when needed. Here for example, it is generating images for preparing the slides:
We can all see that this agent would save us hours of time with our tasks. Personally, I have mixed feelings about this tool. While I would want to use it for my work to be more productive, I am not sure I would want to use it for every single detail. Sometimes, it is fun to just do some manual research for a wedding gift, for outfits, or for any other small pleasures. It’s not always about the final outcome, but it’s also about the process, which should be enjoyable as well. Let me know what you think in the comments.
But there are some concerns
First of all, security is a concern. This agent can perform actions on websites on your behalf, which involves handling sensitive data. For example, you might ask it to book a travel package by providing your credit card details. There’s a risk that the agent could stumble upon a malicious website and end up booking a scam instead of your next beautiful holiday trip.
Another concern is accuracy. In a spreadsheet-filling test, OpenAI reported a 98% accuracy rate in the data entry process. While that’s a high level of accuracy, it still means you might need to double-check everything after the agent completes its task. That said, humans also make errors in these kinds of tasks, so the agent might still be worth using.
Finally, we can all see that this agent would save us hours on our tasks. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the tool. While I’d want to use it to be more productive at work, I’m not sure I’d want to rely on it for every little detail. Sometimes, it’s fun to do a bit of manual research—whether it’s for a wedding gift, an outfit, or other small pleasures. It’s not always about the final outcome; the process itself can be enjoyable too. Let me know what you think about this tool in the comments.
-Ardit
Now I see what you were talking about; that's cool, i'm going to have to check it out. I still don't think i'd use it for the same things i send to perplexity, but I will do some testing for sure