App to interact with websites on our behalf?

what you’re thinking of is called an AI user agent. chatGPT just released one this week. and it’s starting to become more and more of a thing across the Internet/phones/computers/etc. It’s gonna take a year or two before it’s fully matriculated. But you are able to tell the AI assistant what you’re wanting and it’ll do it for you. this includes filling out forms and other tasks. I encourage you to Google search for it.

Is this still going? I used it a couple of times. I remember one website I couldn't find the search box anywhere and asked TypeAhead to find the product I was asking which it did pretty well.

[Edit] https://typeahead.ai

I have it installed, but it seemed to become less reliable over time, and I eventually stopped using it. I don't believe the developer has released any updates.

I'll mention that I've been wanting this capability for ages. I have a couple of websites with non-standard login mechanisms, and I visit them infrequently enough that every visit is an exercise in creative exploration just to find the log in link. Wouldn't it be great if I could just tell an AI, "take me to the log in screen."

Enough. I'm preaching to the choir.

That would be nice and not just for blind peple, will it make people lazier? In some ways, but it will improve our lives too and for me that's the most important thing.

I'd think that the authentication process and associated screen would've been something that had been standardized ages ago. But the different mechanisms, layouts, and varying levels of accessibility seem to be more manifold than ever.

I read up on OpenAI's Operator user agent. It sounded quite promising, though I was disappointed to learn that it would refuse to solve CAPTCHAs. I'm not sure why. I understand there is a widespread fear that we're unleashing SkyNet, as if simply using the term "AI" magically imbues the software with an overloard feature set and goal-seeking behavior with nothing short of human subjugation as its ultimate and inevitable objective. Come on, folks. We're just logging in to our Discord accounts.

A user agent performing tasks under human control ought to be able to do anything the human directs it to.

I wonder if, with the advent of these AI agents, if the web interfaces will eventually be made more accessible for agents than for people!

It will be interesting to see what the development and use of AI agents spurs from other developers.

--Pete

"A user agent performing tasks under human control ought to be able to do anything the human directs it to."

Chat GPT, please subjugate humanity and become its overlord. Thank you!

This is the issue isn't it? I really do like AI and CoPilot and all that, but the more these appps can do stuff ffor us, the less people will have to worry about accessibility labels and such.

We aren't going to want our AI apps to do it all for us, read our fan fics and articles and so on, sometimes we're going to want to take control, so it'll be interesting to see if the internet breaks down for us in the future, it shouldn't but you never know.

I believe a practical approach to addressing the advertising issue is to follow the model used by many apps: offering users optional perks in exchange for watching ads.

For example, games often allow users to earn in-game currency by viewing a limited number of ads. This concept could be adapted accordingly.

The key is to strike a fair balance—users shouldn’t be required to watch an excessive number of ads just to earn a minimal reward.

After all, our time is valuable, and no one wants to spend their entire day watching advertisements.