AI That Works the Web: My Pick and Why It Matters
It’s time to get started with browsers that take over and do things for us.
They are moving from Early Adopter to Early Majority territory.
So you should give them a go.
In the video, I show two: agent mode in ChatGPT and Comet from Perplexity.
I have a very clear preference between the two.
Let’s jump in.
The task I used to compare them
I asked both to do some bank reconciliation in the Xero Demo Company.
It could be any task you often have to do in a browser: open different tabs to comment on LinkedIn, copy a number from here to there, compile a report, or download three reports from a site, any one of or repeatable task that you have to do every day or every week.
These are the things that these browsers are fantastic for.
ChatGPT agent mode: what it’s like
I started with ChatGPT.
I give an instruction: log in to Xero, go to the demo company, and reconcile what you can in the main bank account.
It sets up its own desktop and tries to load the login page.
It runs into some trouble, something I find quite common with Agent Mode in ChatGPT, but then it figures it out.
It pauses, and asks me to log in.
Once I’ve done that, it begins reconciling.
My experience:
It is powerful, but I am not a huge fan.
Because it is slow and because it displays the browser in a tiny interface. Because it is outside of the context of the rest of my work.
It is like sending off the work to someone remote to complete it.
It's not coming over to work with me.
Comet: a different approach
Now let’s look at Comet.
Comet is an actual browser.
I work in it every day.
Here, I don’t have to start in agent mode. I just keep working, and when I need help I ask.
It takes over, does what needed, and then I continue from there.
The whole thing is much faster and smoother. I can work full screen, keep multiple tabs open, and continue with other tasks while Comet handles one (or more tasks) for me. It’s easy to pause or stop, and you can always see its progress.
My experience:
I love it!
I've been living inside Comet for weeks now.
I open tabs, I get help when I need it, I continue on with my work while the assistant jumps in to handle pieces for me.
Why Comet is better for me
For me right now, Comet is a much better experience. I totally transitioned to Comet after I learned how to use it. I do everything in it. Whenever there’s a moment and I need someone to take over, I get it to take over.
I open my emails there. I open my calendar there. I open my documents, my spreadsheets, my apps, my everything there. And someone on the side can always jump in, take over, and do a few things for me, or just help me out.
The other day I was installing a new printer. I needed to figure out where to download the right desktop software for it.
I went to the website and asked, “Hey, where do I find the downloadable desktop software for this printer model, on Windows?”
It took over, navigated to the right page, and handed it back to me.
I will never go back to a browser that can't jump in and help.
A word of caution
You should try both and make up your own mind. Get some experience using them.
If you have a team, you need clear guidelines for what they’re allowed and not allowed to do with this technology to keep safe.
Anything we’re logged into, we want to watch. We don’t want it to run in the background.
We can set tasks so it goes and does things every day for us automatically, but at this stage I would only do that with things I’m not logged into, or maybe that I’m logged into with a limited account (e.g. read-only privileges).
We’re not sure yet what’s going to go wrong, so let others figure it out and come in when it’s relatively safe.
It’s time to get experience with this. This is how we’re going to work. Life will never be the same. 😃
What to learn together?
Implementation matters.
It’s not just about knowing what to do, it’s about actually doing it.
Do you want to do these things closer with me?
In our AI Champions community, we catch up for a two-hour session online. It’s live, chatty on Teams, not prerecorded.
We go through the new capabilities and how we’re using them. What works, what doesn’t. We ask questions, share experiences, see what others are doing, and get it done together.
At the end, you take home a pack of information: Slides and activities to put into your workflows or to brief with the rest of your team.
Join me at inbal.com.au/community
—-
Inbal Rodnay
Guiding Firms in Adopting AI and Automation
Keynote speaker | AI Workshops | Executive briefings | Consulting CIO
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