OpenAI Unveils New AI Technology: Operator
Two years ago, OpenAI launched the chatbot craze with the release of ChatGPT. Now it hopes to spark interest in a new wave of A.I. technology.
Introducing Operator
On Thursday, OpenAI unveiled a tool called Operator that can go out onto the internet and perform tasks autonomously, like shopping for groceries or booking a restaurant reservation.
How it Works
“It can navigate websites and take actions on websites, much like you and I do,” said OpenAI product and engineering lead Yash Kumar in an interview.
Artificial intelligence researchers call this kind of technology an A.I. agent. While chatbots can answer questions, write poems and generate images, agents can use other software on the internet.
Demonstration
During a briefing with The New York Times, Mr. Kumar showed how the system could book a San Francisco restaurant reservation through the OpenTable website and buy a list of groceries through Instacart. Operator looks and behaves much like ChatGPT and other chatbots. The user types a request into a small window. Then the system responds as best it can.
Limitations
The user can watch as the tool opens a web browser and visits particular sites. Operator may make mistakes. But in some cases, it can correct these mistakes. During the demonstration for The Times, the system mistakenly assumed that Mr. Kumar was in Iowa, before correctly finding a restaurant in San Francisco.
Operator is not entirely autonomous. At times, a user needs to correct its mistakes and provide additional requests and suggestions. For sites like OpenTable and Instacart, users must provide their private usernames and passwords. But OpenAI said that it does not store this private information.
Data Collection
However, the company does capture data showing the way the system interacts with users and accesses sites on their behalf. It can use this data to train future versions of Operator.
Availability
OpenAI said that, beginning on Thursday, Operator will be available to anyone who has subscribed to ChatGPT Pro, a $200-a-month service that provides access to all of the company’s latest tools. It plans to offer the tool via other paid services and eventually roll it into the free version of ChatGPT. Users in the United States will be the first to receive the new tool.
Competition
In recent months, other leading companies, including Google and Anthropic, have unveiled similar tools. However, many of these tools, are not yet widely available.
Conclusion
Operator is based on the same technology that underpins ChatGPT. This technology is what A.I. researchers call a neural network — a mathematical system that can learn skills by analyzing enormous amounts of data.
Newer versions of this technology learn from a wide range of data, including text, images and sounds. In this case, Operator learned from images showing how people use spreadsheets, shopping sites and other online services. After pinpointing patterns in this data, the new system can use similar services on behalf of computer users.
Mr. Kumar acknowledged that, like ChatGPT and other chatbots, Operator is still an experimental technology. But he said it would continue to improve in the coming months.
FAQs
Q: What is Operator?
A: Operator is a new AI technology that can perform tasks autonomously on the internet, like shopping for groceries or booking a restaurant reservation.
Q: How does Operator work?
A: Operator uses a neural network to learn from images showing how people use online services, and then uses this knowledge to perform similar tasks on behalf of users.
Q: Is Operator available to everyone?
A: No, Operator is currently only available to users who have subscribed to ChatGPT Pro, a $200-a-month service. However, OpenAI plans to offer the tool via other paid services and eventually roll it into the free version of ChatGPT.
Q: Does OpenAI store private user information?
A: No, OpenAI does not store private user information, such as usernames and passwords. However, it does capture data showing the way the system interacts with users and accesses sites on their behalf.
