OpenAI’s Dot agent is enterprise software that can also order your dinner
OpenAI’s Dot agent is enterprise software that can also order your dinner
OpenAI 的 Dot 智能体：既能处理企业级任务，也能帮你点外卖
Think of Dots as Codex, but for regular people. 把 Dots 想象成面向普通用户的 Codex。
It’s a tale as old as last week: OpenAI’s new agent platform, called Dots, is full of cute little guys who can do your bidding. 这故事就像上周发生的一样久远：OpenAI 推出的全新智能体平台 Dots，里面充满了可以听候你差遣的可爱小家伙。
But unlike the ultra-approachable Meta Muse, Dots feel very much like using workplace software that happens to be able to order you a burrito — emphasis on work. 但与极其平易近人的 Meta Muse 不同，Dots 给人的感觉更像是某种办公软件，只不过它恰好能帮你点个墨西哥卷饼——重点在于“办公”。
OpenAI announced Dots earlier this week. Like Muse, Dots have blobby, anthropomorphic avatars and customizable names. In the future, OpenAI says you’ll be able to have multiple Dots, but right now you get one. I named mine Dotty McDotface. OpenAI 本周早些时候发布了 Dots。和 Muse 一样，Dots 拥有圆润的拟人化头像和可自定义的名称。OpenAI 表示，未来你将能够拥有多个 Dot，但目前你只能拥有一个。我给我的 Dot 起名叫 Dotty McDotface。
The interface looks similar to Muse’s; you chat with the agent in one window and follow its work in another as it clicks around on a virtual machine. But Dots are less personal shoppers, even though they can help you buy stuff. They’re more like coworkers: business software that can use other software. Your Dot’s virtual machine can access apps like Blender and GIMP right off the bat. You can also give it access to your own computer through the desktop ChatGPT app, and you can call your Dot if you need to work through things out loud. 其界面看起来与 Muse 类似；你在一个窗口与智能体聊天，在另一个窗口观察它在虚拟机中点击操作。但 Dots 并不太像私人购物助理，尽管它们确实能帮你买东西。它们更像是同事：一种可以使用其他软件的商业软件。你的 Dot 虚拟机可以直接访问 Blender 和 GIMP 等应用程序。你还可以通过桌面版 ChatGPT 应用让它访问你的电脑，如果你需要通过口头交流来梳理思路，还可以给你的 Dot 打电话。
And OpenAI is offering Dots first to users on its highest-tier accounts, including the $100-per-month Pro account I expensed to test it. Muse and its buzzy competitor Instinct cost you nothing — at least now, and at least until Meta can get it off the ground and presumably start using it to serve you ads, etc. But OpenAI’s gated rollout says a lot about who the product is for, cute avatars notwithstanding. OpenAI 首先向其最高等级账户的用户提供 Dots，包括我为了测试而报销的每月 100 美元的 Pro 账户。Muse 及其热门竞争对手 Instinct 目前是免费的——至少现在是这样，也至少在 Meta 将其推广开来并可能开始利用它向你投放广告之前是免费的。但 OpenAI 这种受限的发布方式，即便撇开可爱的头像不谈，也足以说明该产品的目标用户是谁。
I’ve been testing other AI agents with day-to-day personal tasks — yielding mixed results — and I was curious how OpenAI’s bot would compare. Despite its more enterprise-y vibes, OpenAI says Dots “can do nearly anything” with its cloud computer and access to apps, so I gave it a shot with some more pedestrian use cases. 我一直在测试其他 AI 智能体处理日常个人任务的能力，结果好坏参半，所以我很好奇 OpenAI 的机器人表现如何。尽管它带有更浓厚的企业级色彩，但 OpenAI 表示，凭借其云端计算机和对应用程序的访问权限，Dots “几乎可以做任何事情”，所以我尝试用它处理了一些更琐碎的用例。
To start, I had Dot try to schedule an installation appointment for a new internet service provider at my house (you hear that, Comcast? You’re on notice). It almost got there, and even found a $100 promotional discount in my email that I had mass deleted, but got stuck at a “human check.” Which is problematic for a bot. “This particular check needs a sustained mouse hold that my browser controls don’t support,” it said. “Please open my browser here and hold ‘Press & Hold’ until it completes, then tell me and I’ll continue with installation dates.” I obliged, but it felt a little bit like some teenagers outside of the convenience store asking me to buy them some wine coolers. 首先，我让 Dot 尝试为我家预约一个新的互联网服务提供商安装服务（听到了吗，Comcast？你被盯上了）。它差点就成功了，甚至在我已经批量删除的邮件中找到了一个 100 美元的促销折扣，但却卡在了“人工验证”环节。这对机器人来说是个问题。“这个特定的验证需要持续按住鼠标，而我的浏览器控件不支持，”它说。“请在这里打开我的浏览器并按住‘按住并保持’直到完成，然后告诉我，我会继续进行安装日期的预约。”我照做了，但这感觉有点像便利店外的青少年求我帮他们买酒精饮料。
With my human ability to click and hold a button, Dot got all the way to the checkout screen, where it asked me to input my bank account details. Turns out there’s no slick Stripe integration like Muse has to save your credit card info and use a virtual card for checkout. And in any case, the new provider needed my bank account to get a $5 discount on my bill every month. Dot paused to let me enter the numbers into the virtual browser; I didn’t trust it well enough to punch in my checking account number and decided to just do it all myself on my own computer. Not exactly a spectacular start. 凭借我作为人类点击并按住按钮的能力，Dot 成功进入了结账页面，它要求我输入银行账户详细信息。事实证明，它没有像 Muse 那样可以保存信用卡信息并使用虚拟卡结账的便捷 Stripe 集成。无论如何，新服务商需要我的银行账户才能每月减免 5 美元的账单。Dot 停下来让我把数字输入到虚拟浏览器中；我不太信任它，不敢输入我的支票账户号码，决定还是在自己的电脑上亲自完成。这开局算不上精彩。
I gave Dot a few other personal tasks, and the results were mixed. It couldn’t find the option for a free tour and entry at a coworking space I’ve been meaning to try out, and instead offered to sign me up for a $35 day pass. I had Instinct’s agent, which I’ve also been testing, look for the trial option; it found it and set up an appointment within minutes. “Why did you miss this option?” I questioned Dot over the phone after the incident. “I jumped to the wrong conclusion,” it said. I hung up. 我又给了 Dot 一些其他的个人任务，结果依然喜忧参半。它没能找到我一直想尝试的一家联合办公空间的免费参观和入场选项，反而提议帮我注册一个 35 美元的日票。我让同样在测试中的 Instinct 智能体去寻找试用选项；它在几分钟内就找到了并预约好了。“你为什么错过了这个选项？”事后我在电话里质问 Dot。“我草率地得出了错误的结论，”它回答。我挂断了电话。
Later, I had it try to retrieve some information in my Ikea account about a hanging planter I bought. It reported that it was unable to log in to my Ikea account because it got stuck in a looping security check. Elsewhere on the internet, the neighborhood teriyaki spot wouldn’t allow Dot onto its ordering page. Something about Dot’s footprint seems to get it tripped up on security checks more often than Muse or Instinct; Dot offered a link to OpenAI’s page about websites blocking its cloud browser traffic as an explanation. Whatever the reason, it required more manual input and browser takeovers than other AI agents, possibly because it wasn’t purpose-built for ordering teriyaki or handling your Ikea returns. 后来，我让它尝试从我的宜家账户中检索关于我购买的一个吊挂花盆的信息。它报告说无法登录我的宜家账户，因为它陷入了循环的安全检查中。在互联网的其他地方，附近的一家照烧店也不允许 Dot 进入其订餐页面。Dot 的访问痕迹似乎比 Muse 或 Instinct 更容易触发安全检查；Dot 提供了一个指向 OpenAI 网页的链接，解释称这是因为网站屏蔽了其云浏览器的流量。无论原因如何，它确实比其他 AI 智能体需要更多的人工干预和浏览器接管，这可能是因为它并非专门为点照烧饭或处理宜家退货而设计的。
I really saw Dot come into its element when I gave it access to something fully within my control: my personal website. It is embarrassingly outdated and I asked Dot to pull together a new, more streamlined design. It did, and when I sat down to type out some changes I want made for the next version, I thought, “To hell with it. I’ll just give it a call.” I hashed out the changes I wanted section by section over 10 minutes, walked away to do some dishes, and got a ping that the next iteration was ready for me to review. Not perfect, but better. Once again, AI proves most helpful when you give it a large dataset (me rambling for 10 minutes) it can turn into something useful. 当我让 Dot 访问我完全掌控的内容——我的个人网站时，我才真正看到了它的实力。我的网站过时得令人尴尬，我让 Dot 设计一个更精简的新方案。它做到了。当我坐下来准备打字写下下一版本需要修改的地方时，我想：“管他呢，我直接给它打个电话吧。”我在 10 分钟内逐节详细说明了我想要的修改，然后走开去洗碗，随后收到提示说下一个版本已经准备好供我审阅了。虽然不完美，但确实更好。AI 再次证明，当你给它提供一个庞大的数据集（我唠叨了 10 分钟）时，它能将其转化为有用的东西，这才是它最有帮助的时候。