Greetings from Indianapolis. I'm here to speak about AI at the Tobias Leadership Center at Indiana University.
In the news: OpenAI is set to launch an autonomous AI agent, code-named "Operator," early next year. According to Bloomberg, the initial release will serve as a research preview and developer tool and is expected to be released in January. This is a trend; Anthropic recently launched a similar feature called "computer use," and Google is rumored to have its own AI agent scheduled for release in December.
Unlike traditional AI interfaces (which work on specific tasks), Operator and its counterparts will actively engage with your computer, completing tasks without human intervention. In success, the agents will jump from program to program doing stuff like cutting and pasting, answering emails, doing rudimentary computer maintenance, and more.
During a Reddit AMA, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently described agents as the next "giant breakthrough," while chief product officer Kevin Weil projected that 2025 would be the year "agentic systems finally hit the mainstream."
"Agentic," which is just a fancy word for agency, is a new vocabulary word that will be on this week's test. All kidding aside, agents are the future. We'll see if the pre-canned, purpose-built computer agents are going to live up to the hype.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
P.S. CES© is just around the corner (Las Vegas, January 7-10, 2025). Are you going? If you are, our executive briefings and floor tours are the best way to experience the show. Learn more.
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
