#67 -“Computer Use” AI: What Is It, and What Jobs Will Be Impacted?

AI has entered into a new category called #ComputerUse. Listen to this episode to discover what it means, who will use it, and which jobs could be affected. With Dan Van Dyke from @EMARKETER.

EFFECTED USERS: Everyone

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SUMMARY: AI is learning to use a computers, just like you.

Early this semester, my daughter’s computer science teacher asked the class to think about picking up a glass of water. The task was easy and second nature for everyone in the class. Then he asked them to think about exactly what the brain was telling the hand to do: which muscles were activated in the hand? In the arm? In what order? Which became weight bearing? How much pressure was needed to keep the water glass off the table? In short order, the class realized how the human brain made an extraordinarily complex task into a simple instruction: pick up the glass.

Using a computer is an interesting parallel to that. There are an unlimited number of tasks performed with a computer that are now second nature to you. Advancements in technology, coupled with your personal aptitude and experience using computers is what largely makes them second nature. Opening screens, clicking icons or words. Performing searches – you can do all of that without much thought.

Sending an email to someone on the other side of the planet is now so easy it is trivial. Averaging a long list of numbers in a spreadsheet may be a simple task. Online research involving a repetitious 10-step process is as easy as picking up a glass of water, especially if you do that task often.

But, what if AI could learn that 10-setup process? What if AI could be trained to literally move the cursor, click selected hyperlinks, and type content into open fields just like you do.

What if AI could learn to use a computer just like YOU use a computer? Well; that’s here.

Last week, on October 22nd, Anthropic announced a groundbreaking new capability called: computer use. According to the company’s blog post:

Available today on the API, developers can direct Claude (3.5 Sonnet) to use computers the way people do—by looking at a screen, moving a cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the first frontier AI model to offer computer use in public beta.

Now stop and think about that. What tasks will it be able to do? What industries could be effected? What jobs could change or be eliminated? How do companies decide what to do this this new technology.

Here with me to discuss all of this today is Dan Van Dyke. As the Head of Generative AI at EMARKETER, he develops and implements AI strategies. Also, Dan has published extensive research on applied artificial intelligence, and frequently speaks on AI and data strategy at industry conferences.