Modern large language models are really good at a lot of tasks, like coding, essay writing, translation, and research. But there are still a lot of basic tasks, especially in the “personal assistant” realm, that the most highly trained AIs in the world remain hopeless at.

You can’t ask ChatGPT or Claude “order me a burrito from Chipotle” and get one, let alone “book me a train from New York to Philadelphia.” OpenAI and Anthropic both offer AIs that can view your screen, move your cursor, and do some things on your computer as if they were a person (through their “Operator” and “Computer Use” functions, respectively).

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That such “AI agents” sometimes work, sort of, is about the strongest thing you can say for them right now. (Disclosure: Vox Media is one of several publishers that has signed partnership agreements with OpenAI. One of Anthropic’s early investors is James McClave, whose BEMC Foundation helps fund Future Perfect. Our reporting remains editorially independent.)

This week, China launched a competitor: the AI agent Manus. It produced a blizzard of glowing posts and testimonials from highly selected influencers, along with some impressive website demos.

Here is Manus building an excellent personal website with almost no prompting. Here is Manus creating a detailed personal itinerary for a trip. Manus creating animations and a lesson plan for a middle school science........

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