OpenAI bragged a lot this week about how capable its new ChatGPT Agent feature is at not just providing information, but carrying out tasks in the real world.
So, I decided to put it to the test by getting it to help with something that’s not too difficult, but would be more than I’d expect the standard ChatGPT to accomplish – planning a movie date night for my wife and me. I wanted to give it some broad details and see what it came up with in terms of arranging the details.
I opened ChatGPT and tapped Agent from among the tools available for ChatGPT and wrote out my initial request: “Help me plan a movie date night to see Superman with my wife Saturday evening. Get us tickets at [specific theater we like] and mark in our calendars when we should drop our child off at her parents and when the movie starts. Also, make a nice and fun invitation I can send to my wife.”
After a brief pause, the agent got to work, asking about which showing I wanted tickets to and where in the theater we’d like to sit. I told it where and when I’d prefer. ChatGPT then confirmed that I wanted it to obtain the tickets, and I confirmed. The AI opened the theater’s website based on my request. The AI went to the showing I wanted, selected two good seats, and then paused at the payment section, which I had to fill in with my account details.
ChatGPT asked to confirm one more time that I wanted the tickets. I said yes again, and the tickets were purchased. I could have left it alone until the confirmation, and it would have been fine.
Logistical AI
With the tickets booked, next came ChatGPT’s organizational abilities. It was linked to my calendar and made an event for me then asked who to send invitations to. I added my wife and her parents’ email addresses and off they went. Then it asked if it should make another event for the babysitting specifically, which I agreed to, and another event and accompanying emails were created.
Digital calendar invites are kind of cold, which is why I asked for a fancier message to send to my wife. Using the Agent’s access to Slides, ChatGPT created a tasteful invitation graphic and embedded it in a slideshow with all the details, suggesting we share a cape full of popcorn among other cute comments.
Here’s the surprising part: the whole thing took under ten minutes. Movie picked, tickets ready, childcare coordinated, invitation sent. I’ve spent longer trying to book a haircut. Of course, not everything was frictionless.
The initial invitation included the phrase “an enchanting evening of romance and cinema,” which was a bit much. And the specific theater had to be corrected from what it first thought I meant. Overall, though, a very easy experience.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say ChatGPT Agent utterly changes how I would use ChatGPT, but I can see how it might streamline certain things, including long-term planning. Replace “movie date night” with “plan a birthday party,” or “buy school supplies,” and there’s a lot of mental weight off my mind.
I’d say I’m cautiously optimistic about ChatGPT Agent as a regularly used tool. Not because it’s flawless or life-changing, but because it could make the little things easier and smooth over some of life’s hurdles to give me back enough time for a date night to remember.
