Who are these agents for?

A few days ago, OpenAI released Operator, their first browser-use agent. Their demo left me wondering - who is this for?

The demos, in order: Book a reservation; order groceries; order NBA tickets; reserve a tennis court; book a house cleaner; order 10 pizzas.

I'll give them that not all of these tasks are buying something. Just most of them.

I suppose if the user is someone that is comfortable with spending $200/month to have an AI agent, then they're probably fine with the agents deciding to buy the more expensive spinach instead of the one on sale that's right next to it. They're probably also fine buying NBA tickets on a whim.

image source: OpenAI - Introduction to Operator and Agents, YouTube

I'm sure that some of this can be handled with more complete prompts (eg. "Prefer items on sale, if available").

In any case, my frustration is the lack of creativity with something that is supposed to be so forward-looking. Instead, it's just more and "better" (debatable) ways to buy stuff and spend money.

It makes sense from a business perspective - it costs a lot to operate these agents, and it follows that starting with well-off users who 'value their time' (as if we don't all value our time... anyways...) is a good way to go.

Sometimes, with tech, the benefits are eventually distributed. Formula 1 innovations show up in family cars, etc.

But if/when these agents become available to the masses, if the only thing they're really good at is buying stuff on my behalf, then... it's clear that agents are really for a certain class, and not others. That would be a bummer.