Notion CEO Sees Flaws in Computer-Using Agents

Anthropic, OpenAI and now Google are betting that the future of artificial intelligence involves technology that can take over a person’s computer and automate all manner of work involving applications and internet browsers. (See my colleague Erin’s Saturday scoop on Google’s efforts here.)

If these computer-using agents eventually work and the AI just does what someone asks it to do, without needing to lift a finger, one potential outcome is that apps become a lot less important. A robot is less likely to complain about an app being difficult to navigate or need the app to be beautifully designed.

Not surprisingly, developers of major apps disagree with this notion—including Notion, the software company that’s valued at $10 billion.