When AI agents run your life

The best part of waking up might be Folgers in your cup, but for a growing number of people, the best part of getting through the day is an AI agent that handles the invisible load. Reese Rogers, a senior reporter at Wired who has been testing these tools, describes them as "some tiny digital assistant that's constantly searching the web, going through your email and checking your calendar, trying to find ways it could proactively be helpful for you." Unlike chatbots, which wait for you to ask a question, agents scan your data 24/7 and surface what you might need before you know you need it.

The agent landscape and what they actually do

The current generation of AI agents includes Meta's Muse, which launched about a month ago and already has millions of users, and OpenAI's Dots, which costs $100 per month and remains behind a paywall for power users. Rogers has been testing both. His personal example: a broken couch. He gave the agents his requirements—a sleeper bed, specific colors, a budget, ideally on sale—and Meta's Muse, connected to Facebook Marketplace, found couches a few blocks from him. OpenAI's Dots went further: after an hour-long phone conversation, it produced a packet of options and flagged that one had dropped 40% off. "I texted my husband," Rogers says. "All right, I think we found our couch."