The AI Daily Brief · Sunday, July 26, 2026
Ethan Mollick explains that AI agents can now take control of a user's computer, including mouse and browser, for tasks like downloading software and creating designs. However, he stresses the critical importance of managing permissions, as AI can take actions like sending emails if given the explicit go-ahead.
“Once you are set up, you can do pretty powerful things. For example, I told both systems, connect to my Gmail and help me prep for the MBA seminar I'm giving on Monday the 21st, including building some presentation and demos as inspiration.”
“Basically, an agentic system gives an AI a computer to use.”
“I had previously given Chat GPT permission to send the email on my behalf. And Claude was told to ask me first.”