AI agents operate PCs and tackle low-level software, pointing to a possible OS-like role

Codex can be set up for computer use and given conversational instructions to carry out tasks on a PC. In another example, an agent read and compiled the Linux kernel, after which a webcam worked.

Codex also fixed the display driver on an ESP device overnight, with a webcam aimed at its screen so the agent could observe the result. An attempted audio fix took much of the night: the person kept waking and calling “hello ESP” while the agent tried to work out that the volume was turned down; it eventually learned.

These examples point to a broader possibility: an agent could become an operating-system-like way to interact with a computer. Building a personal OS remains difficult, but advances in models and access to enough tokens could make the idea less far-fetched in the future.