OpenAI's Computer-Use at 5.6 handles tasks without APIs, says Brinkmann

Brinkmann's shift from skeptic to advocate is notable because he describes himself as having been the biggest naysayer on agents, citing a costly experience with baby AGI that got stuck in a recursive loop and ran up an $80 OpenAI API bill. That earlier failure made him doubt agents would work, but he now says he was 'way wrong' and that agents arrived forcefully.

The enabling change he points to is OpenAI's 5.6 release and its Computer-Use skill. Where he once had to take screenshots and ask a chat what to do, he now delegates entire workflows — checking multiple Gmails and five Slack workspaces for a daily briefing, booking flights, filling out passport and phone number forms, and scheduling a German driver's license appointment. He frames the shift as recognizing that forms are a task Computer-Use can handle, so he no longer fills them out himself.

Still, the trust barrier he describes is telling. Even as an AI practitioner, Brinkmann clicks the pay button himself because he worries an agent could make repeated $20 purchases. He suggests the outcome for broader personal and enterprise use hinges on whether that trust gap narrows, since the technical capability, in his account, is already there.