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Conversations I’m having with AI experts seem to be pointing in the same direction. Chatbots were a great introduction to what AI is and how it can help us in our daily lives. But they rely on back-and-forth conversations. Tech companies now have their eyes on the next frontier: AI agents.
By AI agent I’m referring to a tool that performs a set of tasks autonomously on your behalf. They do require an initial set-up, but once you see that they’ve grasped their instructions, you can leave AI agents to their own devices while you sit back and watch the results trickle in.
OpenClaw went viral earlier this year with its promise of acting as a helpful AI agent that lives on your device. But the last part of that sentence is what had some users concerned. Not everyone is comfortable giving an AI assistant full access to their files.
Luckily there are other options that can deliver a similar level of assistance that don’t require you to download or install any software. You get to choose exactly what information your AI agent sees. Here are three tools I think you should try first.
Airtop
While I’m presenting this list in no particular order, if you’re able to describe your idea in a few lines, I’d say start with Airtop and see how far it takes you.
The ‘best’ idea to try out first is a process you understand well (so you can better judge the output) and one producing results you would actually find useful (it’s more satisfying when everything works).
Are you running a small boba tea shop? Maybe you’d be interested in asking Airtop to set up an AI agent that performs daily checks for new Google Reviews your customers leave and drafts replies that you can tweak and send.
Or perhaps you want to focus on your home cooking. You can ask Airtop to send a text to your phone with a summary of each recipe you upload to a specific Google Drive folder. Also possible!
Your needs will be different from mine, so your best bet is to start describing what you’re trying to build and Airtop will ask you questions along the way to help you shape your vision. You can also use one of several prebuilt templates to get started.
Make
If you’re more of a visual person or prefer getting your hands dirty, Make is basically a box of Lego you can use to build your own agent. The first step is to drag and drop the tools and abilities your AI agent will need. Then you’ll arrange them in an order that makes sense – making sure your agent is fully equipped to respond to the initial trigger and deliver the final results.
As for the apps and tools your AI agent can connect to, all the household names are there. You can read and write files to Google Drive, send messages through Facebook Messenger, or update your to-do list on Notion – it’s all there.
A newer feature by Make is the option to add actual AI agents to your workflow which provide a more nuanced approach rather than a tool governed by a rigid set of rules.
Say you’re in charge of keeping an event’s FAQ section updated. In the age of AI there’s no need to sweat. AI can automatically keep track of what questions attendees are asking.
In such a case, I’d load Make and start with a Gmail module to process incoming emails. Then I’d add an AI agent to sort emails containing questions about my event into one pile while extracting the questions. I would probably insert a second agent to fish out the most frequently asked questions and add them neatly to a Google Doc. Sorted!
Gumloop
I feel like Gumloop is a mix between Airtop and Make. You get to choose whether you want to use text prompts to set up an AI agent or shuffle the tools you need around a canvas.
Similar to OpenClaw, Gumloop can execute tasks after receiving the correct training. This is handled by what is often referred to as ‘skills’ – a set of instructions that AI agents can follow to complete a given task. Once you’ve created a skill, you can equip your Gumloop agents with it, allowing them to rely on this training while they’re working hard on your behalf.
Gumloop also replicates the low-effort way users communicate with their OpenClaw agent. Each of your Gumloop agents can have its own email inbox. This means that you or anyone else you approve of can email your agent with a set of instructions which it will then execute.
Considering these features, one way you could be using Gumloop is by creating an AI agent that screens your emails. I would start by developing a skill that explains what kind of emails I’d consider to be high-priority. Next, I would create an inbox for my agent and set-up a workflow that gets it to sort emails into different folders based on how urgently they need my attention.
Start with a free plan and upgrade if necessary
The three tools I’ve listed all offer paid plans allowing you to build more agents that can tackle more complex workflows. But their free tiers should be enough to create at least one useful AI agent that can run quietly in the background while you get on with other work.
Every service will handle the same set of instructions differently. If one of your AI agents isn’t able to correctly execute a task, keep trying different ones until you find the right match. This is why the free tiers of these products are crucial. Definitely try before you buy.
In case the tools I listed above sound interesting yet too complex, don’t forget about ChatGPT agent. While less customisable, it still comes with decent inbuilt skills and the results may surprise you.
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