AutoGPT is the next iteration of ChatGPT

Alright, we’ve heard lots of amazing uses for ChatGPT and how it will enhance (or even replace) human tasks. With the release of ChatGPT plugins, it’s getting close, but AutoGPT gives a brief glimpse, although buggy, future of autonomous tasks with only vague instructions.

(By the way, you can track my AI findings at https://jeffwang.substack.com/)

AutoGPT uses GPT4 via an API, so it can communicate with OpenAI, then insert commands to and from your computer, the magic part? It runs various commands through your own computer’s command line interface. That means it can scan the internet or execute any command your computer can, then throw it back to GPT4 to see if it was correct and what to do next. That is amazing, in concept, so I had to think about what I could use it for. Here were a few ideas off the top of my head:

• Check the latest AI news, give me the top 3 stories
• Write a summary paragraph for each story, so that I can put it in a newsletter
• Write a Tweet summarizing the top story

Okay, let’s get this to work! If you’re just reading this to see the capabilities, you can skip this next section. If you want to get it to work yourself, have at it:

First, you have to set up AutoGPT. To do this, you can run the command “git clone https://github.com/Torantulino/Auto-GPT.git” in your CMD on Windows or Terminal on Mac. You’ll also need python installed

Next, you’ll need to go to the folder you created (cd Auto-GPT)

Then run “pip install -r requirements.txt” to install a few other libraries

Next up is just adding API keys to the .env.template file (you have to rename this to .env)

These were the API Keys I got for this to work:

• OpenAI, remember if you generate a key, you can’t see it again
• ElevenLabs, if you want the computer to narrate everything
• Google is probably the most clicks, but you can create Credentials for the Custom Search API

Okay, now that you have your API keys ready, it’s just running AutoGPT:

In your command line, enter “python scripts/main.py” (add —speak if you want it to speak to you)

First you have to give it a name and role:

Next, give it a few goals, I already outlined a few in the beginning, so I’ll put them in now:

Okay, now we’re cooking! I didn’t have this in continuous mode, so I have to verify each action, unfortunately, my Google Key didn’t work, but amazingly, it said it would try Microsoft instead!

After trying Microsoft, it indeed picked up 3 news stories! However, it would not really go in and summarize the articles

As you can see through all the text, AutoGPT kept trying different ways to accomplish the goals it has been given. When it runs into a barrier, it keeps iterating and trying other ways of getting it done.

It actually did summarize one of the news articles, okay, that’s good enough for now, I’ll input that we should skip to the tweet:

And voila! A tweet! So if I were to summarize what I would be automating here, I would have a script run this bot, it would collect the top three stories:

1. People of AI: From basketball to poetry, how Microsoft employees use AI to save time and find joy
2. ‘We have to solve the problem’: How three fintechs are boosting financial inclusion in Latin America
3. In France, schools warm to systems with AI that increase comfort, reduce energy use
4. IBM and Palantir team up on AI for businesses (this one was grabbed in a later query for top stories)

I’ll throw GPT a bone and have it only give the one summary that worked:

For story #4: “The text does not mention anything about IBM and Palantir's team up on AI for businesses. Instead, it explains and defines EBIT as a standard accounting term used to identify a business's operational performance, covering how it is calculated, how it works, and its purposes for both businesses and investors.”

And finally, a Tweet about the top story: "Microsoft employees are using AI not only to save time but also to find joy in poetry and basketball. AI-powered chatbots help NBA fans keep up with games, and a handwriting recognition technology helps employees take notes during meetings. #AI #MicrosoftNews" - if a Twitter API was set up, it would automatically send the tweet!

While much of the AI part is being accomplished by OpenAI, AutoGPT tried multiple methods to get all the tasks done (with the exception of summarizing all the stories). This is really fascinating and I have yet to even try more complex tasks. One annoying part was that it kept trying Google despite knowing the key was not working, but the amazing part is that it kept trying until it got the task done.

Oh and don’t forget to monitor what it is doing. You are actually able to put this in continuous mode where it will keep running all of its ideas over and over again without needing your intervention. However that’s quite dangerous, even with all the button presses I had to do, all of this testing cost me 17 cents for the OpenAI fees, but if it goes into an infinite loop well, just don’t get into an infinite loop.

I can’t wait to see what other people think of doing next, but this is clearly the future of autonomous agents doing work for us. Eventually some of these could scan your to-do list and suggest ways to help you before you even ask for it.