Post by @theodoraward@wandering.shop

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/31/ai-agents-humans-dazzle-duckbill-meta.html

lol this thing is top-to-bottom bangers. "the LLM is pretty good at text retrieval, but everything else is tricky" you dont say

That's because Al agents, powered by the bleeding-edge
foundation models developed by companies like Meta and
OpenAl, still can't reliably take actions across the web,
particularly those involving phone calls. Former Yahoo CEO
Marissa Mayer, who now helms agent startup Dazzle Al, says
current top-tier AI models excel at surfacing online home
renovation services for consumers, but might blow it when they
need to book and schedule a rooftop upgrade.

"We're relying on the frontier models to give us good
suggestions and a good candidate list, but we're checking that
over to make sure that we're really delivering the type of service
that we can stand behind," Mayer said, referring to how Dazzle
funnels certain tasks to human contractors. — That's because Al agents, powered by the bleeding-edge foundation models developed by companies like Meta and OpenAl, still can't reliably take actions across the web, particularly those involving phone calls. Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who now helms agent startup Dazzle Al, says current top-tier AI models excel at surfacing online home renovation services for consumers, but might blow it when they need to book and schedule a rooftop upgrade. "We're relying on the frontier models to give us good suggestions and a good candidate list, but we're checking that over to make sure that we're really delivering the type of service that we can stand behind," Mayer said, referring to how Dazzle funnels certain tasks to human contractors.

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Theodora Ward

@theodoraward@wandering.shop 15 hr. ago

check this out: we set up a gig service that lets you pay someone to do something for you. but because the request is being filtered through a heavily subsidized, extremely expensive frontier LLM, we can tell investors that we are building an "application programming interface, or API," and they wont realize it's Dumb Fiverr

Meta's Muse, OpenAl's Dots and a host of other agents can
accomplish a multitude of web-browsing feats, but it's still early
days for the technology, and it often hits digital roadblocks.
Those barriers typically involve tasks that would have an Al
agent make a phone call, schedule a doctor's appointment on
someone's behalf, or reserve a couch scrubbing from a local
cleaning service, said Meghan Joyce, CEO of digital agent
startup Duckbill.

For tasks that require real-world judgment, Joyce said humans
still trump AI, and companies building consumer-grade digital
assistants will need to patch in real people to take over. That's
why Duckbill recently debuted an application programming
interface, or API, intended for companies building personal
agents to connect with human contract workers. — Meta's Muse, OpenAl's Dots and a host of other agents can accomplish a multitude of web-browsing feats, but it's still early days for the technology, and it often hits digital roadblocks. Those barriers typically involve tasks that would have an Al agent make a phone call, schedule a doctor's appointment on someone's behalf, or reserve a couch scrubbing from a local cleaning service, said Meghan Joyce, CEO of digital agent startup Duckbill. For tasks that require real-world judgment, Joyce said humans still trump AI, and companies building consumer-grade digital assistants will need to patch in real people to take over. That's why Duckbill recently debuted an application programming interface, or API, intended for companies building personal agents to connect with human contract workers.

Theodora Ward

@theodoraward@wandering.shop 15 hr. ago

i couldnt even figure out which parts to clip from this section so i just did the whole thing. it's just so good. fucking meta of all companies is worried about the privacy aspect but dont worry -- we do background checks. and also uh. pick people who forget stuff. i know all about that because im psychotically rich. and you can trust me, because i, former yahoo! ceo marisa mayer, definitely havent exposed anything embarrassing to the public in the last, i dont know, week

2 media files

Chatbot and agent interactions can be ultra personal and users
have good reason to be concerned about the humans stepping
in, particularly if the company didn't tell them how it works.
Meta employees previously raised privacy concerns about the
company's internal test using human contractors to handle
phone calls on behalf of its Muse Al agent. A Meta
spokesperson said in a statement at the time that this kind of
testing is "core to the product development process."

Meta currently doesn't use humans to complete users' Muse
requests.

Duckbill's Joyce said her startup does "full background
checking" into the 1099 contractors it uses, comparing them to
drivers for Uber and DoorDash, "people who live here in the
United States and want a source of additional income." Duckbill
also uses contract workers from businesses that typically offer
contact center labor to companies. — Chatbot and agent interactions can be ultra personal and users have good reason to be concerned about the humans stepping in, particularly if the company didn't tell them how it works. Meta employees previously raised privacy concerns about the company's internal test using human contractors to handle phone calls on behalf of its Muse Al agent. A Meta spokesperson said in a statement at the time that this kind of testing is "core to the product development process." Meta currently doesn't use humans to complete users' Muse requests. Duckbill's Joyce said her startup does "full background checking" into the 1099 contractors it uses, comparing them to drivers for Uber and DoorDash, "people who live here in the United States and want a source of additional income." Duckbill also uses contract workers from businesses that typically offer contact center labor to companies.

Mayer said Dazzle conducts background checks and looks for
contractors with the same qualities someone might look for in
a human personal assistant.

"We generally are screening for people who we think are
extremely discreet and have good taste and good judgment,
both in terms of how they interact with our users, but just the
ability to kind of forget and compartmentalize that information
afterwards," Mayer said. "I understand it's a point of privilege,
but I've had personal assistants for some time, and I know how
Iwant them, and I know how I guide them." — Mayer said Dazzle conducts background checks and looks for contractors with the same qualities someone might look for in a human personal assistant. "We generally are screening for people who we think are extremely discreet and have good taste and good judgment, both in terms of how they interact with our users, but just the ability to kind of forget and compartmentalize that information afterwards," Mayer said. "I understand it's a point of privilege, but I've had personal assistants for some time, and I know how Iwant them, and I know how I guide them."

Theodora Ward

@theodoraward@wandering.shop 15 hr. ago

the idea that hallucinations are a little glitch we're juuuust about to work out is one of the most fundamental and maddening obfuscations of this entire bubble. it has been 9 years since attention is all you need, 6 since RAG, and 4 since chatgpt. we have blown more wealth on this technology than arguably any major project in the history of civilization. is "reliable pizza ordering" coming at 10 trillion parameters? maybe another $500,000,000,000 will do it

Mayer said that while foundation models are still improving, the
market is in a "transitionary period" until the technology can
perform more involved web tasks and phone calls as efficiently
as people. — Mayer said that while foundation models are still improving, the market is in a "transitionary period" until the technology can perform more involved web tasks and phone calls as efficiently as people.

Theodora Ward

@theodoraward@wandering.shop 57 min. ago

also what the hell is this "foundation models" stuff? is that a way of rebranding the fact that these products are all built around doubly-subsidized api pulls to one of two companies who will probably be jacking up their prices soon? the structure of that sentence as i typed it makes me think that i believe this is the answer. i want to speak to the Business Terms They Use In The Newspaper manager i have a god damnn complaint