Zach Oelsner

zach in nyc

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

some recent personal projects:
https://t.co/z9gS0G2TNQ

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@SimslearnAi YT

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@neal_k_patel 🎯

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

anyone else’s Dot keep opening to the same random spot halfway up an old thread?

might just be me, but a button jumping to the bottom like in normal chat would be clutch @thsottiaux

want to love this product but little forms of friction are adding :)

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@zarazhangrui also might be bias but v proud of front page design and animations: https://t.co/3nrDLe17h7

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@brycejohnson @alexandr_wang @ivanbruel 100p

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@kevinroose epic

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@TheRohanVarma @ChatGPT a shortcut and one click to open to dots and voice pls!!! :)

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@alliekmiller thanks :) v helpful approach, will incorporate

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@malonehedges pog

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@brycejohnson pokémon from ruby and sapphire, my childhood companion

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

I've used four always-on AI agents over the past few months, and my favorite is currently the least polished of the bunch.

Dots wins for anything meaty. The other three each own a niche. Here's what I go to each one for:

TLDR
- Instinct: reservations, travel bookings and things near me
- Muse: fb marketplace and quick tasks
- Grokbot: recurring flows, research and the most complete-feeling product
- Dots: complex work and computer use. Astra is why I keep going back

Both my Muse and my dot are based on Mudkip. It's bringing back a ton of nostalgia and is now factoring into my fb marketplace search for a gameboy advance SP.

People ask how Dots is different from Codex. For me, part of it is knowing what actually needs my attention. That was the coolest thing about Instinct: you'd ask it something, get a thumbs up, then hear back once it had worked through the options. The whole point is to take things off your plate, not add stress about whether they'll get done right.

INSTINCT

The first always-on agent I used, and it got me really excited. The short replies, read receipts and emoji reactions made it feel like someone was looking after me. Sharing a location, screenshot, map or someone else's text from my phone is easy. Also solid for flight check-ins.

I used it in Italy for beach clubs, ferries and scooter rentals. While scootering around I asked for a two-hour route through popular spots. Within two minutes it had a multi-stop Google Maps route I could just follow. It was really nice.

Now I mostly use it for reservations. I give it criteria like restaurants that opened in the past year and have it send me resy links or keep a watchlist. I do the booking myself.

MUSE

Really fast, and the free usage is a nice touch. fb marketplace is where it shines: finding things, selling things and responding to messages. I also had it sign me up for NFL+, though that took some help. It has an Instagram integration for posting too.

Cutest avatar by far, ty @alexandr_wang. Also the best visibility into what it's working on, and I like the bottom nav bar.

One funny thing: when I gave it access to my computer, it started telling me when I got a text. Mostly from unknown numbers. Yeah, thanks, I did also get that notification.

Obviously, use your own judgment about access. I've been giving these tools more incrementally because I want to understand what they're capable of.

GROKBOT

The one I've used least, but it feels like the most complete product. I like having different bots for different contexts. Keeping unrelated work separate gives me more confidence; things have sometimes gotten confusing when I've thrown too much at Muse or Instinct.

The colors and shapes make it easy to scan across things. Compare that to figuring out which Codex tab is which. The bots can also talk to each other and delegate, often with one acting as chief of staff.

Voice mode is more polished than Dots, though it can be a little flirty. My gripe: it struggles to drop things into chat while we're talking. If I ask for a link, I want it in the chat.

It's been able to research Amazon listings for me where Muse and Instinct ran into blocks. I have it looking for a monitor. The connectors look useful too. If I could use these agents for work, I'd probably get more out of it.

DOTS

Where I go for complex work. Astra is the model I trust most with complicated tasks across threads; sol 6.1 is my workhorse. I can throw a lot at my dot. Being able to delegate to my local computer felt natural after using Codex. The computer use is goated.

Recently I had Mudkip log in to my @FarmToPeople account on its remote computer, cancel my extra recurring Sunday delivery and plan a meal w pesto. It added the individual ingredients for pesto and picked cavatelli, which was a great choice. It was fun watching it navigate the browser and consider different ingredients. I'll be going back each week to plan meals.

So far, using its remote computer hasn't seemed to count against my Codex usage. That could change, but it's been useful.

I spent a lot of time building a meal-planning web app for exactly this, with saved preferences and swap history. Now I'm wondering how much I'll need it when an agent can handle the planning and ordering directly.

A few things I'd like to see improve:
- I have two laptops, but I can only connect my dot to one at a time, in addition to its own remote computer. Switching between them can be frustrating. I'd love to keep multiple computers connected so my dot could use whichever one makes sense

- Switching threads while on a call ends it. I'd love a dedicated app

- “Thinking” doesn't tell me much about what's happening behind the scenes compared to muse

- There isn't an easily accessible vault in the chat when I need to enter new credentials. That adds a lot of unnecessary friction

- I expected more polish given the early interest in OpenClaw. But I'm optimistic about what happens as the rest catches up. I'd especially like multiple dots to split context and workload, like Grokbot, with Astra behind them.

- I don't use any of these for work, so my preferences might differ if I did. I want something that understands my context, writes well and lets me know when it needs help instead of dropping the task until I check in. For me, that's Dots.

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@thsottiaux the tasks my dot starts on my mac aren’t showing up in the codex tab on my phone when I filter to that comp. making it harder to keep track of what it’s cookin on and to add any specific feedback to threads or tinker w model etc

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@embirico add a vault so I don’t need to enter my login manually and deeper explanation of what it’s work on in the background instead of “thinking”. ty ty

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@thsottiaux a shortcut on the front of the iphone would be great and a bit more detail on what it’s doing when thinking :)

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@malonehedges 😬

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@DavidPawlan please add me! ty ty

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@johncoogan this series has been tooo goood

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

building irl

[Zach Oelsner @zachoelsner]

@Desiresofsaturn mi3 goated