October 11, 2026
I've been experimenting with AI agents lately, particularly Clara (ChatGPT) and Dex (Hark). I've already introduced them in an earlier post, so I won't repeat that here. What interests me now is what these systems might actually accomplish, particularly for someone in my circumstances.
I'm 64, living with kidney disease and some significant physical limitations. I currently am immobile, and I don't have a car available. Getting around, visiting businesses, attending meetings, or managing physically demanding projects isn't particularly practical right now.
But there's nothing wrong with my mind. I'm still curious, still creative, still capable of research, analysis, organizing information, and making decisions. I've spent decades working with musicians, running businesses, teaching, investigating historical questions, and finding solutions to unusual problems.
What I need isn't an AI that thinks for me. I need an AI that can do the legwork.
The Problem With Traditional Work
Most business ideas involve some combination of money, inventory, transportation, physical labor, and personal supervision.
I've recently reconsidered several possibilities, including selling musical instrument supplies, running a booking agency, and expanding existing projects.
The obstacles aren't necessarily a lack of knowledge or customers. They're practical.
Selling bow hair, for example, requires purchasing merchandise, inspecting quality, preparing samples, packaging shipments, and following up with customers. Even if the product is excellent, someone has to physically handle it.
A music booking agency has a different problem. Finding performance venues is relatively straightforward compared with finding dependable musicians who meet my standards and can fulfill engagements independently.
An AI agent might help with both businesses, but it cannot eliminate every obstacle. If a project requires me to drive somewhere, carry inventory, or supervise unreliable people, automation hasn't really solved the problem.
That's an important lesson: A business isn't practical simply because an AI can help administer it.
What We've Already Seen
Yesterday, Dex demonstrated some interesting capabilities.
It researched music-related Facebook groups, identified communities where professional musicians might be found, and prepared recruitment material. It assembled a shortlist of potential performers.
It also worked on five existing Google spreadsheets containing venue information, booking contacts, research exceptions, and outreach records. The spreadsheets were reportedly updated and checked, although the overall assignment was not completed.
We explored AgentLine, which offers AI agents telephone numbers and calling capabilities. The possibility of an AI making business calls, verifying contact information, and following up on inquiries is particularly interesting. We haven't yet tested a completed call, but the technology suggests a new kind of remote administrative assistant.
There were limitations, too. Facebook security verification interrupted posting, some account connections were troublesome, and the database assignment remained unfinished.
These weren't complete successes. They were demonstrations of what might be possible, along with reminders that reliability matters more than impressive claims.
What Problems Could an Agent Solve?
Consider the kinds of tasks that don't actually require my physical presence.
An agent could investigate a historical mystery, locate archival references, search public records, identify people or organizations with relevant information, and organize the findings into a report.
It could maintain a database, check whether businesses are still operating, identify missing information, and prepare contact lists.
With appropriate telephone and email access, it might contact organizations, ask routine questions, arrange appointments, request documents, and follow up on unanswered inquiries.
It could help manage correspondence, keep track of ongoing projects, organize research notes, and remind me when something needs a decision.
For music, it might identify promising performers, research venues, locate licensing or publishing opportunities, and prepare information for people interested in using my recordings.
These are not all demonstrated capabilities of my current setup. Some are possibilities worth testing. But they share an important characteristic: they involve information and communication rather than physical labor.
That's where I see the greatest potential.
The Telephone Could Change Everything
One of the more intriguing possibilities is giving an AI agent its own telephone number.
A great deal of useful information still isn't available online. Sometimes the only way to find out who handles bookings, whether a business is operating, or who maintains an old archive is to call someone.
I've done this kind of research myself for years. It works, but it consumes time and energy.
Imagine an agent that can make a series of routine inquiries, record the answers accurately, identify conflicting information, and present me with a concise report.
I could then decide which leads deserve personal attention.
The agent wouldn't replace my judgment. It would extend my reach.
Of course, it would need to identify itself appropriately, respect people's preferences, and report what was actually said rather than inventing plausible answers.
A telephone that produces unreliable information isn't much use.
A Research Office Without an Office
What I'm beginning to imagine is a small, home-based research operation in which I provide the questions, experience, curiosity, and judgment while AI agents handle much of the repetitive investigation and administration.
I could work on local history, archival mysteries, difficult-to-find information, business research, or other problems that interest me.
Some projects might be paid. Others might simply be worth solving.
The point wouldn't necessarily be to create another full-time business. At this stage of my life, I don't particularly want one.
I'd rather have the freedom to choose interesting problems and work on them at my own pace.
An effective agent could make that possible by handling tasks that would otherwise require travel, long telephone sessions, or hours of routine computer work.
What About Physical Tasks?
This is where the distinction between artificial intelligence and robotics becomes interesting.
Today's software agents can potentially handle digital information and communications. They can't put merchandise in envelopes, drive to a meeting, or pick up supplies from a warehouse.
But what happens when these systems become connected to robots, delivery services, remote assistants, and other physical-world infrastructure?
Could someone eventually operate a small enterprise almost entirely from home, directing both digital and physical work?
Could a person with limited mobility run a research business, manage a farm operation, or supervise a specialized service without needing to be physically present?
Some pieces of that future already exist. Others remain experimental, expensive, or impractical.
I don't assume they'll all work. But the possibilities are worth investigating.
The Problem of Trust
There's one major obstacle I keep encountering: AI systems are often better at describing what they can do than actually finishing the work.
Clara can discuss a business idea enthusiastically for hours, produce plans, and explain why something might succeed. But discussion isn't execution.
Dex can take more direct action, but its assignments can still end unfinished.
I've learned that an agent's work needs to be evaluated by its results, not by how confidently it reports them.
Did it make the call? Did it update the correct spreadsheet? Did it verify the information? Did the message actually get sent? What remains unfinished?
Those are the questions that matter.
I don't want to spend hours supervising an assistant that was supposed to save me time.
Independence, Not Replacement
For someone with physical limitations, the promise of AI isn't that it will replace human intelligence.
It's that it might help separate what a person is capable of thinking and deciding from what their body currently allows them to do.
I still want to write music, read, research, investigate, and participate in the world. I have ideas, experience, and curiosity. What I don't have is unlimited energy, mobility, or money.
If AI agents can reliably handle the repetitive work, make routine inquiries, maintain records, and carry out clearly defined assignments, they could provide something more valuable than convenience.
They could provide greater independence.
That's what I'm interested in discovering.
Not whether an AI can imitate a human conversation.
Not whether it can produce another business plan.
But whether it can help a human being continue doing meaningful work when physical circumstances have changed.
For me, that's a much more compelling experiment.
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