What Happens When AI Can Take Action?

Weekly Wheaties #2624

Jun 14, 2026

In this newsletter:

📝 Post: What Happens When AI Can Take Action?
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Apple’s WWDC 2026
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Tech Updates
😎 Pick of the Week: Pick 10
📦 Featured Product: Pens and Pen Holders

📝 What Happens When AI Can Take Action?

You’ve used a chatbot based on an LLM before, yes? Or you at least know what I’m referring to? Examples here include ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and more. These are AI tools that actually answer questions and help create things for you. On the other hand, this same technology (for the sake of the argument) can also be used to do actual work for you. And in some cases, automated on a schedule or [when this happens]. In general, we will refer to these as AI Agents. A very popular one that just came out this year is OpenClaw.

To further explain, the normal chatbots can write an email for you, or provide summaries of meetings with action items, but an AI Agent can actually send that email, or complete some of the action items before the meeting is even over.

All the big players in the tech space are already doing this and more. At Microsoft Build two weeks ago, one of their announcements included Scout, an AI That Works Like an Executive Assistant, allowing it to “appear on internal email and calendar systems as if it were just another helpful employee.” Mark Zuckerberg Wants Meta’s New AI Agents to Run Your Whole Business. And NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI.

They want to sell you not just the software, but the hardware allowing these AI Agents to work effectively. However, the AI sticker shock has hit corporate America, and they’re evening slowing down their usage. While Microsoft has their own Copilot AI, they also allowed their employees to use Claude, and recently cut Claude Code access as AI coding costs surge. They have since unveiled new AI models to lessen reliance on OpenAI and lower costs for developers.

However, what’s interesting is as our phones and computers are becoming more and more powerful, the LLMs are requiring less and less compute power to get the same (or better) result. For instance, Google’s new Gemma 4 12B model is designed to run on any laptop with 16GB of RAM. I’ve even written a few times about smaller Google models that can run on your phone, using only your phone’s processing power — the Google AI Edge Gallery app.

What this means for us is something pretty interesting. The models are becoming so powerful in such a small package, apps and services are being created that allow control over apps and services within your phone and/or computer. Prior to a wide release of the new Siri AI, Poke.com - the first and only Apple approved AI assistant - helps automating tasks on your phone by integrating with your email, calendar, and files through iMessage. This is just the start…

For personal matters, you can tell AI where you’d like to go (if it doesn’t know already), and it will book flights (around your schedule), setup Uber for when you land, book your hotel, reserve dinner and attractions, and even give you an itinerary to follow. Whether it gets everything exactly right is one question, but whether or not the trip itself is a good trip is something else.

Now imagine this in the workplace. There are tons of apps that integrate with others in acting like a digital assistant of sorts - emailing others, scheduling meetings, sending files, placing orders for products low in stock, and much more. It’s imperative that an AI Agent can be accurate for these types of roles, and while it’s not there just yet, it’s getting scarily close. This is why many people in the AI space mention the importance of the Human in the Loop. Having an expert (you in this case) who know’s the tasks being completed by the AI Agent are sufficient is paramount.

You probably wouldn’t want an AI Agent booking an entire vacation from you start to finish. But the question may not be whether you’ll use an AI Agent. It may be which tasks you’re willing to hand over first. Maybe this trip it’s just the flight. Next trip it’s the hotel. Eventually, it’s the whole itinerary. I have not read it, but journalist Joanna Stern “surrendered her life to artificial intelligence for one year” in her book I Am Not A Robot.

I’ve said it before and this won’t be the last time I’ll say it. AI won’t replace jobs - or at least as many jobs as people think - but it will allow someone who is utilizing AI to replace someone who isn’t.

🗞️ ICYMI: Apple’s WWDC 2026

Apple held their annual WWDC last week, sharing what’s to come in all things software for the Apple lineup this fall. Overall, the features announced appear to be a polish on the current line of softwares, along with finally releasing a standalone Siri AI app to do all the things and more promised two years ago. You can watch the full replay here, or read about Everything Announced. Some quick takes include:

Apple Intelligence (and Siri AI) across many other Apple Apps
- Email, messages, notes, etc.
- Camera to search
- Photos have spacial reframing and can now extend beyond the current photo’s crop
More robust safety protections for parents and their children
Passwords can not only tell you your password has been compromised, but change it to something more secure
Describe a Siri Shortcut with natural language
Tens (or maybe even hundreds) of minor updates affecting user experience, speed, compatibility, and reliability
- Design changes to liquid glass
- App launches up to 30% faster, Photos load up to 70% faster

🗞️ ICYMI: Tech Updates

Elon Musk’s SpaceX kicks off mega IPO wave with $75 billion haul. As crazy as this sounds, Google to Pay SpaceX Nearly $1 Billion a Month in Cloud-Computing Deal to access data from space (arguably one of the first true “cloud” storages ‘above the clouds’). Google is also running tests sending Chrome users straight into AI Mode. So… what is Google anymore?
In partnership with Mike Rowe Works, Meta announced America’s Workforce Academy: The Future Is for Everyone. They’re not alone, either. Google is funding skilled trades training for the American economy, the next generation of American workers.
AT&T is launching $3 ‘unlimited’ day passes for iPads. Sounds like this will work on any iPad that has cellular service and may be a great opportunity for those long car rides.
Early last week, Anthropic Released Claude Fable 5, Its Most Powerful AI Yet, With Cyber Safeguards. However, the power outweighed the safeguards (allegedly) as they then released a s Statement on the US government directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5.

😎 POTW: Pick 10

For better or worse, ten seems like a good number, right? Here’s some fun picks revolving around the number 10.

📦 Featured Product

In honor of Father’s Day coming up, how about some unique pens and pen holders?

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