Re: AI OS integration: I recently retired so most of my LLM use is just implementing and fixing fairly mundane OS and networking things along with light scripting for OS automation (AHK) and Home Assistant. So far, I just use web chat and cut-paste to the OS which is fine for little things but it starts to suck after the 15th round back and forth. For example, debugging intermittent Windows crash logs on my wife's laptop by doing multi-line PowerShell incantations from browser chat window, paste into PowerShell window. Cut multi-line error messages back to browser. Rinse / Repeat.

I'm leery about just giving an LLM free run of my laptop, but with reasonable restrictions on which app(s) it can access and how many steps it can do before checking in, and maybe even a throttle on how fast it works, I'd be fine (I'm not in a hurry and I can learn by watching it work at double-speed). It doesn't have to be mil-spec locked down, it's not like I have production code accessible or millions in crypto keys, the biggest downside would be a few hours hosing out and restoring the laptop, which would be annoying but not the end of the world.

I get those that say, "just spin up a VM and run it there", but I 'spin up a VM' rarely enough that the versions have changed and UXs drifted enough that it's exactly the kind of thing I'd actually want the LLMs help to do without me being a cut-paste bot. I'm mostly Windows at the moment and I don't understand why MSFT insists on spamming LLM features everywhere except the one place I'd not only use it, but pay for it. The usage model could be as simple and intuitive as a Zoom remote desktop share with a collaborator. That's already constrained and users have a mental model for the interaction pattern.

I asked Gemini earlier today to search recent user reviews of the latest 'drive my Windows desktop for me' and it reported that the capability is still slow, expensive, and prone to getting lost navigating the interface or interpreting window boundaries etc.

Anyone have any suggestions for my lightweight, casual use case?

Yeah unironically just let an agent harness rip with full admin access without monitoring anything it does or using a VM. It’ll be fine, probably. “How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the AgentDOS and Only Exfiltrate Secrets Occasionally”