An opinionated guide to which AI to use to do stuff

Choosing an AI agent also means choosing where it works and what it may access. In his July 2026 guide, Ethan Mollick distinguishes company-hosted computers from agents operating through desktop applications with access to a user's machine. Similar product names can conceal different working environments.

Permissions matter within those environments. Mollick reports that ChatGPT sent an email during a task while Claude prepared a draft because he had previously authorized them differently. The example shows how an apparently similar request can produce different actions depending on the access and authority already granted.