Google just rolled out Auto Browse, an AI agent that promises to handle your digital chores by taking control of Chrome and clicking through tasks like booking tickets and shopping. But a hands-on test by Wired reveals the tool's critical flaw - it lacks common sense. The feature, available now to $20-a-month AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers, can technically navigate websites and execute commands, but it stumbles on decisions that humans make instinctively, raising questions about whether AI agents are ready to manage our daily browsing.
Google is making its biggest bet yet on AI agents reshaping how we use the web. Auto Browse, which launched this week to US subscribers of the company's AI Pro and AI Ultra plans, promises to handle the tedious clicking and scrolling that fills our days. Book concert tickets, shop for clothes, plan camping trips - all while you sit back and watch the bot work.
But Reece Rogers' hands-on test for Wired reveals a tool that's technically proficient but fundamentally flawed. The AI can navigate websites and execute commands, sure. What it can't do is think like a human.
Rogers discovered this the hard way when he asked Auto Browse to book two symphony tickets with specific requirements - not orchestra seating, not the cheapest available, and next to an aisle. The bot delivered exactly what was requested. Almost. The two $185 seats were indeed by an aisle and outside the orchestra section. They were also in separate rows, meaning Rogers' partner would spend the concert staring at the back of his head.
"It's the kind of common sense decision that I didn't even consider including as part of my prompt," Rogers wrote. The miscommunication highlights a critical gap between what AI agents can technically accomplish and what users actually need.
Google has positioned Auto Browse as part of a broader vision to fundamentally alter how we interact with the web. The feature joins AI Overviews in Search and Gemini integrations in Gmail as tools designed to remove users from firsthand experiences in the name of efficiency. Chrome, the world's most popular browser by far, gives Google enormous leverage to reshape these daily habits.
