Computer use
Computer use is an AI capability where the model operates a computer the way a person does — viewing the screen, moving the cursor, clicking, and typing — so it can use any application directly instead of relying on a special API for each one.
Computer use is what lets an AI agent work with software that has no convenient integration: it perceives the interface visually and drives it with simulated mouse and keyboard actions. This is the mechanism behind much of what makes agentic desktop tools feel like a real assistant.
Both Anthropic and OpenAI ship computer-use capabilities — Anthropic via Claude (including in Cowork) and OpenAI via the Codex app's background computer use. It's powerful, which is exactly why human-in-the-loop approvals matter for sensitive actions.