Find furniture on Facebook Marketplace for a new apartment with Meta's Muse, while Dots got the accounts locked (partial)
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- by Mary Randolph (Scientific American)
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Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: Muse found a dining table; logging Dots into Facebook got the poster's Meta accounts temporarily locked.
Outcome
Scientific American's Mary Randolph was moving apartments and tested Meta's Muse (named Mark) and OpenAI's Dots (named Sam) for a week. Muse logged in to their Facebook account, searched Marketplace for couches, lamps and rugs, and could draft and send messages to sellers with their approval, managing the replies while they did other things. They now own a Muse-sourced dining table. When they gave Dots their Facebook login to do the same, Meta flagged it as a bot and temporarily locked their Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Later, Muse pushed them seven times in three days to join Target's membership program and buy a lamp on sale.
Agent
Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points. Goal: Find second-hand furniture for my new place and help me contact sellers. What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing): - What I need, with sizes and budget: [LIST] - My area and how far I can collect: [DETAILS] - Style I like (photos or words): [DETAILS] Rules: - Search the listings and shortlist the best few for each item, with price, condition, size and distance. - Draft a short message to each seller, and show it to me before anything is sent. - Don't sign in to accounts from more than one assistant or device at once, as sites may lock the account. - Don't push memberships, sign-ups or items I didn't ask for. - If a site asks me to sign in, pause and let me do it myself (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code); never guess or store passwords. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A shortlist table with links and draft seller messages. You'll know it worked when: I pick up the furniture I need at a fair price.
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Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points. Goal: Find second-hand furniture for my new place and help me contact sellers. What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing): - What I need, with sizes and budget: [LIST] - My area and how far I can collect: [DETAILS] - Style I like (photos or words): [DETAILS] Rules: - Search the listings and shortlist the best few for each item, with price, condition, size and distance. - Draft a short message to each seller, and show it to me before anything is sent. - Don't sign in to accounts from more than one assistant or device at once, as sites may lock the account. - Don't push memberships, sign-ups or items I didn't ask for. - If a site asks me to sign in, pause and let me do it myself (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code); never guess or store passwords. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A shortlist table with links and draft seller messages. You'll know it worked when: I pick up the furniture I need at a fair price.
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Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points. Goal: Find second-hand furniture for my new place and help me contact sellers. What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing): - What I need, with sizes and budget: [LIST] - My area and how far I can collect: [DETAILS] - Style I like (photos or words): [DETAILS] Rules: - Search the listings and shortlist the best few for each item, with price, condition, size and distance. - Draft a short message to each seller, and show it to me before anything is sent. - Don't sign in to accounts from more than one assistant or device at once, as sites may lock the account. - Don't push memberships, sign-ups or items I didn't ask for. - If a site asks me to sign in, pause and let me do it myself (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code); never guess or store passwords. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Warn me about common resale scams, like deposits before viewing, and suggest safe pick-up arrangements. Output: A shortlist table with links and draft seller messages. You'll know it worked when: I pick up the furniture I need at a fair price. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
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