I use ChatGPT every day. I’m not here to trash it.

But I’ve noticed something over the past year. There’s a category of tasks where ChatGPT is incredible, and a category where it’s frustratingly limited. And most people don’t realize why.

Let me explain.

ChatGPT’s Superpower

ChatGPT is amazing at things like:

  • Explaining complex concepts
  • Writing first drafts of documents
  • Brainstorming ideas
  • Analyzing text you paste in
  • Coding help when you share your code
  • Creative writing
  • Learning new topics through conversation

For these tasks, it’s genuinely transformative. I use it for all of them.

Notice what these have in common: ChatGPT has all the information it needs from your conversation. You’re typing the context. You’re providing the input. Everything it needs is right there in the chat.

ChatGPT’s Blind Spot

Now here’s where it breaks down.

You’re looking at an email and want help drafting a reply. You have to copy the email thread, paste it into ChatGPT, explain the context, get a response, copy it back.

You’re on a LinkedIn profile and want to write a connection message. Copy their info, paste it, prompt, copy response, paste back.

You’re updating a CRM record. You have to tell ChatGPT everything about the contact because it can’t see your Salesforce.

You’re filling out a form. ChatGPT can’t see the form. You’d have to describe every field.

The pattern is obvious once you see it:

ChatGPT can’t see what you’re looking at.

It’s brilliant, but it’s blind. It has no idea what’s on your screen. It doesn’t know what page you’re on, what email you’re reading, what form you’re filling out.

And that limitation changes everything.

The Copy-Paste Tax

Every time ChatGPT needs to know about something on your screen, you pay what I call the “copy-paste tax.”

  1. Select the information
  2. Copy it
  3. Switch to ChatGPT
  4. Paste it
  5. Write a prompt explaining context
  6. Wait for response
  7. Copy the response
  8. Switch back to your original tab
  9. Paste it
  10. Usually edit it because ChatGPT was missing context

This workflow adds 2-3 minutes to every single task. Sometimes more.

And here’s the thing: most of your work happens in your browser. Email. CRM. LinkedIn. Google Docs. Internal tools. Web apps. There are many browser tasks you’re still doing manually that could be automated.

ChatGPT is disconnected from all of it.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

I tracked my copy-paste workflows for a week. I was horrified.

I switched between my work tabs and ChatGPT 47 times per day on average. Each switch took 30 seconds to a minute, counting the copying, context-explaining, and pasting back.

That’s roughly an hour per day. Just on copy-pasting context to ChatGPT and results back.

An hour a day. On overhead. Not even on productive work — just on shuttling information between windows.

The Deeper Problem

But wait, it gets worse.

When you copy-paste information into ChatGPT, you’re making decisions about what context to include. And you’re often wrong.

You copy an email, but you don’t copy the previous thread. ChatGPT gives advice that doesn’t account for your history with this person.

You copy a LinkedIn headline and company, but miss that they just changed jobs last month. The AI doesn’t know they’re in a transition.

You describe a form you’re filling out, but forget to mention a dropdown field. ChatGPT’s suggestion doesn’t quite fit.

The copy-paste workflow isn’t just slow. It’s lossy. You’re filtering context through your own attention, and things slip through.

What Actually Seeing the Screen Enables

Now imagine an AI that can see what you see.

You’re on an email. The AI sees the entire thread, the sender info, your previous conversations. You say “draft a reply” and it has all the context.

You’re on a LinkedIn profile. The AI sees their photo, headline, about section, experience, posts. Everything. You say “help me write a connection message” and it gets the full picture.

You’re filling out a form. The AI sees every field, every dropdown, every required checkbox. You say “fill this out” and it just… does.

No copying. No pasting. No context explaining. No tab switching.

The AI is just there, looking at the same screen you’re looking at.

This Is What Browser Agents Are For

This isn’t hypothetical. This is what AI browser agents do.

They run inside your browser. They see the pages you’re viewing. They understand the context without you explaining it.

When I switched from the ChatGPT-in-another-tab workflow to a browser agent workflow, I got that hour back. Every single day.

Not because the AI was smarter. The underlying language model might even be the same. It’s just that the AI could finally see.

When to Use What

I’m not saying dump ChatGPT. I still use it daily.

Use ChatGPT when:

  • You’re brainstorming from scratch
  • You’re learning something new
  • You’re having a conversation that doesn’t involve your current screen
  • You’re working with code in your IDE
  • You want to think through a problem out loud

Use a browser agent when:

  • You’re working on something in your browser
  • The task involves information on your current page
  • You’re tired of copy-pasting context
  • You want the AI to actually do something, not just suggest it

Different tools for different jobs. ChatGPT is a conversation partner; a browser agent is a coworker who can see your screen.

Try It Yourself

Here’s a simple test.

Next time you’re about to copy something from a web page into ChatGPT, stop. Notice what you’re doing. Count the steps. Time how long it takes.

Then try the same task with an AI that’s actually in your browser.

The difference isn’t subtle.

Get dassi in Chrome and stop paying the copy-paste tax.