The short answer
Claude Duet from Anthropic, dots from OpenAI and Grok Bot from xAI are AI assistants that keep working after you close the chat. Each has its own computer in the cloud, works across the apps you connect, and can stop for your approval before steps that matter. The big difference for a UK agency is access: Duet is a US-only waitlist, personal ChatGPT Pro accounts in the UK cannot get a dot, and xAI does not say whether its Grok Bot app is offered in the UK.
Why it is worth fixing
A chatbot answers when you ask. An agent works towards a goal: it takes the next step itself, carries on while you are away and comes back when it needs a decision. Ask a chatbot to chase a missing document and it writes you an email; an agent sends it, watches for the reply and only comes back when something needs a person. So the approval settings matter more than any other feature.
Step by step
Claude Duet: the one that comes to you
Anthropic’s Duet sends a morning brief from your connected apps, then messages you only when something needs you. It works on its own cloud computer, so your phone and laptop can be off. Anthropic says it is designed to show you exactly what it will do, and wait, before it sends a message, pays, signs or deletes anything.
ChatGPT dots: the one that works between chats
OpenAI’s dot is an always-on agent inside ChatGPT with its own cloud computer and browser. It keeps making progress between conversations and messages you when it needs a decision. OpenAI’s launch post says you can reach it in ChatGPT, Slack or Microsoft Teams, and its help page says your dot can make mistakes, including when following your rules.
Grok Bot: a small team that signs in for you
xAI’s Grok Bot gives you AI ‘teammates’ you message like colleagues. All your Bots share one cloud computer and its logins, sign in to your tools and websites, even ones with no direct connection, and come back when they need approval. Where available, Teach a task lets you show a Bot a browser task once and turns it into a draft skill you review and test. It comes with paid plans only.
Compare how each one asks your permission
In Duet, asking before sending, paying, signing or deleting is built in, and paying can never be set to ‘don’t ask me again’. In a dot, Custom rules give each kind of action one behaviour: take action without asking, take action if pre-approved (you asked for it in your prompt), ask before taking action, or hand off to you. In Grok Bot, Auto-review rules marked ‘Ask first’ always stop a matching action for you, and win over ‘Allow automatically’ rules.
Check UK availability before you plan around one
On the date at the top of this guide: Duet was for US Claude accounts only. OpenAI excludes the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland from dots on personal Pro plans, and offers Business Premium ‘in supported ChatGPT regions’ without naming them. xAI does not say whether the Grok Bot app is offered in the UK, and tagging @bot on X does not work for UK-based accounts. Check each maker’s page on the day.
Hand an agent low-risk, checkable jobs first
Good first jobs are ones where a mistake is cheap and easy to spot: a morning summary of your inbox and calendar; draft follow-ups to quiet threads, for you to approve; and a weekly tracker kept up to date from apps you already use. Each gives you something to read before anything leaves the business.
Keep these with a person
However good the agent seems, keep three things with a person: anything sent to a candidate or client without being read first; money, contracts and anything signed; and decisions about people, such as who goes forward for a role. Set these as ‘ask first’ or ‘hand off to you’ from day one, not after the first mistake.
Checklist
- You know which of these assistants, if any, your account can get in the UK
- Every job you plan to hand over has a clear finish line
- Anything that goes to a candidate or client is set to ask first
- Payments, contracts and signatures stay with a person
- Someone reads the assistant’s work daily while you learn to trust it
When it is worth getting help
It is worth getting help when the work runs through systems none of these assistants can reach, such as a recruitment CRM or a client’s portal, when the same job runs every day for several people, or when a mistake would reach a candidate or client.
Rec Int. builds browser automation for UK recruitment agencies around the systems they already run, so anything that does not match stops for a person.
Questions people ask
Which of these can I use in the UK today?
On the date this guide was updated, none was clearly open to a UK individual. OpenAI’s Business Premium plan is the one route it has not ruled out, but it does not name the UK, so check with OpenAI first.
Is an agent the same as automation?
They share a shape: a goal, access to your tools and a point where a person decides. The difference is that an agent chooses its own next step, so its rules about when to ask you matter more.
Sources
- Introducing Claude Duet Anthropic
- Get started with Claude Duet Anthropic Help Center
- Claude Duet: safety and privacy Anthropic
- Introducing dots OpenAI
- Getting started with your dot OpenAI Help Center
- ChatGPT release notes OpenAI Help Center
- Introducing Grok Bot xAI (SpaceXSI)
- Grok Bot plans xAI (SpaceXSI)
- Grok Bot: frequently asked questions xAI (SpaceXSI) docs
- Grok Bot: approvals and privacy xAI (SpaceXSI) docs
- Tag @bot on X: where tagging is available xAI (SpaceXSI) docs
If you would like to talk through which jobs in your agency are safe to hand to an agent first, book a discovery call.