AI as a 'Staff Member' for Websites? The New Evolution of ChatGPT, WebMCP

Imagine this: You wake up in the morning, pick up your smartphone, and say to your AI, “If that pair of sneakers I was looking at before is on sale now, buy them in my size.” In the past, an AI might have been able to find the product page link and tell you the price, but we are entering an era where AI can actually enter the shopping mall website and perform everything from ‘add to cart’ to ‘checkout’ on its own.

OpenAI recently announced that it has introduced a technology called WebMCP (Web Model Context Protocol) to the built-in browser of its ChatGPT desktop app. [Source: ChatGPT Now Supports WebMCP] [Source: OpenAI deepens web and AI integration with WebMCP support for desktop app] Let’s find out what this unfamiliar-sounding technology is and why it matters.

Why Is This Important?

Until now, the AI we used was mostly like a ‘talking library.’ It could find and summarize vast amounts of information, but it had limitations in actually ‘acting’—like clicking or pressing buttons—inside a website.

However, with the introduction of WebMCP, AI can work like a ‘staff member of the website’ rather than just a consultant. [Source: WebMCP Connects AI Agents To Actions Inside Websites] AI can now handle repetitive tasks that users previously had to do by navigating websites themselves, such as ordering products, making restaurant reservations, or performing complex data searches. This means that the way we use digital devices could change entirely. [Source: ChatGPT Desktop App Adds WebMCP Support]

Simple Explanation: An Operating Manual for AI

To understand WebMCP, let’s use the metaphor of a ‘restaurant.’

A typical website is like a restaurant that makes delicious food. But until now, AI was like a person standing outside the restaurant, not a customer, so it couldn’t enter. If a customer said from outside the window, “Show me the menu,” the owner would bring the menu out.

However, WebMCP is like creating an ‘AI-only entrance’ and an ‘operating manual’ for this restaurant. When an AI visits a website (the restaurant), it can understand the internal structure, figure out which buttons (cooking tools) to press to place an order, and follow the manual to complete the task (how to cook). [Source: Let AI agents drive your game servers with WebMCP]

Simply put, it has created a path for AI to discover the Site Tools exposed by a website and call them directly, just as a human would click, to handle necessary tasks immediately. [Source: ChatGPT’s built-in browser now speaks WebMCP]

Where Can It Be Used?

Future Outlook

It is expected that more websites will open up their service structures so that AI can easily visit and perform tasks. Developers are already using WebMCP to build various site tools, and OpenAI is also holding hackathons for developers to expand the ecosystem. [Source: ChatGPT’s web browser gets WebMCP support and new primitives]

We will gradually spend less time ‘clicking apps ourselves’ and more time ‘instructing AI on what to do.’ It might be an interesting experience to check if your favorite websites have created an ‘employee entrance’ for AI.

References

1. [ChatGPT Now Supports WebMCP

   Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49473417)

2. Letting AI agents drive your game servers with WebMCP - Nodecraft

3. [ChatGPT built-in browser now speaks WebMCP and millions of…

   LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/igrigorik_chatgpt-built-in-browser-now-speaks-webmcp-activity-7498123362104360960-1V5E)

4. [ChatGPT Now Supports WebMCP

   Modern Orange](https://modernorange.io/item/49473417)

5. [WebMCP Connects AI Agents To Actions Inside Websites

   Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/webmcp-connects-ai-actions-inside-websites/587303/)

6. 10 days for exploring what’s possible with WebMCP
7. 🚨 Breaking 🚨 ChatGPT Now Supports WebMCP - by nekuda

8. [Site tools

   ChatGPT Learn](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/webmcp)

9. WebMCP, which deepens the integration of AI and websites, now supports ChatGPT for desktop. - GIGAZINE

10. [ChatGPT Adds WebMCP Support for Site Tools

    Digg](https://digg.com/tech/51drxazj)

11. ChatGPT Desktop App Adds WebMCP Support; OpenAI Introduces Premium Seat for Business Users — BigGo Finance

12. [ChatGPT’s Web Browser Gets WebMCP Support and New Primitives

    daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/chatgpt-s-web-browser-gets-webmcp-support-and-new-primitives-hnhtsdeii)

13. OpenAI Status