There's a massive difference between an AI you talk to and an AI that actually does things for you. This page explains what that looks like — and it's the proof.
Hey Caleb — Matt wanted to show you what he's been building with. You two have been hacking things together since Grade 9. This is the next level.
You and Matt have a track record of making technology do things it wasn't supposed to.
You and Matt found an old ATM operators manual online, walked into a Safeway in Winnipeg, guessed the default password on the first try, and got into the machine's admin mode. You changed the welcome message to "Go away. This ATM has been hacked" and printed the receipts to prove it. BMO had to write you both a note for being late to class: "assisting BMO with security."
Working independently since Grade 8, you and Matt engineered a device that sends low-current electrical stimulation to the optic nerve through the forehead — letting people with acquired blindness see flashes of white light indicating walls and obstacles. You presented it at the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Association conference. Dr. Zahra Moussavi, director of biomedical engineering at U of M, offered you both jobs on the spot.
You continued into ECE at U of M. You got involved with the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association. Matt went into tech. And now he's using an AI agent that actually does things — not just talks about them.
A chatbot answers questions. An agent takes action.
You type a question, it types an answer. That's it. It can't open your browser, check your email, deploy code, manage files, or do anything outside the chat window. Every session starts from zero — it doesn't remember yesterday's conversation unless you paste it back in.
Same powerful AI brain — but connected to the real world. It browses the web, writes and runs code, manages files, deploys websites, sends messages across platforms, remembers everything across sessions, and works in the background even when you're not chatting.
Real scenarios for an ECE engineer in Winnipeg.
Capability comparison at a glance.
| Capability | ChatGPT / GPT-5 | OpenClaw Agent |
|---|---|---|
| AI Intelligence | ✓ GPT-5, Claude, etc. | ✓ Same models (Claude, GPT, Gemini) |
| Persistent Memory | ~ Limited | ✓ Full file-based memory across sessions |
| Browse the Web | ~ Search only | ✓ Full browser control (click, type, navigate) |
| Run Code | ~ Sandboxed | ✓ Full shell access on your machine |
| Create & Edit Files | ✗ | ✓ Reads, writes, edits any file |
| Deploy Websites | ✗ | ✓ Builds and deploys directly |
| Send Messages | ✗ | ✓ Telegram, iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord |
| Background Tasks | ✗ | ✓ Cron jobs, heartbeats, proactive check-ins |
| Research People Online | ✗ | ✓ Google, read articles, compile findings |
| Multiple Agents | ✗ | ✓ Different personas, different platforms |
| Works While You Sleep | ✗ | ✓ Monitors, checks in, does background work |
Think of it as the difference between talking to a brain and giving a brain hands.
Uses Claude, GPT, Gemini — whatever model you want. The intelligence is identical. The difference is what it can do with that intelligence.
Shell commands, file management, web browsing, API calls, code execution. Not simulated — actually running on a real computer.
Writes notes to files, maintains a memory system across sessions. Remembers your projects, preferences, and context permanently.
Talk to it on Telegram, iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, or Slack. It keeps context across all of them.
Scheduled tasks, reminders, monitoring. It doesn't just wait for you to type — it does background work and reaches out when something matters.
Runs on your own machine. Your data stays yours. No subscriptions, no vendor lock-in. Just you and your agent.
Remember when you and Matt found that ATM manual and decided to just... try it? ChatGPT is like reading the manual. OpenClaw is like walking into the Safeway and actually doing it. Same knowledge — but one takes action.
OpenClaw is open source and free. It runs on your own machine — your data stays yours. If anyone would appreciate an AI that actually does things, it's the guy who hacked an ATM in Grade 9.
Check it out on GitHub →