I built an AI Agent to handle all the annoying tasks.Here's what I learned
by yeeyang | 2025-04-21 15:14:11+00:00
Time. It's arguably our most valuable resource, right? And nothing gets under my skin more than feeling like I'm wasting it on pointless, soul-crushing administrative junk. That's exactly why I'm obsessed with automation.

I set out to build an AI agent specifically to handle this annoying, time-consuming crap for me. I decided to call him Pine (named after my street). The setup was simple: one AI to do the main thinking and planning, another dedicated to writing emails, and a third that could actually make phone calls. My little AI task force was assembled.

Their first mission? Tackling my ridiculously high and frustrating Xfinity bill. Oh man, did I hit some walls. The agent sounded robotic and unnatural on the phone. It would get stuck if it couldn't easily find a specific piece of personal information. It was clumsy.

But this is where the real learning began. I started iterating like crazy. I'd tweak the communication strategies based on its failed attempts, and crucially, I began building a knowledge base of information and common roadblocks using RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). I just kept trying, letting the agent analyze its failures against the knowledge base to reflect and learn autonomously. Slowly, it started getting smarter.

It even learned to be proactive. Early in the process, it started using a form-generation tool in its planning phase, creating a simple questionnaire for me to fill in all the necessary details upfront. And for things like two-factor authentication codes sent via SMS during a call with customer service, it learned it could even call me mid-task to relay the code or get my input. The success rate started climbing significantly, all thanks to that iterative process and the built-in reflection.

It quickly became clear I wasn't the only one drowning in these tedious chores. Friends started asking, "Hey, can Pine also book me a restaurant?" The capabilities started expanding. I added map authorization, web browsing, and deeper reasoning abilities. Now Pine can find places based on location and requirements, make recommendations, and even complete bookings.

I ended up building a whole suite of tools for Pine to use: searching the web, interacting with maps, sending emails and SMS, making calls, and even encryption/decryption for handling sensitive personal data securely. With each new tool and each successful (or failed) interaction, Pine gets smarter, and the success rate keeps improving.

After building this thing from the ground up and seeing it evolve, I've learned a ton. Here are the most valuable takeaways for anyone thinking about building agents:

- Design like a human: Think about how you would handle the task step-by-step. Make the agent's process mimic human reasoning, communication, and tool use. The more human-like, the better it handles real-world complexity and interactions.

- Reflection is CRUCIAL: Build in a feedback loop. Let the agent process the results of its real-world interactions (especially failures!) and explicitly learn from them. This self-correction mechanism is incredibly powerful for improving performance.

- Tools unlock power: Equip your agent with the right set of tools (web search, API calls, communication channels, etc.) and teach it how to use them effectively. Sometimes, they can combine tools in surprisingly effective ways.

- Focus on real human value: Identify genuine pain points that people experience daily. For me, it was wasted time and frustrating errands. Building something that directly alleviates that provides clear, tangible value and makes the project meaningful.

Building AI agents like this is genuinely one of the most interesting and rewarding things I've done. It feels like building little digital helpers that can actually make life easier. I really hope PineAI can help others reclaim their time from life's little annoyances too!