Manus AI may be the new DeepSeek, but initial users report problems

Date:
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:48:27 +0000

Description:
Manus is either agentic AI coming good or completely useless - depending on who you ask

FULL STORY ======================================================================New agentic AI tool Manus is being hailed as more capable than previously available agents Others are less impressed, citing crashes and
hallucinations, while experts call for caution A use case gallery shows Manus being used to plan trips and analyse stocks

Manus, a new agentic AI tool from Chinese startup Monica, has entered into invite-only preview, and, according to some users, [redefines] whats possible for automated AI workflows to achieve.

Thats according to one Twitter user who asked Manus to code a threejs game where you control a plane and ended up concluding that Manus is the most impressive AI tool I've ever tried.

Manus own use case gallery ( via TechCrunch ) lays out some of the possibilities, such as planning a trip to and producing a personalised guidebook for a trip to Japan, accessing a database to sort information from it into tables, analyzing stocks in a human-readable dashboard, and
scheduling job candidate interviews without intervention from a real person. What are AI agents?

AI agents, though powered by large language models ( LLMs ), differ from AI writers in that they utilise systems to automate a workflow based on a users prompt, rather than produce a single piece of output.

Manus isnt offering anything especially new, though it is notable that, up until now, perhaps, AI agents havent had the best reputation; known for struggling with factual information, and basically being non-functional.

Others, however, arent as impressed. TechCrunch s Kyle Wiggers gave a
cohesive account of their experience, reporting crashes, and failures on
tasks ranging from simple (booking a table at a restaurant) to the convoluted (Then I asked the platform to build a Naruto-inspired fighting game).

Comparisons have also been made with DeepSeeks LLMs, though these dont quite add up. Manus and DeepSeek might both hail from China, but DeepSeek is not an agent, and Manus is not open source, and indeed has no release schedule. That said, an open source version, OpenManus , is in active development.

Manus coming from a Chinese startup has caused unease, with some circles, Axios notes, worrying China is gaining ground in a so-called race for AI supremacy. Experts doubt Manus

Two industry figures told TechRadar Pro their doubts surrounding agentic AI still remain. Corpora.ais CEO, Mel Morris, said that Manus' demonstrations showcase the potential of Agentic AI as a significant step forward. However, granting autonomous AI agents like Manus the ability to perform independent actions raises serious concerns.

We have already witnessed numerous examples of generative AI and so-called reasoning models producing flawed outputs. If given autonomy over high-stakes tasks - such as buying and selling stocks - such imperfections could lead to chaos. The ability to compare stock fundamentals and trading activity in minutes is vastly different from successfully navigating the complexities of the market.

Similarly, Copyleaks co-founder and CEO Alon Yamin said that ,while
innovation in AI can drive remarkable efficiency, it also amplifies concerns around transparency, data security, and responsible oversight. Manus cloud-based operations surface several critical questions about data governance: Who controls the information? Where does it reside? How is the data protected?

As AI systems become more autonomous, ethical development and regulatory alignment must be prioritized. AI governance solutions that help
organizations detect and mitigate AI risks remain critical, ensuring advancements like Manus AI are deployed responsibly and transparently. You might also like Weve also listed the best AI video editors right now What is Gemini Code Assist? Everything we know about the AI coding tool These are the AI assistants developers are actually using - and how they're using them



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/manus-ai-may-be-the-new-deepseek-but-initial-use rs-report-problems


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