TL;DR
Creator Mike Russell demos OpenAI Codex Desktop on Mac, testing its computer-use agent capabilities across three real creative workflows: audio cleanup in Adobe Audition, thumbnail design in Photoshop, and AI video generation via Adobe Firefly in the browser. Results are mixed but the eagle video task is genuinely impressive.
Key points
1
Codex Desktop uses a computer-use agent (powered by GPT-5.5) to physically control Mac apps by moving the cursor, clicking, and typing without user intervention
2
Audio task: Codex opened Adobe Audition, loaded a .wav file, ran FFprobe and SOX analysis, then applied a full processing chain (noise reduction, compression, de-essing, EQ) with modest but real improvement
3
Photoshop task: Codex spent 11+ minutes attempting a YouTube thumbnail with gradient, brush strokes, and text -- result was rough and unpolished, rated a failure for practical use
4
Adobe Firefly task: Codex opened the browser, navigated to firefly.adobe.com, uploaded a video file, extracted a frame for reference, wrote a prompt, and paused before spending 400 credits to ask for user confirmation -- eagle flying off shirt video was generated successfully
5
Codex warns users of elevated risk when allowing browser access, and pauses before costly or irreversible actions, showing meaningful safety guardrails
Actionable insights
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Use the @ symbol in Codex Desktop to invoke computer control of Mac apps -- it requires a one-time accessibility permission setup
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Codex is most effective for tasks involving web-based AI tools (like Adobe Firefly) where it can navigate a browser and trigger generation autonomously while you do other work
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Always review Codex prompts carefully before allowing browser access or actions that consume paid credits -- the agent will pause and ask before irreversible steps if you do not select always allow
Notable quotes
“An audio engineer, yes, possibly. A beginner entry-level one. A Photoshop thumbnail editor, definitely not. More work needed. And a user of generative AI tools, I think it's probably a thumbs up for that one.”
“Allowing it to use this app introduces risks -- it's good to see that there are warnings along the way because, of course, Codex now could pretty much use any app on your Mac if it wanted.”
Worth watching?
⏭️
Worth watching the full video?
The key results and workflow breakdowns are all captured here -- only watch the full video if you want to see the cursor moving live inside Audition, Photoshop, and Firefly, which is admittedly striking to witness firsthand.
Saved you some time? The creator still deserves a like.
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