AI-powered personal assistants could reshape the digital economy
But they will first have to prove they are safe for users and helpful for businesses.
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Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots are now joined by Instinct in the growing world of AI-powered personal assistants.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Economist
Silicon Valley has long dreamed of building a digital assistant capable enough to rid users of many of the tedious personal tasks that gobble up time and attention. Fictional representations, such as J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just a Rather Very Intelligent System) in the Iron Man films, set expectations high. In 2010, Apple, the iPhone-maker, acquired Siri, one such aide. It turned out to be disappointingly moronic.
Now, amid the current wave of investment in artificial intelligence, the era of personal AI agents may at last have arrived. In the past two months, Meta, the social media giant, and Instinct, a start-up, have released two such bots to great fanfare.