HACKER Q&A
📣 nunodonato

What would a truly useful AI personal assistant look like to you?


Yes, we have alexa, siri and google assistant.

They all do cool stuff. I can check the weather, know my agenda for the day, and get a joke told. Some of these are somewhat useful, others a cool stuff to show or try one time.

I feel a truly useful personal assistant is not yet here (am I wrong? please share projects I may not know about). This is a field where I have a lot of personal interest and have been brainstorming some ideas. I'm very curious to pick your brains too and know from the HN crowd what would a truly useful personal assistant based on AI look like? What would be able to do that you can't ask alexa or siri?

I'm always reminded of the next-level AI in the movie Her, and how the AI manages email and is able to naturally respond and carry out tasks.

I think a personal assistant is, by definition, aware of all the important things in your life. An integration with every significant email box, calendar, note taking app, etc... would be a significant part of its "wisdom" and ability to truly help out.

What kind of dialogs do you dream of having with a digital personal assistant? How would your day be easier with it available in your pocket?

Disclaimer: I do have a personal pet project for an AI digital assistant (leaning towards productivity)


  👤 nshm Accepted Answer ✓
I never read the book but I certainly agree with the title. I hope you find it useful

https://www.amazon.com/Better-Good-Machine-Than-Person/dp/19...


👤 CrypticShift
I really never got used to talking to my phone, even in private. But ok this is not the issue (you can always type it)

There is actually two very different questions :

What kind of dialogs do you dream of ? imagination has no limit as has already been stated in this thread.

What kind of dialogs would be both feasible and popular in the next 2-3 years ? This is the real deal (GPT-4 is around the corner)

It would be interesting (and most helpful for your project) if one of the FAANG released a detailed study on how people really used assistants in 2022, at least some kind of Top "vocal commands" list.


👤 gtvwill
"Hey AI. I need x, y and z configured and implemented for client a."

*Ai does job*

"Aight cheers, fill the brew kettle and set temp to 72 we'll try squeeze in a double mash now works done before it's beach time."