AI chatbots were the first. AI assistants can now schedule trips and order Ubers

While ChatGPT can help you plan your trip, it cannot arrange your airfare to Cancún.

Artificial intelligence is now available to assist us in crossing tasks off our lists of things to accomplish.

Many tech businesses are creating solutions that employ AI to accomplish activities in the real world.

Observers in Silicon Valley believe that this new wave of “AI agents” is the next development in the generative AI trend that began with the introduction of chatbots and picture generators.

During the company’s developer conference last year, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, who created ChatGPT, hinted at the direction AI errand-helpers will go.

Altman predicted that eventually all you’ll have to do is ask a computer for what you need, and it would take care of everything.

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Comparable to a walkie-talkie, but featuring an animated rabbit head

Rabbit is one of the most well-known businesses engaged in this. It has created an apparatus known as the Rabbit R1. It was introduced during this year’s CES, the yearly electronics trade exhibition, in Las Vegas by Chinese businessman Jesse Lyu.

It’s a brash orange device that is around 50% smaller than an iPhone. Like a walkie-talkie, it has a button on the side that you press to speak into. An AI-powered rabbit head appears in response to a request and attempts to complete the task at hand.

A big language model is the technology that powers chatbots such as ChatGPT. Rabbit claims to employ both this system and a novel form of artificial intelligence that it refers to as a “large action model.” To put it simply, it picks up on human website and app usage patterns and imitates them in response to speech cues.

Not only can Rabbit play music from Spotify or play videos from YouTube, as Siri and other voice assistants currently do, but it can also place DoorDash orders, make Uber calls, and plan family vacations. Additionally, after discovering a user’s preferences and likes, it gives recommendations.

Privacy concerns arise immediately when dozens or even hundreds of a person’s passwords are stored. However, Rabbit asserts that it stores user credentials in a manner that prevents anyone—including the business—from accessing a person’s private data. According to the business, user data would never be sold or shared with outside parties “without your formal, express authorization.”

The Rabbit R1 will begin arriving in the upcoming months, according to the business, which reports that over 80,000 customers have placed preorders.

At Rabbit’s Santa Monica, California, offices, Ashley Bao, a spokesperson, stated, “This is the first time that AI exists in a hardware format.” It seems like we have all been anticipating this day. Our Alexa has been here. Our smart speakers are already here. However, none of them are able to complete a task from start to finish or translate words into action for you.”

Reducing the amount of time spent on the phone?

An increasingly competitive industry of gadgets and services is being fueled by excitement around AI agents in Silicon Valley. Microsoft and Google are vying to create devices that use AI to automate repetitive tasks. Arc, a web browser, is developing a solution that lets you browse the internet with an AI agent. A wearable artificial intelligence pin that projects a display picture into a user’s palm has been created by a different business, Humane. It’s meant to help with everyday chores and discourage people from picking up their phones as often.

Rabbit asserts that their gadget will enable users to do tasks without ever opening an app since you can connect in to all of your applications on a Rabbit web page and Rabbit will utilize your login credentials to complete tasks for you.

The Rabbit R1 requires a Wi-Fi connection to function, but it also contains a SIM card port in case users choose to purchase a separate data plan just for the device.

Using applications to place orders and make requests all day takes longer than we may think, Rabbit spokesperson Ryan Fenwick said when asked why anybody would want to carry around a separate device only to accomplish what your smartphone could do in 30 seconds.

In contrast to what is now feasible with various applications on a smartphone, Fenwick stated, “we are looking at the entire process, end to end, to automate as much as possible and make these complicated tasks much quicker and much more natural.”

Also Read: Difference Between Artificial Intelligence Generative Content and Human Written Content

Is this device (gadget) really required?

When ChatGPT was introduced in late 2022, it caused a stir among businesses across many sectors as they tried to capitalize on the newest digital trend. Duane Forrester, an analyst at Yext, predicted that the chatbot craze will soon spread to the device sector.

“Every single product or service linked the initials “A” and “I” to whatever their product or service was early on, with the unleashing of AI,” according to Forrester. “I believe a hardware version of it will eventually be released.”

According to Forrester, an AI walkie-talkie may soon become outdated as businesses like Apple and Google use the most recent advancements in AI to make their voice assistants smarter.

“To achieve this, you don’t need an additional piece of hardware,” he declared.

“We’ll get there someday, but what you need is this kind of intelligence and utility in our present cellphones.”

Concerns about AI turning rogue are raised by AI agents

Scientists are concerned about potential problems that such technology may face in the future.

Snafus that researchers have identified include the AI assistant ordering food to someone else’s residence or booking the incorrect nonrefundable airfare, for example.

The Center for AI Safety issued a warning concerning rogue AI agents in a study published in 2023. It said that an AI agent might have disastrous results if it is given a “open-ended purpose” (such as maximizing an individual’s stock market gains) without being instructed on how to get there.

“As AIs get more powerful, we run the danger of losing control over them. AIs have the potential to maximize erroneous objectives, stray from their initial aims, develop a power complex, resist shutdown, and participate in dishonesty. A synopsis of the article states, “We propose that AIs should not be deployed in high-risk situations, such as by autonomously pursuing open-ended objectives or supervising key infrastructure, unless proven safe.”

Anthony Gargasz, the creative director of Rabbit R1, presents the gadget at the company’s Santa Monica headquarters as a social media diversion. Make use of it to get a hotel room or schedule a doctor’s appointment without spending hours getting lost in an app’s feed.

“There will be no doomscrolling on the Rabbit R1,” Gargasz declared. “Intentional interaction is intended for the scroll wheel.”

The device’s primary purpose, according to his colleague Ashley Bao, is to “get things done efficiently.” She did, however, concede that there is a cutesy element, drawing a comparison to the ubiquitous keychain-sized electronic pets of the 1990s.

She described it as “like a Tamagotchi but with AI.”

Source:
https://www.kpcc.org/npr-news/2024-02-21/first-there-were-ai-chatbots-now-ai-assistants-can-order-ubers-and-book-vacations

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