Confused by all the new AI assistants? Start here.

AI with ALLIE

The professional’s guide to quick AI bites for your personal life, work life, and beyond.

What is this new wave of AI?

The AI word of the year has absolutely been proactive.

For the last few years, we’ve done all the work: we open the chat, we click the buttons, we write the prompt, we wait for the answer and twiddle our thumbs or prompt again, repeat. That’s starting to flip. AI systems today are closer to an always-on layer that sits across all your tools, watches what’s happening, and comes to you when something needs your attention.

It flags the email you forgot to answer (and drafts it for you). It catches the enrollment deadline that’s about to slip (and offers to sign up for you). It escalates. If you’ve heard of Meta Muse, OpenAI Dots, Instinct, Grok Bot, or Claude Duet, this is the new kind of AI assistant they belong to, and it changes what it means to “use” AI at work.

The market is honestly a bit flooded with these AI assistants. And every company is going to be fighting for your time, attention, and downloads.

What these assistants actually did for me

I gave $500 to Dots to plan a date for me and a friend. I asked Instinct to call a store and get a rundown on balloon pricing. I asked Muse to give me deeply researched positive AI stories every single morning so I don’t just read doomsday pieces. I asked Claude to proactively scan my team systems and offer to take on process improvements.

In short: I went nuts.

META MUSE

Meta Muse is for Meta lovers and for now is only available in the US and Canada. If you’re deep into Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, or Facebook in general, this is a no brainer to have in your arsenal. I think it’s a great option for parents who never want to touch Claude Code or Codex or just generally people who don’t want to build systems. Additionally, Meta Muse has the best idea generator by a mile, making it the best option for people still asking “wtf can AI actually do for me”). You can watch my Meta Muse setup video for absolute beginners here.

The speed to value of Meta Muse is incredibly high. You can set up a daily news briefing in no time. Also, for those of us that have watched Madagascar or Zootopia one too many times, you can ask Muse to change your avatar to any character or animal you want. I went with a meerkat because deep down, I am, spiritually a small hypervigilant desert mammal (who just happens to live in Manhattan).

Downside is some data privacy concerns. Just today, it was reported that Meta was accidentally sharing private conversations. We've seen similar things happen with Anthropic, where the chats were being indexed on Google and searchable online. As of now, Meta's sharing feature is disabled. And a few weeks ago, another user had Meta Muse take over his Facebook Marketplace sales process, and Muse accidentally shared his home address with a stranger looking to buy from him. Unlike other creators on the internet, I’m less likely to connect Meta to my business systems (even my business email), but ultimately, it is your decision.

OPENAI DOTS

Dots is for OpenAI users who have already connected a lot of their tools and systems into ChatGPT or Codex. Why? Because the time it took me to go from opening the app to getting value was seconds instead of hours. I think it’s very strong in the business/enterprise space (especially if you deal with Slack a lot). And as always, OpenAI takes the number one spot in my book for anything voice related—I actually called my Dot and had a full conversation with it. You can watch my Dots setup video here and test it live in the ChatGPT desktop app.

Highlight for me with Dots was going on an experiment rampage with it. I’ll share the full story in another newsletter, but essentially, I gave Dots $500 to build an entire mystery day for me. I asked it to pick a friend to join me, ping the friend, coordinate time, pick plans, book any tickets, grab any reservations, map out commutes, send event invites, etc. and told it my only two roles were: (1) data permissions and (2) showing up. Literally just got into a cab and let Dot take over my schedule so I had more time to enjoy it. Spoiler alert: I had to apologize to two restaurants and one friend.

On a ChatGPT Pro Plan, Dots is available everywhere except the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. But if you’re on a Business Premium plan, Dots is available in all ChatGPT-supported regions (i.e., everywhere except China, Russia etc.).

INSTINCT

Instinct comes from Spear Street, a startup that has raised $1B (casual, casual). It’s a personal AI assistant you text, and similar to the others, it works in the background on whatever you hand it. Instinct is invite-only (you can use my invite until it runs out) and available everywhere except Russia, China, Iran, N Korea, Syria, Cuba.

If you live in iMessage, this is your tool. It’s built for people who don’t want to deal with apps at all and don’t need fancy visualizations. I also find it faster than the others, and if you want to try something outside the OpenAI and Anthropic ecosystem, it’s a solid option.

An added benefit of Instinct that no other providers have today is the ability to connect Instincts or to create a group chat with Instinct. One user reported that she and her boyfriend have connected their Instincts. He’s studying for his GRE and when he skips a session, his Instinct messages hers. The two have had some, let’s say, playful AI encounters like the one below.

That said, I asked it to call a business for me yesterday, and the experiment was a complete failure. I wanted Instinct to call Michaels and find out if they sold unicorn balloons, how much one cost, and how long it would take to inflate. I got a text back saying one balloon would cost $34. I know New York is expensive, but I knew that was wrong. About 45 minutes later, I called myself and spoke to the same salesperson. The balloon was $3.99. When I asked if the other caller sounded like AI, the salesperson said it sounded like “a slow old man,” which I’m assuming was an actual human calling on my behalf. Unlike Muse, which provides full call transcripts, Instinct provides zero record of the actual call—no transcript, no recording, no transparency over who or what made the call.

CLAUDE DUET

I had early access to Claude Duet (this product is brand-new, just released in the last few minutes!). I found it to be the most proactive of all and purpose-built for business, but perhaps flagged too much to me. If you like minimal noise and concision, this is not the tool for you. If you want thoroughness and business-leaning, go for it. It’s currently only available through a waitlist on Pro and Max plans in the US.

TL;DR: this space is early

My honest take: it still feels very early across the board. Every company launched its assistant as a “beta,” which is a sneaky way of saying “hey if it messes up and emails your biggest client 83 times in one day, we told you so.”

If you want to play it safe, pick your favorite from the ones you have access to and test it with zero tools connected first. As you get a feel for what it does well and where it slips, add tools one at a time (aaand maybe don’t start with your bank account).

Expect a lot more in the next several months. More assistants will get calling and texting and video. We’ll see more multiplayer versions built for teams and families. I use Dots and Instinct the most, but that might change in a few weeks. This space, like nearly all AI spaces, moves fast - all of this could change tomorrow.

Stay curious, stay informed,

Allie

Cohort 3 is sold out. Join the waitlist.

The demand for the AI Agent Mastermind from teams and individuals has been incredible. Cohort 3 has members from 19 different countries and a Boston meetup is already getting organized. Based on these signups, we are very likely running a Cohort 4 in 2027. Want in? Join the waitlist today and be the first to hear about the next opportunity to build with us.

Feedback is a Gift

I would love to know what you thought of this newsletter and any feedback you have for me. Do you have a favorite part? Wish I would change something? Felt confused? Please reply and share your thoughts or just take the poll below so I can continue to improve and deliver value for you all.