Coming soon Emerging

Personal AI assistants

Assistants that know your context and help across apps. Parts exist today; the rest is still developing.

Forward-looking: this describes work in progress, not a finished product. Nothing here is a promised date or release.

What is it?

A personal AI assistant aims to help you across daily life: managing your calendar, email, notes, shopping and reminders, while remembering your preferences. Voice assistants have existed for years, and newer AI chat assistants can hold natural conversations, remember some details and connect to other apps.

The broader goal is an assistant that understands your context and can act for you across many services. Getting there raises hard questions about privacy, trust, security and mistakes. How capable and widely used such assistants become, and how soon, is uncertain.

Which models use it?

Chat assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini offer memory or personalisation features in some plans and regions.
Voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant are being updated with newer AI models.
Some assistants can connect to email, calendars and documents through connectors or extensions.
Phone makers are adding assistant features that use on-screen context.

How to use it

Start by using an assistant for low-risk help, such as drafting messages or planning a day.
Review what the assistant remembers about you, and edit or delete memories you do not want kept.
Connect apps like email or calendar only if you are comfortable with the provider's privacy terms.
Ask it to confirm before sending messages, booking or buying anything.
Keep important information, like appointments, double-checked in the original app.

Benefits

Can reduce small daily tasks and mental load.
Personalised help can be faster and more relevant than starting from scratch.
Voice and natural language make technology easier to use for many people.

Limits and risks

Assistants need access to personal data, which creates privacy and security risks.
They can misunderstand requests or act on wrong assumptions.
Memory features may store information you did not intend to share.
Capabilities vary by country, device and plan, and future features are uncertain.

Prompt template

Copy it, replace the parts in [brackets] and paste it into any AI chat.

Act as my personal planning assistant for [today / this week]. My priorities: [list]. Fixed commitments: [times and events]. Energy and constraints: [notes]. Create a realistic schedule with buffers, flag conflicts, and suggest what to postpone. Ask me before assuming anything about my preferences, and do not store or reuse this information beyond this conversation unless I say so.