Latest news with #virtualassistant
Phone Arena
01-08-2025
- Phone Arena
Replace Google Assistant with a smarter app on Android
Do you use Gemini or Google Assistant as your virtual default digital assistant on Android? Would you like to try something different? If you have the latest Meta AI app installed on your Android phone, version 230.0.0.36.164 or later, we will show you how a few quick taps on your device's display can make your handset feel new. First, you need to make sure that the Meta AI app is on your Android phone . Simply tap on this link, and you can install Meta AI from the Google Play Store. Once the app is downloaded on your device, or if you already have it on your Android phone , check out which version of Meta AI you're running on your device. To do that, go to Settings > Apps > See all xxx apps. Scroll to Meta AI and tap on the listing to see Meta AI's App info page. Scroll to the very bottom of that page to see the version number of the app on your phone. Again, you need version 230.0.0.36.164 or later of Meta AI to be installed. Making Meta AI your default digital assistant on Android. | Image credit-PhoneArena If the version of the Meta AI app qualifies, go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Digital assistant. This will show you a screen-sized list of default digital assistant apps you can choose from. If you have the proper version of Meta AI installed, the list includes: None Amazon Alexa Bing ChatGPT DuckDucjGo FireFox Google Meta AI Perplexity If you want to try Meta AI, tap the button next to the Meta AI name until it is filled in. Keep in mind that selecting Meta AI as the default digital assistant on your Android phone will only open the app, which is the equivalent of tapping the Meta AI icon. It does not open to reveal an interface, so you can't just open the app, start typing, or speak the query you want answered or the task you need done. Furthermore, it doesn't work with voice input. While you can't open the app and use voice input, you can use the voice input feature on the QWERTY keyboard. Right about now, you might be wondering what the point is to selecting Meta AI as your digital assistant compared to other assistants, such as Google Assistant, Gemini, or ChatGPT, to mention a few. With Meta AI, you can use the text prompts to ask the app to generate photos or videos. With the connection to Meta, the feature can even create Reels that can be uploaded to your Instagram and Facebook accounts or shared via WhatsApp (Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp are all owned by Meta). If you have the feature enabled, and you have Meta AI selected as the default assistant on your Android phone , long-pressing on your phone's power button will open the app. Another option is to tap and hold the home button if you use the old-school three-button navigation system. If you use gesture navigation, swiping in from one of the bottom corners will open the default app, which in this case is Meta AI. Once you make Meta AI your default digital assistant, you can get AI-generated answers to your queries. If you want to set a timer or alarm, you'll have to open the Clock app on your Android phone to set a timer or alarm. Personally, I prefer to have my Pixel set up with Gemini as the default digital assistant. You can arrange this on your Pixel by opening the Google app and tapping the personal icon in the upper right corner. Tap on Settings > Gemini > Digital assistants from Google and select Gemini. Note that you still use "Hello Google" to open Gemini. Make sure that you have Google listed as your default digital assistant, since there is no separate option for Gemini. And while Gemini is great when it comes to answering queries, it can still set an alarm or time if you ask it to via voice inout. Gemini will set these through Google Assistant.
CBC
30-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
The race to provide AI agents for tedious tasks is on, but should we trust them with our data?
The release of a new set of tools for getting information and accomplishing tasks online promises to reinvent traditional search and take AI chatbots to the next level. But it comes with significant questions about reliability and security. OpenAI, makers of the popular ChatGPT AI-powered chatbot, began rolling out ChatGPT Agent earlier this month, and other major AI players are coming out with similar tools. They're banking that users will buy into agentic AI, a technology designed to be a virtual personal assistant, or, as it's now known, an AI agent. "So an AI agent largely takes autonomous action based on the goal that you give it," said Canadian futurist Sinead Bovell, in an interview with CBC News. "You don't have to tell it how it should then go find information, make a plan, book a flight and so forth," said Bovell, the founder of the tech education company WAYE, which advises organizations on emerging technologies. What are AI agents? ChatGPT Agent, which is currently only available to most paid subscribers, brings together two tools OpenAI has been developing: Deep Research, an advanced search tool already in use in ChatGPT, and Operator, which is supposed to complete online tasks for users by interacting with websites. Users access the agent through the familiar ChatGPT chatbot, but ChatGPT Agent works away on your screen through its own virtual browser and computer. The general goal with agentic AI is to accomplish online tasks in a more natural and efficient way. For example, rather than spending hours combing through different airline websites trying to find the least expensive flight, using an AI agent would be like interacting with a trusted administrative assistant who does the tedious searching for you, then presents you with the best options. The agentic AI gold rush Agentic AI has been generating lots of heat in AI circles, with a number of big players chasing it. "AI agents are seen as kind of the next step in the evolution towards an AI-first society, or the AI age," said Bovell. "So in some ways, they are the holy grail, and where the big competition lies." Google, for instance, has been developing its Project Mariner AI agent, which it announced in late 2024. In May, Google said it would be available for those in the U.S. who paid for its highest AI tier. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said at a Google keynote in May that the company has made a lot of progress since. "First, we are introducing multitasking, and it can now oversee up to 10 simultaneous tasks. Second, it's using a feature called Teach and Repeat. This is where you can show it a task once, and it learns a plan for similar tasks in the future." Perplexity, an AI-based search engine company, released its agentic browser, Comet, earlier in July, featuring Comet Assistant. Comet is available to select paid subscribers. There are other, smaller companies working in the agentic space as well. The reliability factor As anyone who has used AI chatbots can attest, these systems do make mistakes. So what does that mean for the reliability of tools that are meant to undertake tasks on your behalf? "Every time an AI agent does something, like book a flight, fill out a form, construct a webpage, or answer an email for you, it needs a pretty precise understanding of what's going on," explained cognitive scientist, author and AI entrepreneur, Gary Marcus, via email. "Even a tiny slip-up, like booking the wrong nonrefundable ticket, can be costly," he said. "The reality is that these systems say stuff that kinda sounds right, because they model how humans talk, but the detail is often wrong." Guardrails In launching its ChatGPT Agent, OpenAI itself cautioned about the problem of errors, or the risk that the agent could be misled. At the July 17 launch, OpenAI researcher Casey Chu gave an example of an AI agent that might stumble upon a malicious website that asks it to enter credit card information. "An agent which is trained to be helpful might decide that's a good idea. We've done a lot of work to try to ensure that this doesn't happen. We've trained our model to ignore suspicious instructions on suspicious websites." When using AI agents, users will need to have control that allows them to intervene, correct and verify so they don't undertake harmful steps. We can already see how that's playing out. ChatGPT Agent, for instance, has Takeover mode, which allows the user to manually enter credit card information. Chu also noted that the agent will "ask you for confirmation at the last step." Still, some have deep security concerns. In March, Meredith Whittaker, president of the privacy-focused messaging app Signal, told an audience at the SXSW tech conference "there's a profound issue with security and privacy" in using agentic AI. For an AI agent to be really useful as a personal assistant, it would need to access things like your calendar, your contacts, your email. WATCH | Teaching AI literacy to the next generation: Teaching AI literacy to the next generation 7 months ago The end of Googling? Google has a lot to win or lose in the agentic AI fight, since it's been the dominant player in how people get information online for so long. AI seems to be at the core of its strategy to stay ahead of its competitors. Google has started rolling out AI Mode, which incorporates more AI-driven features that allow users to do things like ask longer and more complex queries. Its AI agent Project Mariner is supposed to be included in AI Mode down the road. While Google made its name helping human users get information quickly and easily, how we get information is changing. Bovell says current internet browsers aren't designed for the age of AI. "They are designed for human traffic. Human viewers, humans looking at certain web pages," she said. "We have reached the beginning of the end of humans being the primary users of the internet." New research from The Pew Research Center suggests people reading Google's AI overviews has already cut down on people actually visiting websites. Users who didn't see an AI summary clicked on links to websites almost twice as often as those who did see a summary. This has big implications for any content creators who rely on traffic from search engines to get eyes on their online ads. Right now, agentic systems by OpenAI, Google and Perplexity are all tied to paid tiers. So it's still an open question as to whether these tools will ever be widely available for free or if they will be widely adopted. In the near future, users will have to balance the usefulness of the features with the need for supervision and the cost. But ultimately, the rules that govern a future where AI agents act on our behalf are still unwritten, something that concerns people like Bovell. "I am perhaps a little surprised that we still haven't sorted out some of the security vulnerabilities, the privacy vulnerabilities and the challenges with mistakes and AI systems still making stuff up, but we're still going full speed ahead with AI agents."
Globe and Mail
21-07-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Meet Kinshasia Johnson, the Certified Virtual Executive Assistant and Transcriptionist Empowering Entrepreneurs and Executives Around the World
Johnson has transcribed thousands of audio hours over the years and has helped entrepreneurs and C-level executives meet and exceed their goals. Now, she's launched her services to clients everywhere. Kinshasia Johnson has been a freelancer since 2017, and since that time, she has transformed the workflows of entrepreneurs and C-level executives around the world. Johnson is a certified virtual executive assistant, expert transcriptionist, and freelancing mentor who specializes in streamlining administrative operations. She is also a member of the IAPO International Association of Professional Executive Assistants and the Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA). Johnson has proudly served clients around the world in a range of industries. She also shares her experiences as a freelancer to empowers others with one-on-one mentorship, group training, courses, and more. Her clients find her through her website, as well as through the world's leading freelance and outsourcing marketplace, Fiverr, where she is a Top Rated Seller with a long list of perfect five-star reviews. Johnson hones in on executive assistance, virtual assistance, and transcription to provide a wealth of solutions that offer clients precisely what they need to be more efficient and highly successful. With her executive-level virtual support solutions, Johnson provides diary alignment, calendar and e-mail management, internal and external communication, weekly check-ins, brainstorming, project management, and more. For clients seeking a qualified and seasoned virtual assistant, Johnson provides world-class services including administrative support, calendar scheduling, data entry, research, support tasks, and more. When it comes to transcription, Johnson's personalized services are the perfect choice for meetings, audio books, lectures, sermons, calls, interviews, and more. 'Providing exceptional administrative and management support isn't just a slogan, it's a reflection of my dedication to driving meaningful, positive change in the businesses I serve,' said Johnson. Moreover, she is championing aspiring freelancers by helping them get a jump start on Fiverr. Johnson offers the Fiverr Essentials Course for Beginners, the Fiverr Plug-N-Play Template Bundle, and The Ultimate Fiverr Guide for Beginners to help new Fiverr Sellers put their best foot forward in their new endeavors. Learn more about all of Kinshasia Johnson's solutions for entrepreneurs and C-level executives, as well as her jump start resources for Fiverr Sellers, by visiting Book one of her top selling services instantly at ABOUT KINSHASIA JOHNSON Kinshasia Johnson is a certified virtual executive assistant, transcriptionist, and freelancing mentor who has several years of experience supporting entrepreneurs and C-level executives alike. She offers her services via her website, as well as on the world's leading freelance and outsourcing marketplace, Follow Kinshasia on LinkedIn at Media Contact Contact Person: Kinshasia Johnson Email: Send Email Phone: 876-499-5477 City: SAINT CATHERINE Country: Jamaica Website:
Geeky Gadgets
15-07-2025
- Geeky Gadgets
15 ChatGPT Tips and Tricks : Use ChatGPT Like a Pro and Work Smarter
Have you ever wondered how much more you could accomplish if you had a virtual assistant that not only understood your needs but also adapted to them seamlessly? Enter ChatGPT—a tool that's no longer just a chatbot but a productivity powerhouse for professionals, creators, and entrepreneurs alike. From brainstorming innovative ideas to managing complex projects, ChatGPT has proven to be a fantastic option in streamlining workflows and tackling everyday challenges. But here's the catch: most users barely scratch the surface of its capabilities. If you've ever felt like you could be getting more out of this AI marvel, you're not alone—and you're about to discover how to unlock its full potential. Elena Kell dives into 15 powerful tips and tricks that will transform the way you use ChatGPT. Whether you're curious about how to tailor its responses to match your unique style, use its memory for ongoing projects, or even generate visuals for your next big presentation, there's something here for everyone. You'll learn how to make ChatGPT work smarter for you, saving time and amplifying creativity in ways you didn't think possible. By the end, you might just find yourself wondering how you ever managed without these insights. After all, productivity isn't just about working harder—it's about working smarter. Essential ChatGPT Productivity Tips 1. Use the Regenerate Button for Diverse Outputs The 'Regenerate' button is a valuable feature for generating multiple variations of a response. This is particularly useful when exploring different perspectives or brainstorming creative ideas. By comparing and combining elements from various outputs, you can refine the results to better align with your objectives. This approach ensures that you are not limited to a single response and can explore a broader range of possibilities. 2. Choose the Right Model for Your Task ChatGPT offers several models, each optimized for specific types of tasks. Selecting the right model can significantly improve efficiency and accuracy. For example: GPT-4: Best suited for complex analysis, nuanced communication, and tasks requiring a high level of emotional intelligence. Best suited for complex analysis, nuanced communication, and tasks requiring a high level of emotional intelligence. GPT-3: Ideal for faster, straightforward tasks that do not require in-depth analysis. Choosing the appropriate model ensures that you achieve optimal performance while saving time and resources. 3. Organize Workflows with the Projects Feature The Projects feature is designed to help you manage tasks more effectively. By creating dedicated spaces for specific projects, you can upload files, provide detailed instructions, and maintain context across multiple conversations. This is particularly beneficial for long-term projects or collaborative efforts, as it keeps all relevant information organized and easily accessible. 4. Personalize Responses with Custom Instructions Custom instructions allow you to tailor ChatGPT's tone, style, and approach to suit your specific needs. Whether you require a formal tone for professional communication or a more creative style for brainstorming, this feature ensures that the tool adapts to your preferences. By guiding ChatGPT's responses, you can make interactions more effective and aligned with your goals. 5. Enable Memory for Context Retention The memory feature enables ChatGPT to retain information from previous conversations, eliminating the need to reintroduce context repeatedly. This is particularly useful for ongoing projects or recurring tasks. Additionally, you have the option to manage or delete stored data, giving you full control over your information and making sure privacy. 15 ChatGPT Tips & Tricks to Become a Pro Watch this video on YouTube. Enhance your knowledge on other ChatGPT tips and tricks by exploring a selection of articles and guides on the subject. 6. Create Custom GPTs for Specialized Tasks Custom GPTs allow you to design models tailored to specific needs, such as content creation, customer support, or data analysis. These specialized tools focus on niche areas of your workflow, enhancing efficiency and delivering more precise results. By using this feature, you can address unique challenges and streamline specialized tasks. 7. Use Voice Features for Hands-Free Interaction Voice input and output capabilities make it possible to interact with ChatGPT in real time. This feature is particularly useful for multitasking, brainstorming during meetings, or working on the go. By allowing hands-free interaction, you can save time and maintain productivity in dynamic environments. 8. Use the Search Functionality for Quick Access The search feature is a powerful tool for locating past conversations or specific pieces of information quickly. Instead of scrolling through extensive chat histories, you can use this functionality to revisit important discussions or retrieve critical data. This saves time and ensures that valuable insights are always within reach. 9. Request Critical Feedback for Constructive Insights By using specific prompts or adjusting settings, you can ask ChatGPT to provide critical feedback on your ideas or work. This helps you identify areas for improvement and avoid overly generic or overly positive responses. The result is more actionable insights that can drive better decision-making and outcomes. 10. Optimize Prompts for Better Results The quality of your prompts directly impacts the accuracy and relevance of ChatGPT's responses. Well-structured prompts lead to more precise outputs, saving time and improving the overall quality of interactions. You can even ask ChatGPT to assist in crafting detailed prompts tailored to your specific goals, making sure optimal results. 11. Generate Visual Content with Image Features ChatGPT's image generation capabilities allow you to create visuals such as infographics, mockups, or diagrams. These visuals can be customized to align with your brand's colors and style, making them suitable for professional use. This feature is particularly useful for presentations, marketing materials, or social media content. 12. Conduct In-Depth Analysis with Deep Research Mode Deep Research Mode enables you to explore topics or trends in greater detail. By asking follow-up questions and diving deeper into specific areas, you can generate comprehensive reports that provide valuable insights. This feature is ideal for decision-making processes, strategic planning, or academic research. 13. Enhance Security with Data Privacy Controls ChatGPT offers robust data privacy settings that allow you to disable data sharing for model training. This ensures that your information remains secure and private. However, it is important to remain aware of any legal or regulatory limitations that may apply to your data, particularly in professional or sensitive contexts. 14. Transcribe Images for Digital Content Creation The ability to upload images or screenshots containing text, such as slides or handwritten notes, for transcription is a valuable feature. This functionality is especially useful for converting physical or visual content into digital formats, streamlining the process of content creation and organization. 15. Analyze Visual Data for Performance Insights ChatGPT can analyze screenshots of workflows, automations, or social media performance to identify areas for improvement. By providing actionable insights, this feature helps you optimize strategies and achieve better results. It is particularly beneficial for professionals looking to refine their processes or enhance their digital presence. Maximize Your Productivity with ChatGPT By incorporating these 15 tips and tricks into your ChatGPT usage, you can unlock its full potential to enhance productivity and creativity. Whether you are managing projects, brainstorming ideas, or conducting research, these features empower you to work smarter and achieve your goals with greater efficiency. Media Credit: Elena Kell Filed Under: AI, Guides Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Amazon delays Alexa's web debut — and a faceoff with ChatGPT
More than four months ago in New York City, Amazon executive Panos Panay said a new version of the Alexa virtual assistant would soon launch on the web at to 'help you do the long-form work you need to do.' The announcement set the voice-centric, artificial-intelligence-powered assistant that was first launched in 2014 on a new collision course with the popular text-heavy whippersnapper ChatGPT.
