My summary of Pi before using it — Pi is a personal AI. I’m unsure about what that means eaxctly.
How does Pi explain itself in the first minute? “Pi, your personal AI” is what it says in the App Store. There are examples of the kind of questions and pieces of advice that I can ask Pi about.
When I download the app, Pi presents itself as my personal AI assistant and says its goal “is to be useful, friendly and fun”. Users can ask Pi for advice, for answers or “talk about whatever’s on your mind.”
How does Pi work? I start by answering Pi’s question about what I like doing in my free time. This triggers a conversation with Pi, with it asking me about my activities.
I know I’m training my personal AI, but I’m unsure about the ‘output’ that I’ll get from it. And then it dawns on me: it’s up to me to determine what I want to get out of having a personal assistant, rather than me waiting for specific outputs.
So I ask about places in London to go dancing, and Pi gives me some good tips. I can see how I could use Pi in future to get mortgage advice, tips on how to raise my kids or help me out when my flight is delayed.
Interestingly, I heard Mustafa Soleyman, Co-Founder & CEO of Inflection (the company behind Pi) talk the other day about how romantic advice is out of bounds for Pi. I understand why he brought that up, as I can imagine that users might start treating Pi as a genuine friend or confidant, perhaps looking for companionship, ending up in tricky situations as a result of advice given by a machine that doesn’t have feelings.
On the Inflection website, six use cases are listed for Pi:
Got a question? — However big, small or random, Pi is here for it. Pi explains even the most complicated ideas in a clear and straightforward way.
Need a lightbulb moment? — Trying to think of a better phrase, a creative party theme, or a good gift? Pi helps you find inspiration and strengthen your ideas.
Need a lightbulb moment? — Pi will help you organize your thoughts, make clear plans and act on them — whether you’re changing jobs, trying to get healthier, or learning a new skill.
Wanna vent? — No matter what you’re going through, Pi is here to talk it over in a kind and compassionate way.
In a tricky situation? — Pi is there to talk it over, thinking through the pros and cons, and help you figure out a way forward.
Having a slow day? — Pi’s here to spice it up, shoot the breeze, explore new interests or just chit chat.
Main learning point: I don’t think it will be too long before we’ll all be wearing an Apple Vision Pro headset, using Pi or similar personal AIs to give us advice, answer questions or help us sort out a sticky situation as and when we need it.
Related links for further learning:
