I use AI every single day, both personally and professionally, so it takes a lot for a new AI tool to make me stop what I’m doing and think, “Wait. It can do WHAT?”
Muse did.
Meta is positioning Muse as an AI Assistant, and I think that distinction matters. We’ve become familiar with AI tools that can answer questions, help us brainstorm, write something, summarize information, or create an image.
Muse represents something different: AI that can also take action and complete tasks for you.
That’s the part I think everyday technology users need to understand.
📺 Watch the video below
So, What Is Muse?
Muse is Meta’s personal AI assistant. You can communicate with it using text or voice, much like other AI tools you may have already used.
But the easiest way I can explain what makes an AI assistant like Muse interesting is this:
You’re not limited to asking it for an answer. You can ask it to do something.
Muse can research information on the web, work with your calendar, draft and send emails, create documents and spreadsheets, help with shopping and travel, generate different types of content, and perform recurring tasks on a schedule.
It can also connect with apps you already use, including services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Spotify, and Instagram.
That ability to connect information, applications, and actions is where things start getting really interesting.
How Is an AI Assistant Different From the AI We’re Used To?
Think about how many of us first started using AI.
We might ask:
“Help me write an email.”
The AI writes the email.
Then we copy it, open our email, paste it, address it, and send it.
Or we might say:
“Help me compare these products.”
The AI gives us information, and then we take over from there.
That’s useful. I use AI this way all the time.
But an AI assistant can potentially take the process further.
Instead of only helping you decide what should happen next, it can work through supported connections and permissions to perform some of those next steps for you.
That’s the shift I want you to understand:
AI that helps you do the work → AI that can complete parts of the work for you.
What Kinds of Things Can Muse Do?
This is where it would be very easy for me to give you an enormous list of features—and I don’t think that would actually help you understand it.
Instead, think about the kinds of everyday tasks that require you to bounce between different apps.
Maybe you need to research something and put the information into a document.
Maybe you need to work with your email and calendar.
Maybe there’s something you want checked every morning, but you don’t want to remember to check it yourself every morning.
Maybe you’re shopping and want help comparing products.
Maybe you need a document, spreadsheet, presentation, image, video, or audio created.
Those are the kinds of jobs that become especially interesting when AI moves from simply responding to a prompt to acting as an assistant.
And that word assistant is really the mental model I want you to keep.
What About Recurring Tasks?
This is one of the capabilities that really got my attention.
We’re accustomed to setting reminders that tell us to do something.
An AI assistant can potentially handle recurring work itself.
For example, imagine there’s something you normally check every morning.
Instead of setting a reminder that says:
“Hey, Karrie. Go check that thing.”
…the assistant can be given a recurring task to check it.
Depending on the task and the access you’ve given it, it may then be able to act on what it finds.
That is very different from a reminder.
One system is reminding you to do the work.
The other is potentially doing the work you asked it to handle.
That’s a much bigger shift than simply having a smarter chatbot.
Does This Mean You Should Connect AI to Everything?
Nope.
And this is the part where our excitement about new technology needs to bring its responsible-adult friend along. 😂
If you connect an AI assistant to your email, calendar, files, social media, or other accounts, you need to understand what you’re giving it access to and what actions you’re allowing it to take.
Before connecting an account, pay attention to the permissions being requested.
Ask yourself:
- What information can this access?
- What is it allowed to change?
- Can it send or publish something on my behalf?
- Do I actually need to give it this permission for what I want it to do?
You don’t need to be afraid of connecting technology.
You do need to be intentional about it.
Convenience is wonderful. So is knowing who—or what—has permission to do things inside your accounts.
Is Muse Just for Business?
No, and I think that’s another reason this technology is worth paying attention to.
It’s easy for me to look at something like Muse and immediately start thinking about workflows and repetitive business tasks because that’s how my brain works.
But AI assistants can also help with everyday life.
Think about researching purchases, comparing products, managing your schedule, booking appointments or travel, creating reminders, or watching for something like a price change.
The important part isn’t memorizing everything Muse can currently do.
It’s understanding the bigger idea:
AI assistants are designed to help bridge the gap between asking for something and getting it done.
Do You Need to Understand How All of This Works?
Absolutely not.
You do not need to understand APIs, integrations, automation platforms, or what is happening technically behind the scenes before you can understand what an AI assistant is.
Start with the concept.
You already know what a human assistant does.
You don’t hire an assistant just so you can ask:
“What should I put on my calendar?”
You might say:
“Please put this on my calendar.”
That’s the difference I want you to see.
An AI assistant is moving us closer to being able to say:
“Please take care of this.”
And then having technology handle more of the steps required to get it done.
This Is Why Muse Has My Attention
I’m still exploring Muse.
I’m figuring out where it’s genuinely useful, where it saves time, what I would and wouldn’t trust it to handle, and where a human still belongs in the process.
Because I don’t believe the goal of technology should be to automate every possible thing simply because we can.
The goal is to use technology to remove repetitive work so we have more time for the things that actually need us.
That’s what interests me about AI assistants.
Not replacing the human part.
Not handing our entire lives over to artificial intelligence.
But being able to look at some repetitive task that eats up our time and say:
“Technology can handle this part.”
Muse is brand new, and its capabilities will undoubtedly continue to evolve. I’ll be sharing more as I actually use it and discover which features are worth understanding.
For now, if you remember only one thing, make it this:
Muse isn’t just an AI you can ask questions. It’s an AI Assistant designed to help take action on your behalf.
And that is a technology worth understanding.
Technology Made Simple. 💙