AI assistant
In plain wordsAn AI program, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, that helps a person through conversation: answering questions, writing, summarizing, coding and, increasingly, taking actions on their behalf.
A general-purpose AI system, usually a chat-tunedchat model, n.: A language model trained to hold a back-and-forth conversation, keeping track of who said what and replying as a helpful assistant. It is the engine inside chat apps. large language modellarge language model, n.: A computer program trained on enormous amounts of text to predict the words that come next. At vast scale, that simple skill lets it chat, answer questions, translate, summarize and write code. behind a conversational interface, that carries out a user's requests in natural language: answering questions, drafting and editing text, analyzing files, writing code and, increasingly, acting through toolstool use, n.: An AI model's ability to reach beyond its own knowledge by operating outside tools — searching the web, running code, using a calculator or an app — and folding the results into its work. such as web search, code execution and connected applications. The assistant role is instilled in post-trainingpost-training, n.: Everything done to an AI model after its initial bulk training on huge amounts of text: the extra teaching that turns a raw text predictor into a helpful, safe assistant or a careful reasoner. (instruction tuninginstruction tuning, n.: Training a language model on many tasks written as plain instructions with correct answers, so it learns to do what a request asks instead of just continuing the text., reinforcement learning from human feedbackreinforcement learning from human feedback, n.: A way of training AI using people's judgments: humans compare pairs of answers, a scoring model learns their preferences, and the AI is then trained to produce answers that score well. and related methods), which shapes the model to be helpful while declining harmful requests, a goal often summarized as helpful, honest and harmlesshelpful, honest and harmless, phr.: A three-part goal for AI assistants, popularized by Anthropic: be genuinely useful, tell the truth, and avoid causing harm — shorthand for what an aligned chatbot should be.. Assistants that plan and execute multistep tasks shade into AI agentsAI agent, n.: An AI system that does not just answer but acts: given a goal, it decides on steps, uses tools such as a browser or code editor, checks the results and keeps going until the job is done.. Ethicists highlight questions of trust, manipulation, privacy and dependence that grow as assistants gain memory, personalization and autonomy.
Half the team uses the AI assistant to draft meeting summaries, but legal still reviews every contract by hand.
Origin
Language-model assistants emerged from alignment research: Anthropic's 'A General Language Assistant as a Laboratory for Alignment' (Amanda Askell and colleagues, 2021) and OpenAI's InstructGPT (2022) trained models to act as helpful assistants, and ChatGPTChatGPT, prop. n.: OpenAI's AI chatbot, released free to the public in November 2022, which answers questions, writes and converses in everyday language. Its sudden popularity began the current AI boom. (November 2022) brought the format to the public. A 2024 Google DeepMind study led by Iason Gabriel, 'The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants', defined advanced assistants as artificial agents with natural-language interfaces that plan and execute actions for users.
Usage note
Overlaps with chatbotchatbot, n.: Software you chat with in ordinary language, by typing or talking, as you would with a person. The newest ones, such as ChatGPT, can answer questions, draft writing and keep long conversations going. (any conversational program) and virtual assistantvirtual assistant, n.: Software you speak or type to, like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, that answers questions and does simple jobs such as setting timers, playing music or controlling smart-home devices. (voice-first assistants such as Siri and Alexa, now being rebuilt on language models). Assistants embedded in particular software are often marketed as a copilotcopilot, n.: An AI assistant built into software that works alongside a person — suggesting code, drafting text or answering questions — while the person stays in charge, like a co-pilot beside the captain..
Related
- chatbotchatbot, n.: Software you chat with in ordinary language, by typing or talking, as you would with a person. The newest ones, such as ChatGPT, can answer questions, draft writing and keep long conversations going.
- virtual assistantvirtual assistant, n.: Software you speak or type to, like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, that answers questions and does simple jobs such as setting timers, playing music or controlling smart-home devices.
- AI agentAI agent, n.: An AI system that does not just answer but acts: given a goal, it decides on steps, uses tools such as a browser or code editor, checks the results and keeps going until the job is done.
- chat modelchat model, n.: A language model trained to hold a back-and-forth conversation, keeping track of who said what and replying as a helpful assistant. It is the engine inside chat apps.
- helpful, honest and harmlesshelpful, honest and harmless, phr.: A three-part goal for AI assistants, popularized by Anthropic: be genuinely useful, tell the truth, and avoid causing harm — shorthand for what an aligned chatbot should be.
- AI companionAI companion, n.: A chatbot designed to be a friend, partner or confidant rather than a tool: it remembers you, has a personality and keeps up an ongoing relationship.
- ChatGPTChatGPT, prop. n.: OpenAI's AI chatbot, released free to the public in November 2022, which answers questions, writes and converses in everyday language. Its sudden popularity began the current AI boom.
- copilotcopilot, n.: An AI assistant built into software that works alongside a person — suggesting code, drafting text or answering questions — while the person stays in charge, like a co-pilot beside the captain.
- AI agentAI agent, n.: An AI system that does not just answer but acts: given a goal, it decides on steps, uses tools such as a browser or code editor, checks the results and keeps going until the job is done.
- AI companionAI companion, n.: A chatbot designed to be a friend, partner or confidant rather than a tool: it remembers you, has a personality and keeps up an ongoing relationship.
Sources
- Gabriel, I. et al. (2024). The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants. arXiv:2404.16244. arxiv.org/abs/2404.16244
- Askell, A. et al. (2021). A General Language Assistant as a Laboratory for Alignment. arXiv:2112.00861. arxiv.org/abs/2112.00861
Mentioned in
chatbotchatbot, n.: Software you chat with in ordinary language, by typing or talking, as you would with a person. The newest ones, such as ChatGPT, can answer questions, draft writing and keep long conversations going., copilotcopilot, n.: An AI assistant built into software that works alongside a person — suggesting code, drafting text or answering questions — while the person stays in charge, like a co-pilot beside the captain., ClippyClippy, prop. n.: Microsoft Office's animated paper-clip helper of the late 1990s, remembered for interrupting people with unwanted tips; also a nickname for an imagined AI that turns everything into paperclips., conversational AIconversational AI, n.: The technology that lets computers hold conversations with people in everyday language, by text or voice. It powers chatbots, voice assistants and automated customer-service lines., virtual assistantvirtual assistant, n.: Software you speak or type to, like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, that answers questions and does simple jobs such as setting timers, playing music or controlling smart-home devices.