AI assistant watches you work to learn and automate tasks

For more and more people, it is difficult to imagine a day without AI. Not to mention how much time it saves us at work: things that may take a few hours, AI can do in just a couple of minutes. Bvio Tech is a Hong Kong-based company trying to further improve work efficiency. He just unveiled a new device called Violoop on Kickstarter.

The company describes Violoop as “pluggable AI” and unlike most AI systems, this one comes with its own physical device. It is aimed at people from different industries, from marketing to accounting, who spend hours every day working in multiple applications, organizing data, preparing reports and writing emails.

Violoop looks like a small, old-school monitor the size of a coffee cup that sits next to your laptop or desktop computer. It connects via USB-C and requires its own power outlet, which is actually a good thing as it doesn’t drain your computer’s battery or slow down its operations. On its screen you can see the current time and what the AI ​​is doing at that moment.

So what could will be doing?

Well, the whole concept is quite different from how we usually use AI. Our interaction with ChatGPT and similar platforms is generally through questions and answers. You can write, for example, “How do I create an Excel spreadsheet based on this data?” and ChatGPT gives you instructions. It is incredibly useful, but in this entire process you are the one who follows all the steps.

Now, imagine having an assistant who can perform those steps for you. AI no longer tells you what to do. Instead, you’re the one giving instructions and he’s moving the mouse cursor around the screen, finding and opening files, typing formulas, and saving documents to the correct folder. That’s exactly the idea behind the Violoop.

How do you know what is right? Because he’s looking at you. All the time.

As creepy as it may seem, that’s what keeps Violoop “in the loop.” It’s always on, watching your workflow and learning from it. Observe what tasks you usually perform, in what order, and how you respond to emails. So when you give Violoop a new command, it already has some context for the projects you work on. And sometimes you don’t even need to let you know: the system will try to guess what your next request might be and offer you options to choose from.

The whole concept sounds great, but this device is not a magic box. It has its limitations and can make mistakes, so it still requires some human supervision. For that, it has a physical approval button. Therefore, the system will not complete an action until you press that button and confirm that this is what you requested.

Repetitive tasks are where Violoop is claimed to be most reliable. Think about the most boring things you have to do at work, the ones that take a lot of time and don’t necessarily require a lot of brainpower. Summarize emails, organize folders, save attachments, create lists and tables, compare products. The list goes on and Violoop is designed to handle it. In simple words, it is practically a small computer that autonomously operates your big computer.

Of course, letting AI observe your work raises concerns about security and privacy. According to the creators, Violoop does not send screen information or files to the cloud. Everything is processed internally on the device itself, which has 128 GB of storage for that task.

However, there is one exception worth mentioning. If you need to use a larger AI model, some data may need to go to the AI ​​provider’s cloud, and that comes at an additional cost. Otherwise, Violoop does not require any subscription: you only pay for the hardware.

An additional feature that some people may find useful is the so-called “Away Mode.” Violoop can receive commands and approvals through a mobile application. You can order it, for example, to rename hundreds of files in a certain way and, in the meantime, go grocery shopping. When you return, the work will be finished.

Violoop is compatible with all major systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux. The interface is quite similar to ChatGPT, and this is where you interact with Violoop.

The early pledge price on Kickstarter is $399, and at retail it will increase to $699. Assuming the campaign is successful, shipping is currently scheduled for November.

Sources: Kickstarter, Violoop

Note: New Atlas may earn commissions on purchases made through links.